Gloria Jean’s Coffees executive chairman, Nabi Saleh, has been presented with the international Asia Retail Congress’ highest accolade, the Retail Leadership Award.

The award is voted for by Asia Retail Congress members, made up of senior professionals from across the Asian retail industry, and recognises the performance and achievements of the individual’s business, as well as their credibility, integrity and values.

Receiving the award in Mumbai at the Asia Retail Congress, Saleh said he felt honoured by the recognition, which he dedicated to the efforts of the whole Gloria Jean’s Coffees family including the company’s international regional support teams and enthusiastic Master Franchise Partners.

“Being recognised by our esteemed peers as a retail leader is very humbling and a testament to the hard work of our dedicated team. Our growth throughout Asia has been an exciting journey and we plan to build on the momentum of the last two years.”

The award follows a significant period of growth and success for Gloria Jean’s Coffees International, which has enjoyed 25 percent global sales increase for the year ending June 2009 and entered 10 new markets in the last two years including China and India taking the company’s global presence to 917 coffee houses in 38 markets worldwide.

In April 2009, Gloria Jean’s Coffees International also acquired Gloria Jean’s Coffees USA, comprising 102 locations in 24 states, making the brand now Australian-owned and operated in all global markets. The acquisition also included a separate US coffee house brand, the ‘It’s a Grind’ specialty coffee franchise, incorporating a further 103 stores across 14 states, taking the group total to 1020.

Gloria Jean’s Coffees operates 628 coffee houses across 14 markets across the Asia Pacific including Australia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Pakistan the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.