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NADINE BENCHAFFAI’S APPETITE FOR GROWTH HAS TAKEN TAQADO MEXICAN KITCHEN TO NEW HEIGHTS. BUT, WHAT’S NEXT? ISSUE 134 MONTHLY FOCUS: FOOD
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NBAD’s partnership made our growth possible in the Middle East. John Fanelli CFO, Hill International
Hill International has managed the construction of some of the most complex projects in the world including the Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi, the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site in New York City and the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva. When Hill made expansion plans in the region, NBAD partnered with them to provide bonding facilities to meet their contractual obligations, and expand their limits, in line with the plan. At NBAD we believe that the true success of a business is partnership. With our regional expertise and global reach across the dynamic West-East trade corridor, you can count on us to partner you to the next level of success.
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SME Advisor Middle East is aimed at business owners and senior executives across the GCC. Armed with practical advice, it has been highlighting key business issues for the small and medium enterprise segment since its launch in 2005. The magazine addresses real issues faced by business decision makers, without resorting to jargon. We understand that often, in small and medium enterprises, specialist business decisions are made by the owners and not by an army of c-level executives. At the same time, our content is equally relevant and useful for specialist, senior executives in mid-level enterprises. The magazine style is consumer, conversational and colourful.
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From the web
Amazon acquires Souq.com This was a stellar moment for the region’s start-up space. Commenting on the acquisition, Ronaldo said: “Joining the Amazon family will enable us to drive further growth, benefit from their technological investment, offer an even wider product selection through worldwide sourcing, deliver an enhanced customer service experience, as well as continue Amazon’s great track record of empowering sellers locally and globally. This is a milestone for the online shopping space in the region. As we take this next step in the journey with Amazon, our customers will remain our key focus and we will continue to deliver a seamless online shopping experience. Over time, I’m excited for what this acquisition will mean for every customer across the region.”
For further information, please visit: pr.souq.com.
Digital transformation conference yields exciting response CPI Business hosted a powerful conference entitled, ‘Digital Transformation – Simplifying the concept meant to simplify your business,’ that decoded the different aspects of digital transformation, on March 22, 2017 at the H Hotel in Dubai. The conference, which was held in collaboration with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and Etisalat, brought in Kaspersky Lab, BECO Capital, Symantec, IBM, Abu Dhabi Financial Group, Siemens, SAP, Bayzat and many such experts – all in one strategic venue – to discuss timely topics ranging from the creation of an ecosystem for digital businesses to thrive to providing the essential tools needed to grow in this segment.
To read more, please visit: http://digitaltransformation.smeadvisor.com/. Contact Details: Tel: +971 4 433 2446 Email: info@cpibusiness.net Web: www.cpibusiness.net
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© Copyright 2017 CPI Business. All rights reserved. While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.
New platform launched for business collaboration Utalenta.com, the Middle East’s first online marketplace for creative business professionals, was launched to connect businesses of all sizes with quality and talented professionals across various fields for possible project collaboration for a host of much needed and in-demand business solutions. Providing a wide range of benefits and advantages, the region’s first-of-its-kind online platform caters to both SME owners & businesses who are looking to work alongside professionals on a per project basis and creative individuals pursuing freelancing activities to bring their careers to new levels of growth.
To read more, please visit: www.utalenta.com.
Editor’s Note
RUSHIKA BHATIA EDITOR
2017
They are focused. They are fast. And, they are unstoppable. Presenting our monthly list of companies that could disrupt the F&B sector. In this issue: Taqado Mexican Kitchen, Italtouch, Operation: Falafel, Truckers DXB, Pressman's and more... Meet these F&B entrepreneurial geniuses.
F&B BUSINESSES TO WATCH OUT FOR
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58
84
66
72
Operation: Falafel
Pressman’s
Truckers DXB
This is a business that started from scratch and earned its way to the top. What’s really worked for the brand is its ability to go back to the basics and do what really matters: create authentic Middle Eastern food. Just how customers like it. 76
Here’s a start-up that took an existing idea and put their own spin on it. The dynamic duo behind the company wants to keep things simple. That’s their USP. There’s no fussiness or hype around the food. They’ve rather invested in giving customers a wide range of options - enabling them to customise their sandwiches. 72
This concept needs no introduction. In a very short period of time, the brand has garnered a lot of popularity. What’s particularly working for Truckers DXB is that it is giving customers something new, something that hasn’t been done before. And, it’s not just stopping there. It’s constantly innovating bringing new food concepts, recipes and offerings. 84
Taqado Mexican Kitchen The entrepreneurial genius behind this company is a business maverick in its truest sense. Her business acumen combined with her innate flair for marketing has helped build a food empire that’s showing no signs of slowing down. Watch out for this burgeoning brand. 66
Italtouch Unconventional product, unconventional entrepreneur. Meet this entrepreneur whose concept is quite unique. Yet, his passion for food has fuelled the growth of his business across the region. His story is probably the most inspiring! 58
Contents
The economist’s view 028 Food security – are we taking it seriously? 032 Cooking food – not the planet!
Editor’s roundtable 036/ Zomato – and its appetite for growth
Talking trends 042/ In conversation with Talabat.com
Infographic of the month 048/ News bites
Digitally disruptive
062/
DELIVEROO HAS FANTASTIC INVESTORS ON BOARD, LOYAL CUSTOMERS TO CATER TO AND EMPLOYEES THAT ARE PROUD TO BE PART OF THE COMPANY
050/ The sweet taste of success
076/
THERE ARE GREAT TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN F&B THAT HELP STREAMLINE OPERATIONS, CENTRALISE DATA AND SIMPLIFY THE OVERALL OPERATION
Business banking 054/ You’re in the clear
Top change makers 058/ The flavour of success - Italtouch 062/ Deliveroo’s winning recipe 066/ Tenacious Taqado 072/ Pressman’s: not just another sandwich shop 076/ On a roll – Operation: Falafel 080/ GetBaqala – reinventing grocery shopping 084/ New kid on the block: Truckers DXB
Organisation & structure 088/ 10 tips for F&B entrepreneurs
Technology for business 092/ Would you eat a 3D printed pizza?
Tired of the same old sandwich shops? Explore this fresh offering...
72 54
Business owners still prefer to use cheques for payments. Here’s how NBAD is making your life easier...
58 This entrepreneur convinced two leading restaurants to buy his luxury product - and converted them into longterm customers. Find out how..
28
Not sure where to start with food security? Our experts set the scene.
Everyone is familiar with Zomato and its attractive proposition, but what’s cooking behind the scenes?
76 Operation: Falafel on how its winning food accolades - and customers!
36
C O N T E N T C U R ATO R S 026
CONTENT CURATORS
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Presenting this month’s portfolio of industry specialists and thought leaders, who played a critical role in producing the feature content of our magazine and ensuring that we were more topical than ever. ROHIN THAMPI REGIONAL DIRECTOR, ZOMATO MEA
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We are seeing a healthy growth rate of 25 per cent month on month, on the order volumes. Dubai is already one of the most profitable cities for our online ordering business.
The growth of online food ordering through aggregators is shaking up the F&B industry, and customers are becoming more educated about the service.
ABDULHAMIDAL OMAR CEO, TALABAT.COM
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““ ANIS HARB GENERAL MANAGER DELIVEROO
With more competition in the market, food delivery apps will need to find new ways to become increasingly efficient. We are also anticipating improvements across packaging, speed of deliveries and technologies such as ‘dark kitchens’.
““ NADINE BENCHAFFAI MANAGING PARTNER, TAQADO MEXICAN KITCHEN
Technology will continue to have an impact on loyalty programmes, payment systems and the way brands market themselves through social media.
““ DEBORAH LUPTON CENTENARY RESEARCH PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA
3D food printers extrude soft liquid edible matter through nozzles that build up layer by layer in patters directed by a computer program. They can pump out everything from to chocolates, confectionery, biscuits and pancakes, to pasta, pizza and other savoury snacks. SME ADVISOR
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FOOD SECURITY ARE WE TAKING IT SERIOUSLY?
The global food system is in need of an overhaul. Corinna Hawkes, Director of the Centre for Food Policy at City University in London, and part of the Global Future Council on Food Security and Agriculture, says it is not just a case of producing more food, but producing healthy food, and ensuring it reaches the people who need it most. SME ADVISOR
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CORINNA HAWKES DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE FOR FOOD POLICY CITY UNIVERSITY IN LONDON
Why do we need this council to discuss the future of food security and agriculture? The main reason is because we need a transformation of food systems. It’s not just about agriculture but about changing the whole food system so it produces healthier, more nutritious diets for all, sustainably and safely. I am co-chair of the Global Nutrition Report which shows that around a half of people in the world today experience malnutrition in one of its many forms. My own work has been looking at food systems from the healthy eating perspective, whether people are at risk of under-nutrition, or overweight, obesity, and nutrition-related non-communicable diseases. When you start from the perspective of the eater, you see that the problem posed by agriculture and food security is not just about food production, and not just about producing more sustainably, important though that is. It’s about whether that food is healthy and whether it is actually reaching the people it
needs to reach in a form which contributes to healthy and nutritious diets. How is the system of food security and agriculture changing? What are the forces driving those changes? There are many. One is the tremendous amount of new technology coming into the system. The question is what technology actually gets adopted and who benefits from it. A second area of change is around the relationship between production and consumption. What people eat – consumer dietary behaviour – is influenced by what the system produces; but people are also living differently, which means they are eating differently. The trouble here is that there is incoherence between policies which are geared towards trying to encourage people to eat healthier, and policies in agriculture still focused largely on producing more, and policies that don’t do enough to disincentivise food businesses from selling too much of the wrong kind of food. Another aspect is around who has power in the food system. We’ve moved to a situation over the past decade where large agri-businesses have become more powerful in the sense that they’ve become more consolidated and vertically integrated. That’s all about efficiency, it’s about reducing risk in the system, it’s about trying to generate stability in supply chains. That means they can produce a lot, but there is huge contention around this. There has been real division on which is the best approach for agriculture moving forward that needs to be addressed. How important is it to address the issue of inclusivity in the agriculture system? It is fundamental. It is important to be inclusive. What does that mean? First, it means the people who work in our food systems should be treated with dignity. They produce the food the world eats and we need to include their voices when we are
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making policies and undertaking practices that affect them. Second, it means that healthy and sustainable diets need to be accessible and appealing to everyone, not just the elites. Third, it means we need to have space to include very diverse systems of production and distribution. We can have large-scale agriculture and small and medium-scale agriculture, but we need to manage that balance and encourage diverse production in all of those systems. We can have large businesses but we also need innovative entrepreneurship that’s going to create real competition – a race-to-the-top for producing healthy sustainable diets. We don’t want to have a system where some players are so powerful that the barriers to entry are too high and there isn’t space for diversity. Nor do we want a backwardlooking system, where we all have to go back to the past. We need a forward-looking, inclusive approach. What needs to be done to ensure that sustainability is central to a future agriculture system? First of all, we need to agree what sustainability means! It’s a word that is used in different ways to mean different things. There is a clear definition of sustainable development that came out in the Brundtland report in the 1980s, from the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, as the kind of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It’s very clear what it means, it incorporates all kinds of sustainability. We need to look to that holistic definition. How important is it to address the issue of health and nutrition within the context of the agriculture system? It is critically important. We are not going to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for health and nutrition unless we are
looking at how agriculture operates. At the moment we have incoherence between what we want people to eat and the nature of the food supply system. There are incentives built into the supply system which are not supporting the ability to have a healthy relationship with food and to access and consume a healthy and enjoyable diet. That needs to change. There are lots of suggestions of what needs to be done but the real core issue is how we do it. In the past we have done it by saying “let’s produce our way out of this.” But now is the time to start with people – the eater. We need to ask ourselves: ‘How are people affected by the problems of the food system?’ and walk back into the food system from there; trying to solve problems by understanding it from the perspective of lived experience. It may sound a bit abstract, but it’s actually a practical way of doing business that is fundamentally different. It’s about looking at unsustainable production and consumption from the perspective of people. And it’s about seeing people as more than just “consumers” in the black box of “demand”, but as people who have needs and constraints in their lives that influence what they eat. So it’s taking a more holistic approach. What will the system of food security and agriculture look like in 2030? If nothing changes about the way we are doing our business now, we will continue to have a system that pollutes and warms the atmosphere and sucks out water too fast; we will continue to have a system which produces under-nutrition, overweight,
obesity and non-communicable diseases; we will continue to have a system which produces unsafe food and in which antimicrobial resistance becomes a bigger and bigger problem; and a system which treats its workers improperly. We may have found some solutions around the edges, tweaks which will benefit certain people and that’s to be welcomed, but we won’t have fundamentally changed the way that the system operates. How do we avoid that bleak future? There are many things. The first thing is to connect decision making. At the moment, different people in different parts of the system are making different decisions with perfectly legitimate objectives but that conflict with each other. So we need more coherent decision-making, which is going to require different governance for food both at the international, national and indeed at the local level. It also means businesses need to look across their entire business and ask themselves: how does this action, this practice contribute to healthy sustainable diets? And if it doesn’t, they should rethink it. It’s only when we start to look at it holistically from people’s perspective that we’re going to create an inclusive system. Of course the food system is in theory a wonderful thing. It produces what we need for human life and human enjoyment and pleasure. We need to make it wonderful again.
ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON: WWW.WEFORUM.ORG SME ADVISOR
COOKING FOOD NOT THE PLANET! Stephen Clune, Senior Lecturer Sustainable Design, Lancaster University, and Karli Verghese, Principal Research Fellow, RMIT University, assess the impact of your kitchen on global warming…
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EDITOR’S PICKS
use this information to cook meals without cooking the planet.
01. It takes about 50 onions to produce a kilogram of greenhouse gas, but only 44 grams of beef to produce the same amount.
From farm to fork To produce our ranking, we compiled 369 published life-cycle assessment studies of 168 varieties of fresh produce, including fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, grains and nuts, dairy and livestock. To find out how much greenhouse gas is produced in food production, we need to look at all the activities that produce emissions on the way from paddock to the regional distribution centre. This includes: farm inputs from chemicals and fertilisers; fuel and energy inputs from irrigation and machinery for cultivation, harvesting and processing; and transport and refrigeration to the regional distribution centre. It also includes emissions released from fertilised soils, plants and animals in fields, but doesn’t include activities such as retail, cooking in the home and human consumption. In the case of non-ruminant and ruminant livestock, processes covered include breeding, feed production, fertiliser use, farm/broiler energy use including heating, as well as transport, processing at the slaughterhouse and refrigeration to the regional distribution centre. For lamb and beef the main source of emissions is methane. This is due to the fermentation process in which bacteria convert feed into energy in the animals’ stomachs. Methane can contribute anything above 50 per cent of the total for ruminant livestock. In the case of fish, species caught offshore by longline fishing fleets and trawlers have higher values because of the significantly higher fuel consumption than coastal fishing fleets. It is difficult to compare different lifecycle analyses as these are unique to a particular growing region, farming practice, or methodological calculation. We agree
02. The lack of published data makes emissions intensity of foods harder to validate, and such information is critical if attempts are made to inform dietary choice for environmental purposes. 03. To find out how much greenhouse gas is produced in food production, we need to look at all the activities that produce emissions on the way from paddock to the regional distribution centre
T
he food we eat is responsible for almost a third of our global carbon footprint. In research recently published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, we ranked fresh foods based on how much greenhouse gas is produced from farm to fork. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we found that red meat is the most emissions-intensive food we consume. But we also found that field-grown vegetables produce the least greenhouse gas. For instance, it takes about 50 onions to produce a kilogram of greenhouse gas, but only 44 grams of beef to produce the same amount. We hope that chefs, caterers and everyday foodies will
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there is danger in comparing one analysis with another to make direct comparisons and concrete conclusions. However, after comparing 1,800 life-cycle analysis results, we feel far more comfortable in generalising the findings. There is a large variation (median values) in results between food categories and also within categories, as illustrated below:
THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF FOODS Chicken: 3.65kg Fish: 3.49kg Eggs: 3.46kg Rice: 2.55kg Fruit & vegetables: 2.13kg Milk (world average): 1.29kg Tree nuts: 1.2kg Cereals & pulses: 0.51kg Field-grown fruit:0.42kg Field-grown vegetables: 0.37kg Cooking with less gas Due to different culinary and dietary requirements, it is hard to argue that you can replace beef with onions. However, it is
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It is possible to substitute red meat with other meats, or plant-based protein sources, such as lentils and nuts, that have a lower impact.
US$940 bn. per year is the estimated amount of economic losses globally as a result of food loss and waste.
possible to substitute red meat with other meats, or plant-based protein sources, such as lentils and nuts, that have a lower impact. Our study can help everyday citizens gain a better appreciation of the life-cycle impacts associated with the growing, harvesting and processing of food. With this knowledge, they can better plan, shop, prepare and cook food while reducing their carbon footprint. As the world grapples with the estimated US$940 billion per year in economic losses globally as a result of food loss and waste, these data illustrate the embedded carbon impacts when food is wasted in the supply chain. Our results could be used to plan menus for individuals and catering companies who want to reduce their carbon footprint, by selecting foods from different categories.
Limited studies are available, however, for many popular foods. This includes tree nuts such as almonds and cashews, and quinoa, duck, rabbit, turkey and kangaroo. We need to know more about the emissions intensity of these foods as they are often presented as alternative protein sources with low emissions. The lack of published data makes emissions intensity of these foods harder to validate, and such information is critical if attempts are made to inform dietary choice for environmental purposes. This article is published in collaboration with The Conversation. (www.theconversation.com)
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AND ITS APPETITE FOR GROWTH Since its launch in 2012, Zomato has regularly transformed its business strategy to target fresh customers and stay well ahead of its competitors. Now, it prepares for new highs. Rohin Thampi, Regional Director, Zomato MEA, speaks exclusively to SME Advisor…
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for restaurants. Outside of that, we are focusing on building a technology-driven organisation and are looking to introduce more meaningful and intuitive products for our users as well as our commercial partners. We also built better tools for our internal teams to empower them to realise their potential and boost their productivity. Aside from that I think we were able to very successfully lay down the foundation of the kind of organisation we want to build. We went back to the whiteboard and unlearnt and re-learnt a lot of things as a collective, which I think has been one of our largest wins in 2016.
ROHIN THAMPI REGIONAL DIRECTOR, ZOMATO MEA
What was the biggest challenge to Zomato’s growth in 2016? 2016 has been an incredibly interesting year for us as an organisation. We took a lot of corrective measures towards the end of 2015 and saw the benefits to the overall growth of the business as a result of the same in 2016. I would also like to think 2016 was a pivotal year for us because it defined the kind of the company we could/ would build and become in the truest sense. We became more prudent in how we spent our time as an organisation, as well as how we spent our management team’s bandwidth. We also exercised prudence in where we deployed our capital. As a result we brought down our burn which peaked at US$9 million sometime early 2015, to ~1 million by the end of 2016. Over the first six months of 2016 we also doubled our revenue, and were able to do so while bringing down the cost, and the high risk, high burn areas of the business. What were key achievements? We were able to successfully set up and hit the ground running with two new business verticals: Online Ordering and Table Reservations. In addition, we continued honing our largest B2B offering Zomato Base, which is our Point of Sales product
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Why is UAE an attractive market for Zomato? The Middle East, and specifically the UAE, presents a tremendous growth opportunity over the next three to five years. Let me give you an example to explain the power of the product in this region. In Dubai alone, a whopping approx. 90 per cent of the addressable population (people in the 18-45 age bracket living in the metropolitan area with enough disposable income to dine out) uses Zomato. The UAE is a cosmopolitan market in the true sense of the term, and the potential for user engagement, partner growth and reception of our product offering is truly immense here. We launched Zomato in Dubai in September 2012, with approximately 3500 restaurants listed on the website. Today, there are over 8000 Dubai-based restaurants listed on Zomato! This effectively means that the users get an exhaustive list of restaurants to make an informed decision about their next meal. The traffic on our website and app has grown consistently over the last four years. We have over half a million app downloads and over 1.8 million unique users in UAE that access Zomato each month. More and more people are using the Zomato app to order food, which is a remarkable trend. We have over 900 restaurants advertising on
E d i tor ’ s roundtable 039
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The UAE food scene was quite active in 2016 with new trends popping up, from the rising popularity of home-grown brands to delicious ‘freak shakes’
Zomato in the UAE (of which over 600 of them are in Dubai); and have broken even on the classifieds business in the UAE. In fact, our revenue growth from the UAE has even helped fuel the growth of Zomato in other geographies and adjacent business like the Online Ordering. The UAE is a large component of this growth and has definitely been a significant contributor to our business globally. We launched our online ordering business in the UAE about a year and a half ago and currently offer our users the choice of ordering from nearly 3000 restaurants. We are seeing a healthy growth rate of 25 per cent month on month, on the order volumes. Dubai is already one of the most profitable cities for our online ordering business. What’s particularly worked for your company in the UAE? Given that over 1.8 million unique visitors use the platform every month in the UAE to look for menus, pictures and other restaurant details which help them plan their next meal; I think the exhaustiveness
and depth of content we offer is our biggest USP. Add to that tech enabled services such as online ordering and table reservations, which make it all the more convenient for users to make a decision on where to have their next meal from, and order online or book a table at the restaurant in a couple of clicks. Can you identify a trend that has reshaped the local food market? The UAE food scene was quite active in 2016 with new trends popping up, from the rising popularity of home-grown brands to delicious ‘freak shakes’. We also saw food trucks and Michelin Star Chefs’ restaurants bursting into the food scene and promoting overall growth in both fine dining and street food categories. Molecular gastronomy also became more mainstream in the region over the past year, and pop-up restaurants could be seen at most of the outdoor events that happened over the past year, reaffirming the importance of food amongst the population. SME ADVISOR
E d i tor ’ s roundtable 040
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Food trucks, or street food in general, was on the back burner in the UAE food market, but over the past couple of years street food concepts have become trendy and seen an upswing in the UAE.
