Mondelez-owned Oreo has opened a stand-alone cookie-themed café at Hamad International Airport, its first in the global travel retail channel.

A partnership between Mondelez World Travel Retail (WTR), Qatar Duty Free (QDF), Hamad International Airport (HIA) and Qatar Airways, the 116 sqm space is also the first permanent Oreo café outside of the US.

Located in the new North Node, the café opened in November 2022 with a range spanning Oreo milkshakes, muffins and cheesecakes, as well as a savoury food offering and a beverage menu.

The concept café features Oreo’s signature electric blue hue along with white and black, plus branded furniture, digital media walls and a retail area.

Touchpoints encourage travellers to take photos and share them online organically with both Oreo and Doha hashtags. 

Centre stage in the space is an Oreo Creations Bar, where specially trained chefs work live, with Oreos as a key ingredient.

A hero product at the Creations Bar is a football-moulded Oreo Waffle, which will be prorated on a seasonal basis.

In-flight video and social marketing

To build awareness ahead of the café’s launch, Mondelez WTR and QDF partnered for a marketing campaign, including an in-flight video that ran across Qatar Airways. 

The supplier also ran a social media campaign with playful, creative assets and images of food from the café menu. 

According to the brand, the digital campaign outperformed on almost every platform, with Facebook and Instagram ads delivering 12.5 million impressions (506% over delivery).

Gen-Z travellers will be specially targeted through an upcoming TikTok campaign, which aims to stimulate user-generated content.  

On 6 March 2023, Mondelez WTR and QDF ran a full-day takeover at HIA with an end-to-end digital campaign. 

Oreo’s café was featured across more than 800 screens, creating a “tangible buzz”, according to the brand.  

‘Historic moment’ for Mondelez WTR

“This is a historic moment for Mondelez in travel retail,” said Jaya Singh, Managing Director, Mondelez WTR. 

“It has always been our mission to bring exclusive experiences to the channel, to drive differentiation in the interest of conversion. 

“This all plays towards our vision for the growth of both the confectionery category and the industry as a whole, expanding beyond traditional airport retail, the first step in what we hope to be a journey.” 

He continued: “With Oreo Café Doha, we are breaking new ground as our first foray into food and beverage in the channel, leveraging one of the most powerful global snacking brands to create a tremendous branded dining experience. 

“A big thank you to our friends at Qatar Duty Free, Hamad International Airport and Qatar Airways, for their invaluable partnership in realising this milestone; it is these types of partnerships, built on trust and a commitment to constant innovation, that will set the tone for the future of travel retail.” 

Thabet Musleh, Vice President, Qatar Duty Free, added: “Qatar Duty Free is extremely proud of this exceptional partnership that brings a world-first to the world’s leading airport, and with such a powerful global brand. 

“The reaction from our customers has been amazing. With delicious, high-quality meals, channel-exclusive experiences and a dedicated pipeline of creative in-store and digital initiatives to excite travellers in the months to come, we are confident that Oreo Café Doha will cement itself as one of the flagship F&B outlets in our portfolio.”

Last month, Mondelez WTR paid homage to the British heritage of much-loved chocolate brand Cadbury with the launch of the Cadbury Dairy Milk Great Britain 520g Pouch.