Joe & The Juice, the Danish-founded juice, coffee and sandwich chain, has pulled in fresh Gulf capital. Emirates International Investment Company (EIIC) has taken a strategic minority stake in the business in a deal that values it at $1.8 billion (AED 6.6 billion) and is aimed squarely at funding the brand’s next phase of international expansion and franchising.
The transaction deepens ties between the brand and UAE-linked capital while leaving General Atlantic, the global investment firm, as majority shareholder. For a chain that has spent the past few years pivoting toward an asset-light, franchise-led model, the backing reads as fuel for the map rather than a change of direction.
Joe & The Juice now runs more than 480 stores across 23 markets spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Growth is being driven through a mix of company-owned and franchised locations, and the brand opened its 100th franchise store last year — a marker of how central franchising has become to its scaling plan.
“We believe Joe & The Juice presents a compelling growth opportunity around the world.”
That assessment came from Joseph Iskander, chief executive of EIIC, who framed the brand’s cross-market appeal as the core of the investment thesis.
The deal fits a broader pattern: MENA investors, many with sovereign or family-office roots, are increasingly taking positions in international food-and-beverage brands and using those stakes to accelerate regional and global rollouts. EIIC is expected to bring expertise in scaling consumer and hospitality names across the Middle East, a region where the UAE has become a launchpad for global concepts and neighbouring GCC markets are opening fast.
Chief executive Thomas Nørøxe tied the partnership to momentum across the brand’s markets and its ambition to reach more customers globally. The franchising shift is the mechanism: rather than owning every store, Joe & The Juice is licensing its format to local operators who bring capital and market knowledge — the same route other cafe brands are using to enter the Gulf.
When patient regional capital backs a global brand specifically to expand its franchise network, it tends to validate the model for other investors watching the category. For operators and family offices weighing F&B exposure, the Joe & The Juice deal is a clear read on where MENA money sees durable growth — in recognisable, health-leaning concepts with room to run across Asia and the Gulf.