What is your data telling you about customer preferences? Is there anything that stands out? From our online ordering data, we have seen that pizza and Lebanese dishes were amongst the most ordered in 2016. The UAE market also loves its Asian food – from Chinese to Indian – which has been the most searched and popular cuisine of 2016. But it’s important to add that user behaviour is also affected by seasonal shifts. For instance, Biryani is the most sought after dish during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Zomato has been talking about cloud kitchens and infrastructure services. Will these services be launched in the UAE as well? We have recently launched our first Zomato Infrastructure Services (ZIS) site in Delhi, India, and will invest the next few weeks/months to learn the nuances of the operations, before we expand this
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further. The UAE has always been an important focal market for us. Both the users as well as our restaurant partners have always been very receptive to any of our new products. We’re all looking forward to bringing ZIS to the UAE over the next few months. What’s your take on food trucks? Disruptors or just a passing fad? Food trucks, or street food in general, was on the back burner in the UAE food market, but over the past couple of years street food concepts have become trendy and seen an upswing in the UAE. Many international concepts mixed with home-grown food trucks are now emerging across the country. Disruptor may be too strong a word, but food trucks have definitely helped expand and diversify the booming F&B sector in the Middle East. They are easy to set up ant their mobility reduces the risk of being tethered to a single location.
GIVE THE WORLD A SCENT OF AUTHENTICITY, GENEROSITY AND A MEMORABLE ESSENCE
MILLION VISITORS
SUPERSTORE OF THE FUTURE
DIFFERENT PRODUCTS
Expo 2020 Dubai is seeking traditional perfumers from the UAE to create a unique and distinctive range of scents that capture the essence of Expo 2020 Dubai. It’s more than perfumes. We are also looking for oud, bakhoor and attars to compliment the range of Expo 2020 Dubai souvenirs offered to those visiting the UAE. Adopting traditional techniques and natural ingredients, the Expo 2020 Dubai scent will need to be both authentic and to capture the essence of Dubai and the UAE’s blend of heritage and modernity. We want to work with experienced companies that have the specialised skills, expertise and resources to develop bespoke products for both ladies and gentlemen. To learn more about this opportunity, contact us at licensing@expo2020dubai.ae or register your company on the eSource portal (esource.expo2020dubai.ae) to make the most of this unique chance.
Connecting Minds, Creating the Future
expo2020dubai.ae
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FOOD ON-DEMAND: IN CONVERSATION WITH TALABAT.COM
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Abdulhamid Al Omar, CEO of Talabat.com, on his company’s growing appetite…
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Talabat recently crossed the 100,000 order milestone. How would you describe your journey so far?
We were naturally very proud when we hit that 100,000 order milestone last month. Initially, Talabat was established by young Kuwaiti entrepreneurs, and it’s an inspiring regional success story for passionate young minds in the region. In 2015, Talabat was acquired for US$170 million and is now owned by Delivery Hero, the global leader in online and mobile food ordering. It was the largest tech exit the MENA region had seen at the time. The idea behind Talabat was to create a platform that was both efficient and easy to use, and now we are the biggest online food ordering service in the GCC, present across all six markets. As a leader in this sector, we are aiming for further growth and to solidify our leadership stance in the Middle East region. From signing up over 4,000 restaurants, hitting the 50m order mark and the 6m download app mark, each new milestone we hit is a great new success for us as a team. We are also proud to say we recently won BBC Good Food’s Food Delivery App of the year and were selected as a Google Play Best of 2016 winner in the MENA region for “Best Local”.
There have been many similar apps that have been launched since Talabat. What keeps you ahead of the competition?
We’re a home-grown company that’s been around for many years, growing alongside the e-commerce and food tech industries in the region. Unlike other players in the market, Talabat is also GCC wide and we have 13 years of local knowledge and reach behind us. This means we have market understanding and localised services catering to the different needs of a wide range of people. We are also committed to constantly evolving our product and services to keep up to speed on the developing food trends. We focus a lot on our customer service, and our operations run 24/7 to ensure the experience is both convenient and hassle free. With years of knowledge and development behind us, we continue to be firmly focused on creating
and curating an amazing customer experience through product and customer service enhancement. Another great thing about Talabat is the size and range of restaurants available. The app and website collectively house the region’s largest online selection of F&B outlets. There is a built-in functionality to view individual menus before placing orders, and users can choose a restaurant based on cuisine and location. Payment can also be made using credit and debit cards at the time of ordering, rather than just cash on delivery, which saves a lot of time and decreases inconvenience. Finally, there are no delivery fees from Talabat itself, which saves money for the customer.
SME ADVISOR
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EDITOR’S PICKS 01. Talabat is a GCC wide food delivery portal, with 13 years of local knowledge and reach. 02. The idea behind Talabat was to create a platform that was both efficient and easy to use.
You’ve quickly expanded from Kuwait into the GCC territory. Was UAE an attractive proposition?
Talabat has evolved from a Kuwaiti-based start-up to become a regional leader in the e-commerce business, and the UAE was definitely a huge priority for us. The overall UAE F&B market has grown spectacularly in the last few years – from being a US$10 billion industry in 2011 to a US$14 billion industry in 2016, according to a research by KPMG. So there is plenty of opportunity in the field.
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What were the biggest challenges when expanding to other GCC countries?
We realise that the industry is growing and so we are constantly finding new ways to adapt. We make it a point not to treat every market the same and maintain an ongoing due diligence process so that we understand each market’s nuances. Being a home-grown business that is part of a global food ordering giant puts us in the unique position of balancing local insights with global learnings. At the same time, we continue to be very close to our restaurant partners and customers, continuously channelling their feedback into our business to ensure that we stay ahead of the curve in the online food ordering ecosystem in the region. The delivery and takeaway market is estimated to be around US$3.5 billion, and is set to grow at a rate of six per cent annually - or at least in the next five years – and we will continue to be a driving factor in that growth.
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How did you manage to stay competitive in a challenging business climate?
ABDULHAMID AL OMAR CEO, TALABAT.COM
In 2015, Talabat was acquired for
US$170 mn. In 2015, Talabat was acquired for
US$3.5 bn. 6% The delivery market is set to grow at a rate of 6% annually in the next five years.
While 2015 and 2016 saw an increasingly tough economic climate, the UAE is unique in that it has one of the highest F&B outlets per capita in the world. In fact, three in four people surveyed in the 2016 KPMG Report for the UAE ordered food at least once a week. People are drawn to the convenience of ordering online. In the current macroeconomic climate, we see that takeaway and delivery is growing faster than dine-in, and this is a trend visible globally. We are a business that exists because of the disruption brought about by technology, mainly smartphones. Specific to the UAE, a recent research led by Google found out that 99 per cent of the consumers use a smartphone and 89 per cent use the internet daily. Also, it is interesting to see that 70 per cent of smartphone owners would choose to do a task digitally if it were possible to do so. Technology is constantly evolving and so are customers’ expectations. This gives us the impetus to keep pushing ourselves in all areas of our business. We are always striving to elevate our value proposition, particularly in the context of convenience and choice for both restaurant partners and customers. We have several exciting updates in our product and service pipeline, and working to see these materialise are a top priority for us. Currently, we are working on some new features which will help restaurants better manage and operate their delivery processes. This will also translate into a better experience for our customers.
How has the acquisition helped the brand?
The e-commerce landscape in the region is shifting, and global players are increasingly taking notice of companies in the region. As mentioned earlier, when we were acquired in 2015, the acquisition was the largest of its kind in the Middle East. These types of acquisitions help expand our growth, our reach and, ultimately, our success, exponentially.
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The F&B sector is becoming increasingly competitive across the region.
Did the cultural transition present any challenges internally?
With any acquisition, some changes are inevitable and I am proud of my team for embracing new methods whilst maintaining the core values that have made Talabat so successful. As well as being an excellent place to work, we still have the mind-set of a start-up!
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What do you feel will be the biggest challenge to Talabat’s growth in 2017?
The F&B sector as a whole is becoming increasingly competitive across the region. In addition, dining and eating out options also continue to increase and expand in a region that is already saturated. This may see a correction soon, with operators taking a more cautious approach rather than expanding or opening new outlets. The growth of online food ordering through aggregators is shaking up the F&B industry, and customers are becoming more educated about the service. Unfailing ease and exceptional service are becoming the standard, bringing with them exciting challenges. The upward trajectory of the industry will be keeping us on our toes, striving to elevate the experience for our customers to find their favourite foods easily and conveniently from home, work, or on the road. That said, food consumption in the GCC is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.5 per cent between 2014 and 2019 as the region’s population expands, according to Alpen Capital’s GCC Food Industry Report 2015. It also mentions that food consumed in the region is likely to reach 51.9 million metric tons by 2019, which put us in a very good position!
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NEWS BITES
From healthy eating that encompasses superfoods to an increasing appetite for new cuisines, the following infographic presents a comprehensive overview of current trends. Go ahead, dig in.
STATE OF THE GLOBAL FOOD POLICIES 60% AREN’T SATISFIED
US 9.bn. FOOD PRODUCTION WILL NEED
30% BELIEVE THAT GLOBAL
11% WATER CONSUMPTION BY
25% CLIMATE CHANGE CAN
795 MILLION
WITH THE GLOBAL FOOD POLICIES.
TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE TO FEED 9 BILLION PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD BY 2050.
AGRICULTURE WILL INCREASE BY 11% IN 2050 – IN COMPARISON TO 2005 LEVELS.
POTENTIALLY CUT DOWN CROP YIELDS BY MORE THAN 25%
HUNGER CAN BE ELIMINATED BY 2025.
PEOPLE ARE GOING HUNGRY.
TRACKING FOOD WASTE ACROSS COUNTRIES 427kg
300kg
277kg
196kg
SAUDI ARABIA
US
INDONESIA
UAE
COUNTRIES THAT ARE TOP PERFORMERS IN REDUCING FOOD LOSS OR WASTE: FRANCE AUSTRALIA SOUTH AFRICA SME ADVISOR
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SNAPSHOT OF THE LOCAL F&B MARKET 19,053 NUMBER OF OUTLETS IN 2020 16,234
NUMBER OF OUTLETS IN 2015
Outlook for growth:
82%
OF FOOD OPERATORS SAY THEY ARE ALREADY LISTED ON THE FOOD APPS AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET.
46% DECLINE 27%
Change in average spend:
63%
SPENDING MORE
28%
STAGNATION
NO CHANGE
27% GROWTH
SPENDING LESS
9%
CHANGING CONSUMER PREFERENCES 60%
SAY THAT THE FOOD THEY CONSUME TODAY IS FRESHER IN COMPARISON TO FIVE YEARS AGO.
30%
ONLY 30% COUNT THE NUMBER OF CALORIES THEY CONSUME.
14%
SAY THEY ALWAYS EAT HEALTHY FOOD.
82%
SUPERFOODS HAVE SEEN TREMENDOUS GROWTH WITH CHIA SEEDS SALES UP BY 62% AND BUCKWHEAT SALES UP BY 82%.
39%
TAKE MORE INTEREST IN HOW THEY PRESENT FOOD THAN THEY DID FIVE YEARS AGO – DUE TO THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA.
88%
WANT TO EXPERIMENT WITH NEW CUISINES AND RESTAURANTS.
15%
CLAIM THEY DON’T GO TO FINE DINING RESTAURANTS.
Sources: KPMG UAE Food and Beverage Report 2016; Euromonitor; IFPRI Global Food Policy Report 2016; The Waitrose Food and Drink Report 2016; World Bank; FAO (2009). Global Agriculture towards 2050; and Barilla Center for food and nutrition.
