Yousef Alsaif

Saudi Arabia’s F&B industry is the largest in the Middle East, valued at USD45 billion. How is the company capitalizing on this promising market?

F&B is trending in Saudi Arabia. There are many government investments happening to promote tourism and other areas of entertainment. In our company, we see the potential of this market as the market value is increasing year after year. We note many events and projects happening today in Saudi Arabia, which has given us the opportunity to dominate the market. This is why we entered the FMB sector and hospitality and tourism. Our mother company—MSAS—entered F&B back in 2017, when Saudi Arabia started its reforms. We saw the changing vision of Saudi Arabia which is why we entered at that time.

Rapidly changing demographics present many opportunities for developing the F&B industry in Saudi Arabia. Geographically speaking, where are you focusing your investments?

We are focusing on Riyadh, whose population is growing and will reach 12 million. When we heard this news, we knew the potential lies here. However, that does not mean we are not focusing on other areas. There are many other areas in the Kingdom with high purchasing powers such as Tabuk. Jeddah is one of our regions of interest, as well, though the primary focus is Riyadh. The other target is Al-Ula. Massive investment in tourism is driving the growth of this area and we see huge potential there. Despite being a seasonal tourism destination, the potential is great. In fact, many parts of the world such as Greece, France, and even Switzerland are also seasonal to an extent. Al-Ula is one such destination, where we can generate excellent profits in a 6-7 month period. Overall, we are heavily investing in F&B in 2023. We have six brands in country, with three opening this year.