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Chawki Barakat

KUWAIT - Agriculture

Chawki Barakat

Managing Director, Barakat Foods

Bio

A graduate of University of Dayton Ohio majoring in marketing, Chawki started his career working for Impact an Echo as an assistant account executive. As he grew up in the restaurant business he had the urge to get back to the hospitality industry. He joined Arab Food Services in the Pizza Italia division in 1984 till 1990 were he was a division manager part of its growth in the Kuwait market. In June 1990 he attended Cornell University executive development program to enhance his knowledge in the hospitality industry and restaurant management. After the liberation of Kuwait in 1991 he joined the family business to assist in rebuilding the Mais Alghanim restaurant and this has paved the path to reach Barakat Food Co.’s goals today.

"The biggest challenge is consistent access to quality products and produce."

How have you seen Barakat Foods grow to what you now have, with five restaurant brands?

Demand and population growth have driven our expansion. We ventured into take away in order to cater to the expansion of neighborhoods in Kuwait. We opened a restaurant in Mahboula, when the population of the southern part of Kuwait was sufficient because we wanted to be in close proximity to our clientèle. Our latest restaurant concept is Sharamwa-Matic. The general consensus with shawarma restaurants is that they are run by individuals who assign staff to run their business without a standards to quality and hygine. We saw an opportunity to create a new face of shawarma in a way similar to the way major sandwiches chains, where customers are allowed to choose their breads and toppings. Our other concept, Bistro, appeals to a younger crowd. It offers a variety of foods from around the world, Mediterranean Fusion Cuisine, along with traditional Arabic pastries. We also have our own style of sandwiches, and one concept that is now popular with our Bistro customers is Shawarma Sizzler, which is a chicken or meat shawarma grilled, but served like a fajita. We are not reinventing the wheel; we adapt to the region and people here have taken to it.

What are some of the other trends that you are seeing in the restaurant industry in Kuwait?

The food retail market has shown significant growth in the past three years.  New concepts are entering the market, such as Wendy’s, and the coffee shop Tim Horton. While established franchises and restaurants are still dominating that segment, more competitors will likely enter the market in the future.. In Kuwait, once a concept is successful, everyone imitates and builds on it. Most people return to the basics, because trends can be short-lived, and solid restaurants and concepts persevere.

Mais Alghanim has won the “Service Hero” award five years running. What would you say is the key to managing relationships with your customers?

When you take care of your customers and make them top priority, they always return. When our customers talk, we listen. For example, when they said they wanted a healthy menu option or trendier items, we included them, and when they said they wanted more Halal meat, we switched from imported frozen to serving fresher local Halal meats when possible. The only challenge we have in this regard is for tikka meat, because there is no company in the region able to supply enough fresh lamb fillet.

What are some of the other challenges in Kuwait’s food market?

The biggest challenge is consistent access to quality products and produce. It is not the suppliers’ fault, because they outsource, but it is a challenge. It is the same issue for spices and vegetables; we often see a decline in the quality of the vegetables, in our opinion, and for us those results in losses; eggplants are a good example of that. Unfortunately, we do get complaints from customers suggesting that our quality has declined, but our recipes are standard. If we do not have consistent access to quality produce then this situation can arise. We tend to experience these issues more during summer, especially if fresh produce is not shipped correctly, as they can become dry in the excess heat. These are the issues or challenges we experience, but our chefs are experienced and knowledgeable and know how to adapt to give our customers the standard and flavor that they expect.

What will be the most dominant trend in the food market over the next few years?

Health and organic food will be the next trend, it is something that is increasing in demand and should be our next step. In terms of the food retail market, the last two or three years we experienced a surge, but as the population grows the market can accommodate between the big chains and other restaurants. Since we opened Shawarma Matic, there has been a rise in the doner kebab concept from Turkey with franchises, such as Doner Shwarma, Slice, Dona Doner, German Doner and Abu Shawarma. In the same way that the burger market opened up the last few years, the doner market is increasing in popularity and it will be interesting to see who is the most dominate and survive over the next three years. Companies can distinguish themselves by being unique, but as the population in Kuwait ages, people are tending more towards healthier eating.

What are your expectations for 2016?

The outlook for 2016 is dim due to the factors surrounding the current geopolitical situation in the region. This is affecting consumer behavior because of the uncertainty, particularly in regard to the oil prices. That sense of uncertainty is causing people to spend less in the coming year; however, if the political situation is resolved and oil prices rise, then spending will increase. Kuwait has great potential, buying power is high, the dinar is strong, and the country still has good reserves. In spite of this, we have to consider both good and bad scenarios; I believe it is more realistic to take the negative view, as these issues are not likely to be resolved in the near future. If anything were to happen, it would not be until after the middle of 2016.

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