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THE SWEET TASTE OF
SUCCESS For almost 27 years, Mister Baker has been committed to the highest quality and widest range of cakes to win the trust of its customers. We sit down with the man at the helm of the brand – Managing Director; Lokesh Fotedar. SME ADVISOR
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EDITOR’S PICKS 01. Mister Baker’s mission encompasses everything it stands for: “providing total customer satisfaction through quality products that are hygienically produced and served with a smile”. 02. It was conceptualised as a cake shop that would specialise in celebration cakes. Since that beginning, Mister Baker has become synonymous with cakes for all occasions with freshness as its motto and variety as its forte. 03. Mister Baker has been serving celebration cakes, pastries, bakery products and other confectionary items since 1991.
M
ister Baker has been serving celebration cakes, pastries, bakery products and allied confectionary items since 1991, and today is UAE’s most prestigious retailer with 18 outlets across the emirates. As Lokesh Fotedar, Managing Director of the established brand, sits down with SME Advisor, he opens up: “Over the last three decades, our home grown brand has become synonymous with celebrations. Whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, a festival, a job promotion or even just a house-warming party; people come to us for their cakes. It’s a humbling feeling that we’ve become an integral part of the customer’s most precious moments. When I look back at where we started and what we’ve achieved, it’s been such an incredible journey.” Like any successful retailer, right from Day One; the company decided to focus on a niche range of products and having found the celebration cake segment as a fragmented business; it started developing
SME ADVISOR
a cake centric business. Accordingly Mister Baker has developed its own range of products that it pays close attention to because it’s these products that affect the perception of the company as a whole. “Our brand reputation is of paramount importance to us. The quality and range of our products is why customers choose us over competitors. Once you’ve bought a cake from us, you know what to expect and it’s this consistency which ensures that our customers keep coming back,” explains Lokesh. Quality comes first Mister Baker’s mission encompasses everything it stands for: “providing total customer satisfaction through quality products, that are hygienically produced and served with a smile”. How challenging has it been to stay true to this mission; while scaling up and spreading the outlets all over UAE?
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Mister Baker is already whipping up plans for further expansion in the coming years.
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“As you grow bigger, it’s definitely more challenging to maintain standards and to ensure that you’re not compromising on the quality of your products. And, when you’re operating in a segment like short shelf life bakery products; there is absolutely no room for error! That’s exactly why we have a quality assurance programme; this includes regular testing of our cakes to ensure the right consistency, the perfect texture and an appealing presentation. We strictly follow the guidelines of the HACCP procedural system and other best practices set out by the relevant authorities. It is our non-stop endeavour to ensure continuous improvement through training programmes and implementation of HACCP systems in order to measure the effectiveness of our business objectives and goals,” he responds. “I think the proof is in the pudding,” he smiles. “Our products reflect our commitment to quality and creativity, and our dedicated staff are well equipped to handle the most demanding of requests.”
Diversifying the business Amidst dynamic market conditions and intensifying competition, Lokesh is leading his team to spur growth through diversification. “At the end of the day, it’s a competitive market and you have to continually evolve if you want to stay on the top. We have an extensive product range, but we are always looking to improve our offering. For instance, to enhance the presentation of our cakes and allied products; we have acquired distributorship of well-known brands of accessories.” Currently, Mister Baker represents companies such as Bakery
Crafts -USA, Culpitt - UK and Decora -Italy, to provide a wide variety of decorative items. Another area that the business is taking very seriously is technology. It is apparent that digital is the future and accordingly we have invested heavily into it. Partners in success Speaking of technology, Lokesh also mentions his prolific relationship with Etisalat. As is the case with any retailer, you can’t conduct every day operations smoothly without a finely-tuned ICT framework. “Etisalat has shown us some very innovative solutions made specifically for our industry,” he quips. “The bottom line is that Etisalat keeps us not just in line with, but ahead of, the tech curve. They keep us fit for business.” Clearly, having a top notch telecom provider is a lifeline for the company. Bigger ambitions Most established business owners let the glamour of running a popular F&B outlet get the better of them; but Lokesh remains firmly grounded. Success hasn’t come easy, and there’s still a long way to go. Looking ahead, Mister Baker is already whipping up plans for further expansion in the coming years. “We have drawn up longterm plans to build on our success, and to continue giving our customers quality cakes and bakery products. Whether it’s opening new outlets or expansion into new markets, we’re exploring all options. All I can say is watch this space!” SME ADVISOR
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You’re in the clear Even with the evolution of payment methods like cards, electronic transfers, mobile, Direct Debits, and most recently Blockchain, cheques remain one of the most popular payment methods in the country. This is primarily due to the transaction cost associated with them and the added security element associated with ‘bouncing’ a cheque. So, with cheques continuing to remain a top choice for customers, what are banks doing to improve their offering? Experts from National Bank of Abu Dhabi get us up to speed…
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EDITOR’S PICKS 01. Even though cheques offer a blanket of security for businesses, the whole process surrounding them can be quite tedious. 02. NBAD recently launched its own remote cheque deposit service called Onsite Cheque Deposit Service or eClear, which is primarily aimed at the SME segment.
The rise of cheques as a mode of payment For years, growing businesses have used cheques as their most preferred mode of payment – it’s convenient, secure and fairly efficient. While the regulators continue to push more efficient and cost-effective means to settle payments among all parties, surprisingly, the use of cheques as a primary mode of payment continues to grow over the past couple of years. Between 2010 and 2016, we have seen a relative level of growth on cheques cleared through the Central Bank, both in terms of volume and value. Let’s take a look at the following statistics presented on the Central Bank of the UAE’s official website – Typically, larger businesses would prefer to settle their obligations through domestic (UAEFTS) and cross border (SWIFT) fund transfers. This is mainly because of the technologies they have invested in their ERPs to connect seamlessly with their preferred bank partners, as well as the trust and the long-standing relationships they have built over time with their various suppliers and customers, which no longer necessitates any form of security to cover their transactions. From an SME perspective, however, the market dynamics are quite different in terms of their preferred mode of settlement. Cheques continue to be widely used because a lot of these companies lack of sophistication in terms of account reconciliation and usage of banking systems. They also require an increased level of security for any commercial transactions they enter into. The ‘criminality’ of cheques still continue to be ever so present, so in spite of the introduction of Direct Debits back in 2013, consumers prefer to be paid in cheques. Easing the process of cheque clearing Even though cheques offer a blanket of security for businesses, the whole process surrounding them can be quite tedious. This is especially true in the case of a business
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Cheques continue to be widely used because a lot of companies lack of sophistication in terms of account reconciliation and usage of banking systems.
owners, who probably deal with several cheques on a day-to-day basis. They require a more convenient way to deposit their cheques in a timely and efficient manner. To ease this process, NBAD recently launched its own remote cheque deposit service called Onsite Cheque Deposit Service or eClear, which is primarily aimed at the SME segment. Here’s how it works –
ϭϭ eClear allows customers to ‘deposit’
their AED cheques remotely from their office location through a cheque scanner provided to them by the Bank.
ϭϭ The cheque images are then
transmitted through the Bank’s proprietary web application. SME ADVISOR
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2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017**
Value
970,864
1,163,666
1,122,303
1,339,503
1,559,595
1,585,826
1,479,692
1,477,080
Volume
26,237
26,917
27,568
29,334
30,817
31,215
29,928
30,000
Growth rate
Value
19.86%
-3.55%
19.35%
16.43%
1.68%
-6.69%
-0.18%
volume
2.59%
2.42%
6.41%
5.06%
1.29%
-4.12%
-0.24%
Source: The Central Bank of the UAE website
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What makes eClear particularly useful for SMEs is that it complements the existing cheque clearing services normally offered in all branches.
ϭϭ Once received, it is further verified then sent to the Central Bank Image Cheque Clearing System (ICCS) for actual clearing.
ϭϭ Assuming the cheque images were
transmitted during the prescribed cutoff times, responses from the cheque issuing banks will be provided during the same banking day, not later than the end-of-day process by the Bank.
ϭϭ Customers should be able to
conveniently access the status of each of the cheques they have transmitted earlier and perform immediate reconciliation once the cheques have been marked ‘PAID’ in the eClear application.
SME ADVISOR
ϭϭ Cheques which have been marked
PAID will be collected by the Bank a few days after the cheque settlement date. For cheque returns, the application can provide the Cheque Return Advice, which the customer can use to decide the next steps.
The SME appeal What makes eClear particularly useful for SMEs is that it complements the existing cheque clearing services normally offered in all branches. So, business can scan their AED cheques for transmission to the Bank for further clearing and settlement. The whole process of cheque realisation becomes faster as the customer does not need to queue up in the branch, cheque images can be stored for future reference.
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THE FLAVOUR OF SUCCESS Massimo Vidoni speaks exclusively to SME Advisor about his passion for food and how its helping propel his company Italtouch to greater heights… SME ADVISOR
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EDITOR’S PICKS 01. Massimo isn’t offering a mainstream product – his product is exclusive. 02. He has built powerful relationships with leading restaurants in the country – and the chefs that head these establishments.
MASSIMO VIDONI FOUNDER ITALTOUCH
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harismatic, driven and determined, Massimo Vidoni has a personality that is larger than life. But, what’s more fascinating is the story behind his company. “Everything started in 1992 when I moved to New York. I went there to study marketing, I began working at a very young age. I discovered that Americans were really in love with truffles even though it is an expensive item that comes from Italy. They noticed that they were willing to pay the price so I began commuting to Italy and bought two different kinds of truffles. I used to go to restaurants with bags of truffles and tried to sell them to the chefs. I used to import truffles for all the big restaurants in New York and they saw me as a trusted source. Then I went worldwide I started to do Tokyo, Brazil and San Paulo. That’s how it all started,” he reminisces. Fast forward 18 years and the global economic crisis has forced Massimo to shut down operations. His passion for food, however, continues to inspire him. “After
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With rising competition in the market, you can’t afford to be complacent!
I closed my company, I happened to be visiting Dubai for a couple of weeks and I absolutely loved the vibe of the city. I tried to apply for a job as a sales manager as I speak four languages, but nothing was working out.” Naturally, Massimo decided to fall back on his tried and tested truffle business. He was met with a cold response. “Truffle wasn’t considered as revenue generating product. I didn’t lose hope – I took it up as a challenge. I got four kilos of truffles from Australia and I went first to the chef of a prestigious restaurant convinced him to buy two kilos. I knew I had gotten the break I needed! He then introduced me to other chefs and in an hour I had sold the entire four kilos. That’s how I began operations in Dubai.” Massimo knew that there was a demand in the market; he just had to start small. “I had no investors so I invested my personal savings to the tune of 30-40k Euros that I had and started small. I have a lot of vendors from Europe that helped me with the sourcing. I built my own line of products in Italy and that’s how the name Italtouch came about. I then localised my product and chose to make my packaging gold and blue, which is a very unusual colour for any food product because I knew it would stand out on the shelf. It was minor details like these that helped me during the initial stages.”
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built powerful relationships with leading restaurants in the country – and the chefs that head these establishments. “I share such a good relationship with the chefs that I work with. They call me the truffleman!” he jokes. “A lot of companies have started offering truffles so there has been a rise in awareness of the product. I continue to strengthen the position of my brand through social media and by staying in touch my network of chefs. With rising competition in the market, you can’t afford to be complacent!”
Established: March, 2012
Employees: 9
USP: Selling a luxury food item that wasn’t prevalent here before – offering great quality and price. Challenge takeaway: Always be sure of what you are doing or else do not start any business. Service your clients well. Remember, client is king!
He continues: “I used to operate out of RAK Free Trade Zone as I did not want people to visit my warehouse because there was only one flexi desk and one fridge. Then I moved to DIP where I had to hire a logistic company to store my boxes for me. It cost me a lot but saved me a lot of headache and allowed me to focus on selling. My first office in DWC was in 2012 and they gave me 86 meters, it was just me and one shelf!” Hard to stomach Massimo isn’t offering a mainstream product – his product is exclusive and so is his business. But, not everyone has been able to digest this. “When I embarked on my entrepreneurial journey, not many people understood the concept or why truffles were so expensive. When I would go to deliver my products in Jumeirah, people would be bewildered by my invoices of AED 25,000! It took some time for people to understand that truffle is a luxury food item. In fact, once my shipping agency called me to check what I’m shipping because they would see a small box weighing five kilos valued at around AED 100,000,” he recalls. Today, Massimo continues building the awareness of his product. He has
Spicing up the business Initially, Massimo’s business was a solo operation – he used to manage everything from delivery and invoicing to collecting payments and customer retention. Of course now that he’s expanded to a team of nine, his operations are more streamlined. “I started with a truffle line of eight products for restaurants and wanted to scale up operations by opening my own store. I have to be honest – the investment was simply too huge for me to venture out. That’s exactly why I decided to stick to what I did best: selling truffles to restaurants. How I did broaden my reach, however, was by approaching new restaurants. I did some research and got to know that Emirati and British population loves truffles – so I wanted to target this demographic.” Things are in a good place for Massimo. “Now, we are nine people and expanding. We are looking to get a bigger office. I also have a line of pasta and vegetables. I don’t need to chase clients, they tell me what they want and I source it for them. I am picky when I sell. I have my top clients that I follow as they pay in time as I have to pay the vendors,” he beams. “Currently, I have lot of investor requests to open up offices in Saudi Arabia and Doha, but it’s still in the works. My dream, however, is to open cafés across the city. And, achieving that isn’t too far!” SME ADVISOR
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DELIVEROO’S WINNING RECIPE FOR FOOD DELIVERY In an exclusive interview, we discover the brand’s audacious plans for expansion and its vision to dominate the food delivery space…
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EDITOR’S PICKS 01. Deliveroo has raised a total of US$475m to date. 02. Headquartered in London, the company has more than 1,000 employees in offices around the globe. 03. Deliveroo’s mission is to create the best food delivery experience in the world.
Established: : London: February, 2013 and UAE: November, 2015
Employees: 1,000 globally
Year on year growth: 650% growth in 2016 globally USP: Deliveroo’s mission is to provide the best food delivery experience in the world. Challenge takeaway: Be prepared for your role to evolve as you grow the business.
SME ADVISOR
Accelerating ahead When you first look at Deliveroo, it resembles any other food-delivery portal. Naturally, food delivery isn’t a novel concept. It enables its customers to choose from a network of restaurants, place an order and get food delivered instantly. So, what makes Deliveroo so appealing to its customers? Well, here’s the catch: the platform offers great restaurant food from local partners to customers in just 32 minutes or less, using a fleet of couriers that travel on bicycle, motorbike or on foot. It is this differentiating factor that has propelled Deliveroo from a start-up to a global phenomenon. The brand currently works with over 20,000 best-loved restaurants as well as over 30,000 riders to provide the best food delivery experience in the world. Headquartered in London, the company has more than 1,000 employees in offices around the globe. It operates in over 130 cities across 12 countries including Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. And, all this started when ardent entrepreneur Will Shu noticed a gap in the delivery market back in 2013. “Deliveroo’s mission is to create the best food delivery experience in the world, and we start by seeking out the best restaurant partners in each of the 130+ cities that we operate in. Our platform provides a seamless user experience; customers love the transparency of tracking their order from the restaurant to their door in just 32 minutes or less. Additionally, our customer service platform is second to none – it is one of the things that really helps our retention,” Anis Harb, General Manager, Deliveroo GCC says explaining the brand’s proposition. The food delivery market has been really hyped over the last few years. Yet, plenty of investors are willing to back
up Deliveroo’s vision. Shortly after its inception, Deliveroo’s rock solid business model and rapidly growing customer base began attracting the attention of global investors. In June 2014, the company got US$4.5mn in Series A funding led by JamJar Investment with participation from Index Ventures and Hoxton Ventures. This was followed by: Series B funding of US$25mn in January 2015 led by Accel with participation from Index Ventures, Hoxton Ventures and Hummingbird Ventures; Series C funding of US$70mn in July 2015 led by Greenoaks Capital and Index Ventures with participation from Accel and Hoxton Ventures; Series D funding of US$100mn in November 2015 led by DST Global and Greenoaks Capital with participation from Accel and Hummingbird Ventures; and finally Series E funding of US$275mn in August 2016 led by Bridgepoint, DST Global and General Catalyst and with participation from Greenoaks Capital.
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brand you build becomes unique in every country,” he explains. A large part of the ability to combat these challenges hinges on the company’s team. Anis acknowledges that: “We’ve overcome this challenge by building more robust business models, which increased our confidence to suit our rapid growth rate. More importantly, we’ve built a great team: one that works very hard and works well together. My staff members truly define ‘teamwork.’ They are hardworking and effortlessly talented; this has taken Deliveroo to new heights!”
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The brand currently works with over 20,000 best-loved restaurants as well as over 30,000 riders to provide the best food delivery experience in the world.
A bumpy ride Deliveroo has fantastic investors on board, loyal customers to cater to and employees that are proud to be part of the company. With all the right boxes ticked, is there anything that worries Anis Harb at night? What is the biggest challenge? “One of the areas we’re constantly focusing our efforts on is planning for growth. We grew very quickly over the past 12 months and had to continuously make decisions based on our forecasts. Sometimes we over hired, sometimes we under hired. We even moved offices twice. Planning and adjusting to our speedy growth over the last 12 months has been quite a task. Also, when you are expanding so rapidly, you have to adapt to the needs of the local market. Every country is different. The Middle East, for instance, has different legal regulations and varying consumer tastes. How you target the consumers in the Middle East differs from one local market to the next, and the
Fuelling growth With new, faster apps being introduced in the market every day, Anis realises the need to continually innovate and expand. “We are focused on growing our business in the region. We launched in Abu Dhabi at the end of Q4 2016, and the market is growing quickly. We have some collaborations coming up with local and international partners for which we are quite excited!” He adds: “Moreover, technology is also playing a major role in boosting our growth. We recently hired 300 new employees in our London office to solely focus on technology and we are continuously working to improve Deliveroo’s experience across the board, which includes our participating restaurants, our riders and of course, our customers. With more competition in the market, food delivery apps will find ways to become increasingly efficient. We are also anticipating improvements across packaging, speed of deliveries and options available for consumers as new technologies such as “dark kitchens” become available.”
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TENACIOUS
TAQADO Walking into Taqado Mexican Kitchen’s Dubai Media City branch, we get a glimpse of Nadine Benchaffai in action. She’s looking at the ingredients, welcoming walk-in guests and assisting her staff with their orders. As we sit down with her, she says with a cheeky smile: “It’s not that they are my team, it’s more like WE are a team.” It’s easy to see straightaway that Nadine is a people’s person; she’s clever, easy going and to the point. In fact, these are qualities that have helped her become a terrific leader to her growing team of over 160 members and build her immensely popular fast food brand.
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Established: June 2012
Employees: 160
Year on year growth: Circa 40% (planned 2016 - 17) USP: Empowering people to learn and collaborate in real time, in a simple and effective way. Challenge takeaway: Plan as much as you can so you’re better prepared for the unexpected!
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Cooking up a storm Take a second to look at the numbers that define Taqado’s growth: the brand has expanded from one to 13 stores in four years. Its revenue is doubling every year since its inception in 2012. What’s more? The company is now eyeing expansion into other GCC markets through franchising. So, the question to Nadine is: how did she make the transition from being a young fresh graduate out of London School of Business to becoming a very successful restauranteur? “The concept already existed elsewhere in the world and I had invested and worked on launching Tortilla back in 2006 in London. I remained an executive on that Board until I moved out to Dubai. There seemed to be an obvious gap here for that kind of concept so it made sense to launch something like it here. Hence, Taqado was born,” she opens up. “I chose it because it was an area that I had previous experience in and there seemed to be an opportunity in the market for it. In addition, I felt so many of the international franchise brands were so
poorly executed here that there was an opening to really make a difference.” Perfecting the recipe And, what exactly is Taqado doing differently? “Taqado is different in that all the food is cooked from scratch everyday with high quality ingredients like Mexican Haas avocados. The concept allows you to customise your meals so you’re not constantly removing items you don’t like but rather building your perfect meal. Moreover, we work hard to remain accessible from a price point perspective,” she replies. “Look, when we started out we had a very simple goal in mind: to offer good quality Mexican food at affordable prices. We are not just selling Tacos or Nachos; we are selling an experience. And, when you are selling an experience, your service team is your most important asset.” Nadine ranks her employees as the topmost contributors to her success; her biggest strength. But, there was a time when her team was one of her biggest concerns – and over the last five years, she’s worked hard to turn this around. “Finding the right team with the right skills and attitude is always a challenge. And, as we grew bigger, this challenge became quite apparent. Setting the required procedures is one thing but enforcing them is another; having a dedicated team to constantly check quality, consistency etc. is the real test. We need people that are quite entrepreneurial and can get stuck in to whatever is needed but at the same time be structured – and that combination is a lot harder to find than I ever imagined!” She further explains: “Wherever you are you need the right team and partners; this makes a huge difference and is often the defining factor between succeeding and failing. People will say finding the right staff is tough in any business anywhere but I do feel it’s harder here especially for the salaries needed as the cost of living increases. Landlords are also very strong and
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We are not just selling Tacos or Nachos; we are selling an experience. And, when you are selling an experience, your service team is your most important asset.
rents often seem unrealistic for the market we’re in so that is a constant challenge. We think doubly hard about where to go no matter how amazing a new development may be. On the flip side, as a new brand it is much easier to launch here because landlords want new concepts all the time – whereas in the UK it took us almost two years to get our first site because no one wants to take a risk on a new brand.” Following the old adage of ‘slow and steady wins the race’, Nadine and her management team started implementing bite-sized solutions to solve the problem. She shares her experience: “We knew that we had to make some key decisions with regards to the skills needed to take the company to the next stage. This meant removing anyone that couldn’t really adhere to the procedures set out. Next, we tried to find the skills in-house wherever possible and promote staff internally, which turned out to be a great success as it provided growth opportunity for our staff and motivated everyone. We also only hired
people into senior roles based on if we had worked with them before.” The outcome of Nadine’s strategy can be seen in her books. “Results are that revenues are growing despite tough times in the market and our margins are under better control. More importantly, with a tried and tested formula for hiring in our home market, we can confidently focus on regional expansion now,” she informs. Facing the heat Things are definitely looking up for Nadine since she’s found her dream team. So, is it smooth sailing from here on? “Smooth sailing and entrepreneurship don’t go hand in hand,” she laughs. Things are getting tougher for Nadine as the competition heats up. “Are we pulling our socks up? Yes, absolutely! The F&B market within this region sees cut-throat competition. You need to be consistently good in terms of quality and value and also refresh your brand so it doesn’t become stale. We’re innovating in terms of new menu items, updating the looks of each store as we progress. If you
visit our first store at Mall of the Emirates vs. our latest outlet in Ibn Battuta you can see how the brand has evolved. We’re also becoming savvier on social media with the kind of promotions we run amongst other things,” she admits. A touch of technology Social media promotion is just the beginning of Taqado’s technological curve. Nadine is keen to integrate technology into the dayto-day running of her business. “Technology is starting to play a crucial part as we grow bigger and need real time access to store performance, ordering and understanding the sales mix. We recently changed our POS systems across all stores and transferred our accounts system to a cloud-based software. In addition, we work closely with Snapp & Beam as our partners to deliver customer loyalty and retention campaigns. Finally, new food delivery disruptor Deliveroo is now a key partner in getting Taqado out of just in-store sales and towards a larger delivery-driven market.”
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Technology will continue to have an impact on loyalty programmes, payment systems and the way brands market themselves through social media.
“We believe that the market for apps is really going towards aggregators – customers are becoming pickier about which apps they download. So, why have a Taqado app when they can get one that groups multiple brands? This is the case for loyalty apps as well as delivery,” says Nadine pragmatically. “We’re therefore working with these partners much more closely than before and finding ways to integrate systems so it’s more seamless for us as well as our customers.” The future is ripe What’s next for Taqado Mexican Kitchen? “In the short-term, we will continue to streamline our processes (operational, financial etc.), improve our marketing campaigns and focus on further expansion in the UAE, although at a slower rate than before. Regional expansion through franchising is on our agenda in the longterm. We’re also working on the process to identify and develop relationships with the right partners. We are working on
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some event collaborations and are in the process of working with selective partners to do better collaborations on items such as coffee, for example” says Nadine excitedly. “We are also tracking the latest trends: healthy eating continues to have an influence on the market and we expect to see more raw food, vegan, paleo and acai being consumed.” All in all, Nadine’s business is in a good place. And, as she gets ready to assist her staff with a new batch of orders that have just come in, we nudge her for a few parting words of wisdom. She happily obliges: “Try to create a solid business plan and really understand your target market. Undertake a feasibility study to really understand what you can afford – especially with regards to locations and rents. Understand your weaknesses and seek to bring in partners that help address those so you have the right team. Finally, if you’re having second thoughts about something, follow your gut and let it go.” Now, that’s what we call a recipe for success!
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PRESSMAN’S
- NOT JUST ANOTHER SANDWICH SHOP!
Amit Gandhi and Sawan Ravani swear by the simplicity of their concept. But in a market flooded with seasoned foodpreneurs , is simple enough?
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EDITOR’S PICKS 01. Pressman’s Pressed Sandwiches is a brand that is fully owned by ESCA Restaurants DMCC Company established in June 2014 and the first outlet of Pressman’s was rolled out on November 3, 2014. 02. The concept is entirely self-funded from the inception stage till now.
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he heart of Pressman’s pitch is simple: they make fresh, tasty sandwiches. It’s definitely not the first business with this offer; fast food restaurants have been around for years. But by eliminating the fuss that usually surrounds such outlets, the brand has succeeded in making food their ultimate hero. “My friend Amit Gandhi, who is also the Co-founder of Pressman’s, and I have been foodies all our life and love to explore food wherever we are in the world. We usually prefer food concepts that are practical, accessible and honest in your face without any fuss or gimmick, which we believe are unfortunately rare to find in today’s times. There came a point when we said to ourselves that it will be best to plunge in and create our own concept that we truly believe in and have wished for years to experience. And that is when we started conceiving Pressman’s,” says Sawan Ravani. In pursuit of perfection, Sawan and Amit spent two years transforming their hazy idea of a sandwich shop to an actual running business model. They then decided to launch their first outlet on International Sandwich Day, i.e. November 3, 2014. “In order to get every aspect of the concept from food quality to branding to service to overall look and feel, we had to not only conceive and develop every facet in detail but also keep revising the same over and over again until we were absolutely confident of it,” they quip. These two years of going from idea to inception taught the entrepreneurial duo some hardened lessons. Like the fact that the F&B industry might look glamourous from the outside, but, it requires serious hard work and dedication. “One should venture into retail F&B not just because of passion but more importantly because of your ability to remain vigilant 24X7. The restaurant business is all about quality, and a disaster is waiting to happen at all times, the moment you take your eyes off the operations. Unlike fashion or footwear, where products are manufactured in factories and retailers simply have to promote
them to customers, in F&B you cannot spare a breath until the product is prepared and consumed by the customer in full satisfaction,” shares Sawan. He also mentions that to operate in this industry, self-sufficiency is key. And, Amit and Sawan have applied this principle in all aspects of their business – including funding. Amit adds: “The F&B industry demands lot of capital and patience. So when we decided to take a dip, we knew the prerequisites very well. And from a young age we have been taught that unless and until you put in your sweat, blood and own money you will never master your trade. So going by this principle, our concept is entirely self-funded from the inception stage till now, when we have three operational outlets.” Hungry for growth With a strong foundation and initial success of Pressman’s first outlet, Amit and Sawan knew they’d mastered the recipe for success. They used the same formula and soon opened two more outlets in the past year. “Since we opened the first Pressman’s Sandwich House in JLT on November 3, 2014, we have seen tremendous growth in business despite rather subdued and challenging economic conditions in the region. Our year-on-year revenue has increased by more than 70 per cent with more than 85 per cent of repeat customers across all our outlets. Our loyal customer database currently stands at more than 14000 and employees’ strength is at 40 which include 15 delivery drivers as more than 60 per cent of our revenues come from delivery business,” remarks Sawan delightfully. And, his pride is with reason. These are impressive numbers for a start-up that has been around for less than three years. But, he brushes this compliment aside and says: “Yes, the numbers are superb but the greatest business achievement to date for me is when people walk into Pressman’s for the first time; experience the food, service and ambience and wonder if Pressman’s is a brand from the USA or Europe? As Co-founders of this home-grown brand that is fully conceived and developed SME ADVISOR
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in Dubai, Amit and I feel immensely satisfied with what we have created. It definitely hasn’t been an easy journey.” Amit and Sawan have been climbing up the entrepreneurial ladder rather quickly and have naturally stumbled a few times. Sawan opens up about the challenges: “The time it requires to get approvals for setting up of a branch or a company in any part of Dubai is much more than it used to be as a lot of new rules and regulations have been introduced. This has sometimes disturbed our anticipated timelines and hindered the initial advantage of the rent free period. For a retailer like us, loss of business even for a day is the most dreaded thing. Quality control is another major roadblock. Being a quick service restaurant concept, it is imperative for us to ensure consistent quality 365 days across all outlets – and that is the biggest challenge! But the fact that we realise the importance of quality control, and its pivotal role in the success of the brand, has made us more involved and committed to every process in the making of items on the menu. This to me is the biggest benefit of owning your own F&B brand – it doesn’t allow you to become complacent!” Given the nature of the industry in which they operate, every day brings a new challenge. But Amit and Sawan know they can’t afford to get detracted. “The key is to stay involved and understand the process and compliance requirements first-hand. Only then you realise what needs to be followed up and how to do it correctly we can still ensure speedy and timely approvals. This knowledge and understanding of key requirements from the brand perspective has helped us not only be in absolute compliance with the regulations but also ensure our contractors and agencies complete the approvals and fit-out works of our outlets in time. Every growing enterprise will have problems and benefits. It all depends on the perception and attitude of the entrepreneur whether he can learn from these challenges and convert them into opportunities,”
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The competition is heating up There is no question that Dubai is one of the most competitive markets in the world when it comes to F&B especially in the casual/ quick service restaurant segment. In a market flooded with F&B concepts, there are very few that are sustainable, scalable and true to their values. Sawan quickly says: “Our motto is hot, fresh and quick and we mean it. Our sandwiches are always served hot and pressed, made from only fresh ingredients without adding any preservatives or artificial conditioners including baking our own signature breads in house and served quick. As a matter of fact Pressman’s is one of the top growing brands in Dubai on Zomato for online ordering and delivery. While most other restaurants have delivery time of 40 plus minutes we deliver our orders to customers’ door-step within 25 minutes. When people are usually tangled in their daily routine hassles and stress the last thing they expect is a complicated, sugar-coated and unreasonably expensive option to eat and this is where Pressman’s hits the nail. We have kept things pretty simple at Pressman’s; good food, good price and good service and this perhaps is our biggest advantage.”
A SLICE OF SUCCESS
Pressman’s has managed to create a stir in the food market in a very short time period. Have they attracted tyhe attention of any prolific investors? “ Yes, recently we brought Neelesh Bhatnagar on board Pressman’s. More than being an investor, he is a personal friend I have known for years. After building a strong foundation for Pressman’s, our aim was to aggressively expand the brand within the region by opening our own outlets across the UAE for which we needed a partner who not only understands retail business but is equally passionate for Pressman’s as we are. Neelesh is just the right partner; his invaluable experience as the CEO of Emax and integral part of Landmark Group for more than 15 years adds to the pace and size of our success - not only in the region but potentially across the world.” Building an appetite for technology Sawan jumps in: “Technology has always been at the forefront of our operations in Pressman’s. Whether it is the use of ERP system for centrally managing purchases and preparation costs to sales and revenue in the outlets to complete integration of accounting or sourcing of high capacity industrialised grilling
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Pressman’s currently have three operational outlets one each in JLT, DIFC and SZR
Established: November, 2014
Employees: 40
Year on year growth: 70%
USP: Hot, fresh and quick
Challenge takeaway: F&B business is all about human relationships. Whether it is between you and your employees or that with your customers. The stronger these human bonds are the more sustainable and successful the brand will be.
machines from US which not only grills the bread on both sides but heats the ingredients inside within no time thereby ensuring just the perfect quality product, we have always preferred to stick to the best technology on offer at all times. This in turn has helped us not only grow our business quicker but also ensure quality and efficiency across the board.” He adds that they are already in the process of getting their own customised customer loyalty, ordering and delivery tracking software which will be made available to their customers through the Pressman’s app and will help every loyal customer to connect with the brand like never before and thereby avail attractive loyalty benefits. Fresh ambitions Amit and Sawan have their finger on the pulse of the market and there’s no one better placed to foresee major trends in the market. They predict that “2017 will be the year of consolidation. While most of the retail sector and in particular high-end retail is expected to continue to experience headwinds until the second half of this year at least, upcoming brands like Pressman’s that are scalable and affordable would still be able to expand its
footprint across the region through a rational and calculative approach.” Pressman’s currently have three operational outlets one each in JLT, DIFC and SZR. Their expansion plan for 2017 is to open at least five more outlets and they are currently in advance talks for finalising three locations. “We intend to spread across all major emirates by end of 2018 and consolidate our position within UAE and thereafter explore possibilities of expanding further in GCC, Europe and Indian Subcontinent. While we are planning to expand at a fairly brisk pace within UAE, we do not wish to compromise the quality of our operations, food and service in anyway by spread too fast too far. However our long term mission is to touch 150 outlets of Pressman’s regionally and internationally through selfowned and franchised route over the next five years with the sole objective of serving the exact same quality of food and service across each one of them. As a matter of fact we have already started receiving a lot Franchise inquiries from various GCC markets but are holding on to this for the moment until we are absolutely prepared and confident to do so,” he concludes. SME ADVISOR
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OPERATION: SUCCESS Manhal Naser, CEO of Operation: Falafel, started small – and still reinvented the local food industry. SME ADVISOR
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EDITOR’S PICKS 01. AWJ Investments is a fast-growing Food & Beverage Holding Group that explores popular Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and International flavours. Exploring global opportunities, AWJ recognises the potential of a rapidly evolving Food & Beverage market, with the aim of acquiring and growing a brand that is internationally recognised and loved. 02. Operation: Falafel’s numbers are almost doubling year-on-year. 03. Operation: Falafel’s development took around six months before the concept was implemented.
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ne word: audacious. That’s all it takes to describe the geniuses behind Operation: Falafel. In a very short span of time, the brand hasn’t just created its own space in an overcrowded market, but has thwarted its competition. So, when Manhal Naser opens up about his journey, it’s nothing short of awe-inspiring. “Dubai is a dynamic market, and I have watched it develop over the years. Middle Eastern food can be found all over the world – different recipes, different ingredients and different influences. My partner and I started to notice the morphing of traditional Middle Eastern cuisine to include modern ingredient combinations. For us, hummus, falafel, shawarma and so on is food that we grew up on. We valued the authenticity of this cuisine and noticed that there was no established brand in the market that offered fresh, authentic, Middle Eastern street food. Out of the desire to fill this gap, the Operation: Falafel concept was born. The “Operation:” stood for our mission to bring back the authenticity of the traditional foods that we grew up on,” he shares. It is this rare combination of market knowledge and business acumen that is the driving factor behind Operation: Falafel’s success. Manhal has spent a considerable amount of time understanding the market landscape: “There is a lot of opportunity in the Middle East. The consumer continues to evolve and it’s important for a business to know what its unique selling points are and to understand its consumer. Growing a business in this region can be very rewarding if you know when and where to launch with the right product.” Too hot to handle? Is fierce competition in the face of challenging market dynamics causing Operation: Falafel to tweak its recipe for
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Properly managing expectations and building decisions based on solid research is extremely important.
success? Manhal reckons he has a fool-proof strategy: “The most important element of standing out in a competitive market is knowing your consumer. We have been very deliberate in developing concepts that are specific to certain niches. Operation: Falafel is all about making street food available to everyone. The food is fresh, made when you order, authentic and affordable. We pride ourselves on the value for money. But for us, it’s also very important to connect with our customers. We do this through social media and online outlets, and we like to keep it light and fun. We are a fun, hip brand, and we love that all of our customers feel like they can relate to us. The relationship goes beyond the food. Differentiation is key.” While the success of Operation: Falafel is quite apparent, what are some of the biggest hurdles it faces? How does a brand, growing this rapidly, sustain its quality? “Of course, challenges are plenty. One of our biggest challenges has been figuring out how to build full-fledged departments in a short period of time, in order to cope with the targeted objectives of the company. We recruited 700 staff in less than two years, whilst at the same time working on growing the business and trying to run it. You cannot stop what you are doing for one moment, it’s like driving a car and trying to change the tyres at the same time.”
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Established: March, 2014
Employees: 1000+
Year on year growth: 2016 vs. 2015, almost 100%
USP: Fresh, fun, affordable
Challenge takeaway: Patience and depth
Although this fast expansion has proved to be challenging, it is this very scalability that is underwriting Manhal’s dream of becoming the next big thing in the realm of street food. The company has gone from startup to successful enterprise in merely four years. The brand has defied all odds to now compete with bigger players at the regional and international levels. What’s cooking? As is the case with any entrepreneur, Manhal’s ambitious are sky high. He has no intention of slowing down. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. “In the short term, my goal is to have full coverage for the near regions and long term, to cover 82 countries across the globe. We have been fortunate enough to see rapid market acceptance of Operation: Falafel, both nationally and internationally. We have people coming to us from all over the world who are interested in taking the brand to their countries. Our vision is to see
Operation: Falafel flourish internationally in the MENA region, Europe, Asia and the Americas, as we expand our strategic partnerships through franchising. As of now, confirmed openings include Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Ajman – UAE, Doha - Qatar, Riyadh and Dammam - KSA, Muscat - Oman and Washington, DC – USA,” he explains. He adds: “We have several mandates for different brands and departments. It goes without saying that the well-studied expansions will never stop across all our brands to meet the demand regionally and globally. Also, we are always looking for new technologies and system upgrades that can expedite and facilitate our growth. Meeting investors’ objectives and expectations are very essential to our objectives, and we always look forward to meeting them. Apps are a big conversation right now and we are always looking for new opportunities to enhance existing strategies. There are definitely some things in the works.”
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With
GetBaqala,
grocery shopping will never be the same again! Amjad Puliyali’s new app is a welcome relief for those looking to avoid overcrowded supermarkets and mundane grocery trips. But in a market dominated by retail giants, can it create a space of its own? SME ADVISOR
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EDITOR’S PICKS 01. EDB Bahrain and Rowad Incubation helped Amjad form the company in Bahrain in May 2016. 02. When Amjad Puliyali launched GetBaqala last year in Bahrain, he was looking to make inroads into a market that had tremendous potential but hadn’t still been fully exploited.
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GetBaqala is a grocery delivery app that allows customers to select and purchase grocery items from a partner store and then have them delivered to their doorsteps.
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et’s face it. We live in a world filled with smartphone addicted consumers; people who want everything better, faster and easier. And, this is making way for a new breed of start-ups like GetBaqala that provide instantaneous service, on-demand. This grocery delivery app allows customers to select and purchase grocery items from a range of partner stores. Not only does this eliminate the need to physically visit the store, but it gives the customer the ability to compare products and prices before making a purchase. Revolutionary? Absolutely! But, is it actually working? We asked the man behind the concept himself. “We did a soft launch in August last year in three locations across Bahrain. The first customer to download the GetBaqala app shopped for over BD 2000 in the very first month! Since then, we’ve added 15 more locations, reached over 5000 installs and 1500 active monthly users. We have been able to maintain an 80 per cent retention rate and our current average order value is US$25, with only 1500 SKUs available. So, to answer your question – yes, it’s working,” replies Amjad confidently. And, indeed it is!
In less than four months, the company has already gone on to forge partnerships with local supermarkets, hypermarkets, small neighbourhood stores, the bigger FMCG brands, distributors and manufacturers. From bricks to clicks While some of Amjad’s success is due to market opportunity, a considerable amount of credit goes to his ability to sell his product. “When I developed my concept, I knew it would be difficult to convince others of its potential. But, I truly believed in my product and nothing was going to stop me. I think the first positive sign of my app’s impact was in December 2015, when I was able to raise the pre-seed money to start working on a minimum viable product (MVP),” he says. “It was at that moment that I knew I had to keep going – even though I faced tough competition.” Amjad’s passion for his product is quite obvious. What’s intriguing, however, is why did he decide to quit his full-time job and launch a food delivery app? “My entrepreneurial journey can be traced back to the time I was based in Dubai. I
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lived in the vibrant city for nine years and worked with major national entities to develop online revenue portals. Thereafter, I returned to India in 2015, which is where I began observing how businesses and utilities were moving to mobile platforms, and felt that there was a huge gap between India and other markets with regards to app development. India was beginning to personify the ‘there’s an app for that’ culture, but it had yet to catch on in the GCC,” he reminisces. Wanting to replicate that culture in the GCC, Amjad was faced with two decisions. The first was what service to create an app for, and the second was where to launch it. “I noticed a glaring problem with grocery shopping. People had to stand in long lines even for small purchases. Moreover, they would tend to give in to a lot of impulse buying and overspend. I wanted to provide a solution to this. The aim wasn’t just to make grocery shopping less time consuming; but to also make it a little more personalised and intelligent.” As for the decision about where to launch his new service; Amjad picked Bahrain. “Let
me be frank. I felt starting up a business in Bahrain would cost less. There is a very strong start-up ecosystem in Bahrain, and I was able to take care of a lot of the initial paperwork while I was still in India. The Bahraini Economic Development Board (EDB) selected GetBaqala along with three other Indian start-ups to launch in Bahrain, and was very helpful with the registration process. I should also add here that EDB Bahrain and Rowad Incubation played a pivotal role in the formation of my company.” Powered for success With less than a year of operations, GetBaqala is still at a nascent stage. Even so, Amjad has big ambitions for his small start-up. “We have now launched the full version of the app and are all set for further expansion within Bahrain itself. There is a lot more room for growth in Bahrain before we make the move to other GCC countries. We’re providing a complete end-to-end service to our customers; right from picking up the best items to delivery. We want to add more home-grown products to our offering.”
Amjad’s ambition also extends to product development: he reveals that his team is working on a very interesting ‘smart feature’. “We’ll be adding a scheduling feature that will allow customers to preorder items they need on a monthly basis, without having to select items repeatedly; so it works like a subscription. We’re looking to introduce special offers for indemand products from supermarkets, so both the customer and supplier are in a win-win situation.” When it comes to the challenges that lie ahead, Amjad remains unfazed. “The journey so far has been super exciting and being an entrepreneur is truly rewarding. Of course, it requires a lot of effort. Customers expect deliveries at any time! If someone needs milk for tea at 7 am, we’re going to look for it get it to them. Most orders come on the weekends, so we have all hands on deck to ensure accuracy and timeliness. And then there are the salaries to be paid out at the end of the month. I’m responsible for the livelihoods of my team now. But, guess what? I love it. I love the rush. I love the excitement.” SME ADVISOR
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NEW KID ON THE BLOCK:
TRUCKERS DXB
The biggest shift in Dubai’s culinary landscape has been the introduction of food trucks. What’s not to like? They are vibrant, fun, easy-going and provide a variety of options. And, among the ones that populate the streets of Dubai, there’s one that particularly stands out: Truckers DXB. This month, we take a slightly unconventional route and ask Alexandre Teodoresco – the man driving this business – to share exclusive excerpts from his diary…
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EDITOR’S PICKS 01. Food trucks are all set to take on the big guys; the established restaurants, the fancy dining places. They are not just selling a particular food type; they’re selling an experience. 02. Food trucks operating as part of the Truckers DXB community follow strict community guidelines with regards to originality and ownership.
01 Number of food trucks in 2014
60+ Number of food trucks in 2017
AED 500k+ Setup cost
19000 Expected number by 2020
52,399 Number of restaurants at the end of 2015
AED 750k+ Setup cost
81,960 Expected number by 2020
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Setting the wheels in motion Anyone reading should know that the story I want to tell, and the dreams I want to help build are not mine alone, but those of 40-odd food truck entrepreneurs. I want you to discover these people and their creations. Also, I am not in it for the money. My motivation is to build something that makes a difference – and what I do, makes a difference to these people’s dreams. True entrepreneurship is about having a dream, a product or a solution that you feel needs to be out there because it’s different, because people will enjoy it. You put a lot of yourself into what you build: dreams, time and finances. The true reward is when someone sees what you have made or what you are doing, and they love it. They love it so much they want more. My entrepreneurial relationship with Dubai began four years ago. In 2014, I helped organise an event called Street Nights, an event aimed at bringing art out of the galleries and onto the street, in a space that was free, where artists would feel comfortable expressing themselves. We did it for the community and we did it for free. We didn’t have the money to hire labour or cleaners. I did a lot of the heavy-lifting and cleaning myself – and loved it. We did the event with no money, and kept it that way for the public. Why? Because I was here to sell a concept, not tickets – and through that, give exposure to a lot of underground talent that needed to be recognised. We were able to attract over 7000 attendees that year, enough to prove that I was onto something. Dubai residents were craving for something different, a break from the indoor culture. Taking to the streets So, based on what I’d learned from Street Nights, I launched a concept in 2016 that
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The way things are right now; food trucks only do reasonable business in certain places and situations.
coupled the concept of the food truck with an underground musical event. This is when Food Truck Jam was born. The USP? No tired, established chains or franchised brands selling food. That’s one of the stricter policies we adhere to in the Truckers DXB community – the concept and the ownership has to be from the community. This is a community-based initiative, so the idea we’re selling is more about bringing people together in a fun, non-commercialised environment. Today, it’s become a huge hit with consumers – and the concept has been very well received.
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Small fries vs. the big guys The way things are right now; food trucks only do reasonable business in certain places and situations. There are food trucks in some of the most affluent areas of Dubai, areas that are frequented by tourists, but they hardly do any business. What we’ve discovered, however, is that events attract large crowds. So, we’ve built a business model that revolves around having unique events as regularly as possible. Food trucks are all set to take on the big guys; the established restaurants, the fancy dining places. They are not just selling a particular
food type; they’re selling an experience. That’s the uncle you’ve heard of who makes a great chilli, or the friend’s dad you know who makes a great roast beef sandwich. And they can’t cater to everyone in their personal kitchens, so they bring the kitchen to you. We’re doing well so far, but for food trucks to become a sustainable business, I feel that we need more support from the government in terms of access to affordable locations for events and making it easier to get permits for more permanent locations. This would give authentic food truckers a levelled playing field in terms of competing
with established restaurant chains and franchises. The other bigger entities that have jumped onto the food truck bandwagon come with an offering that is very different from ours. Food trucks operating as part of the Truckers DXB community follow strict community guidelines with regards to originality and ownership. What we offer is a very home-grown, personal, almost rustic experience that is very new and different from what one would expect in a large metropolitan city. The way I look at it – we aren’t just adding to the city’s culture; we’re creating a whole new dimension to it.
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Top 10 strategies to navigate your F&B business to the next level in 2017 Preparing your business to capture opportunities in a thriving sector.
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EDITOR’S PICKS 01. Always have a back-up plan. With competition intensifying and technology rapidly advancing, you never know what’s around the corner. 02. Technology is a great enabler of growth; it can help your business boost productivity and scale up. 03. Entering bigger markets is naturally an important aspect of the growth of a business.
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Consider franchising: Franchising is a proven method of expanding a business. See if your business all the right boxes before stepping into the world of franchising. Don’t simply assume that your business model is replicable and portable. It would help to hire a specialist to conduct a feasibility study. Once you have made up your mind, select a franchisee that’s not just financially stable but one that shares the same passion for your business. Also, prepare earning projections and business templates to demonstrate how your business works to prospects. Remember, that this is a decision that will shape the future of your business. So, any additional time spent on evaluating your franchisee is totally worth it!
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Enhance your digital capabilities: Technology is a great enabler of growth; it can help your business boost productivity and scale up. Digital marketing, for instance, is a great way to make inroads into new markets. It enables you to reach out to a wider audience, without bearing the costs of physically being there. Data analytics is another area that you should consider investing your time and effort in. Whether it’s tracking product deliveries in real-time or simply monitoring internal organisational processes, digital technology is useful in improving your business.time spent on evaluating your franchisee is totally worth it! SME ADVISOR
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Diversify your product portfolio: Have a roadmap for product development. Undertake research that will help you identify new areas of opportunities. Consider the amount of time you will require for regulatory approvals, product testing and initial marketing.
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It’s important for your business to not just adapt to market changes as they happen, but to anticipate them.
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Develop an innovation mind-set: Be proactive in terms of leading a cultural transformation within your business. The digital era we live in revolves around automation, innovation and online platforms. In order to survive in this changing landscape, your business will need to rehash its business model, improve staff skills and encourage innovation. And, it’s not just about technology. It’s more about changing the mindset of your business.
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Scale-up: Entering bigger markets is naturally an important aspect of the growth of a business. Your business might not necessarily want to take this step, and that’s completely fine. But for businesses that are looking regional and international expansion, refined marketing strategies will be the key. Of course, gaining market exposure is also imperative.
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Adding on investors that identify the potential of your company will boost your confidence
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Encourage learning and training: Given the rapidly evolving space we work in, it’s important to ensure your employees have skills that are relevant. To achieve this, organise tech-enabled learning and training sessions on a regular basis. Investing in training makes more sense that having to hire new employees with updated skills.
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Focus on customer service: Your product and the way you market will help you attract customers. But, good service is what will keep them coming back. Today, quality service is not just about meeting customer needs, it’s about exceeding their expectations. The nature of their demands are continually evolving and your business needs to continue finding ways to give them a better experience. To achieve this, your business will need to adopt a holistic approach. This means not just training frontline staff, but also improving your overall brand strategy and product quality.
Build partnerships that enable growth: Don’t be afraid to partner with bigger enterprises or government entities to open new avenues of growth. They can inject funding at different stages of your business, while you provide their network with innovative solutions. Globally, several startups are moving in this direction.
Have a strategy for financial stability: Always have a back-up plan. With competition intensifying and technology rapidly advancing, you never know what’s around the corner. It’s important for your business to not just adapt to market changes as they happen, but to anticipate them. Forecast risks and be ready to adjust your resources according to the dynamic market conditions. Effective cash management and proper usage of your working capital is also critical. Financial stability is the foundation for long-term business survival. If you think you aren’t fully equipped to manage this internally, seek external assistance
Widen your investor network: There are a lot of platforms available today that match you to a network of accredited investors that are interested in highgrowth companies. You can also research regional VCs – and pitch for secondary funding. Adding on investors that identify the potential of your company will boost your confidence. But, that’s not all. It will give you some extra funds to aggressively market your product across new markets or verticals.
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WOULD YOU EAT A 3D PRINTED
PIZZA?
Experts believe that the future of food will include 3D printed meals. But, is the world ready for it? Deborah Lupton, Centenary Research Professor, University of Canberra, and Bethaney Turner, Assistant Professor in International Studies, University of Canberra, present their compelling analysis‌ SME ADVISOR
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EDITOR’S PICKS 01. 3D food printers extrude soft liquid edible matter through nozzles that build up layer by layer in patters directed by a computer program. 02. There’s also the radical idea of using insects and laboratory-grown meat in 3D printed food as a sustainable alternative to traditional protein sources.
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ould you imagine serving a 3D printed turkey for Christmas lunch? Or munching on a 3D printed pizza for an afternoon snack? This is not as far-fetched as it sounds. While 3D printers have mainly been in the news for their ability to manufacture inedible goods, they are increasingly being used for culinary endeavours. 3D food printers extrude soft liquid edible matter through nozzles that build up layer by layer in patters directed by a computer program. They can pump out everything from chocolates, confectionery, biscuits and pancakes, to pasta, pizza and other savoury snacks. News reports and industry blogs are very positive about what 3D food printing can offer. They have covered such events as Michelin-starred chefs experimenting with 3D food printers in pop-up restaurants in Europe. The media have also reported on the potential for 3D printing to cater for astronauts, air travellers and people in emergency situations. Nursing homes in Europe are offering 3D printed food with jelly-like texture for residents with chewing and swallowing difficulties. Developers of 3D food printers claim that people will soon have these devices in their kitchens, helping them prepare tasty and healthy foods at home. But that’s not all. There’s also the radical idea of using insects and laboratory-grown meat in 3D printed food as a sustainable alternative to traditional protein sources. Meat and Livestock Australia also recently announced that it is looking into ways to use 3D printing to produce new meat products to extract the most value from animal carcasses. So it is not far-fetched to imagine serving a Christmas lunch with 3D printed food made from red meat and poultry, or decorative
edible items made from fruit or vegetable purees, sugar or chocolate. But would you eat it? What do you think about 3D printed food? Would you try it, or offer it to family members or guests? Despite industry enthusiasm and investment in research and development, few studies have actually asked these questions of consumers. To investigate these issues, we conducted our own research with 30 Australians, using an online focus group. The results highlight some interesting complications in the way many people perceive 3D printed foods, and what might tempt them to try some. First of all, we found that none of the participants had heard of using 3D printing technology to make food products. As 3D printing technologies were usually associated with inedible objects made from substances such as plastic, plaster or metal, it was difficult for our participants to understand how they might work with foodstuffs. They were initially incredulous that this technology could be used for making food and couldn’t imagine what kinds of foods would be produced. This manner of food processing was viewed as highly unnatural, with several assuming that the resulting food would be somehow “plastic” and therefore inedible. Our participants were far more positive about 3D printed carrots, pasta, pizza, chocolate and a meal with chicken and vegetables (made from “real” whole food purees) than they were about 3D printed sugar confections, meat and food made from food waste and alternative food sources such as algae and insects. Cultural beliefs about what kinds of matter are considered tasty and appropriate to eat were central in our participants’ responses. While substances such as insects and
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It is not far-fetched to imagine serving a Christmas lunch with 3D printed food made from red meat and poultry, or decorative edible items made from fruit or vegetable purees, sugar or chocolate.
DEBORAH LUPTON CENTENARY RESEARCH PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA
BETHANY TURNER ASSISTANT PROFESSOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA
algae fit consumers’ preferences for natural ingredients, these foods were considered disgusting by nearly all of the participants. They could not imagine eating them or serving them to others. These materials were considered to be inedible according to the cultural norms of our participants, no matter how they are prepared or processed. So it wasn’t that they were 3D printed per se, but what they were printed from that affected their attitude to the food. Those participants who had ethical misgivings about eating conventionally grown meat liked the idea of 3D printed meat products. But most of the participants considered the process to be a little too much like “Frankenfood”, particularly if it involved using laboratory-cultured meat. Here it was the process of making the ingredient that was considered “unnatural”. Building familiarity Many participants’ lack of familiarity with the 3D printing process underpinned their reservations about the safety of using food materials that would otherwise be discarded as waste. They were unsure about how the risks of food contamination and preservation would be dealt with. Many of them also considered the healthiness of foods to be an important factor. Our participants
SME ADVISOR
had no problem viewing 3D printed sugar confections, pizza or chocolate as potentially edible. But they did express concern about the healthiness of these foods, given their ingredients and current status as junk food. So, if our results can be generalised to the broader population, it seems many people are interested in novel food products. They will try them if they can be assured of their edibility, healthiness and safety, and have an understanding of how these products are processed and what they are made from. But our study shows that those wishing to promote 3D printed food might have several challenges on their hands. First of all, they may need to familiarise the public with how this process works and reassure them that it is safe. Then they might need to emphasise that 3D printed food is tasty, even if it looks unusual or is made from ingredients that are not normally considered edible by cultural standards. Only then might consumers consider the possibility of including 3D printed food as part of their lives, including at the Christmas lunch table.
This article has been published in collaboration with The Conversation. (www.theconversation.com)
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