A taste for success

Tastes have dramatically changed over the last 50 years, particularly in the Middle East – a shift driven in large part by globalization, which has introduced new dishes and ingredients into the regional diet, but also by the way we produce and consume foods.

It’s a changing dynamic Al Kabeer Food understands only too well, having served up frozen foods to the local population for half a century.

Beginning its life as a small family run business in 1974, the company quickly flourished in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia made up roughly two-thirds of the business and then the lower Gulf, which is the United Arab Emirates and other small countries, being around a third,” CEO Rana Sengupta tells The CEO Magazine.

A major transition

Then, in 2018, Al Kabeer was acquired by Savola Group – a strategic investment holding group for the food and retail sectors across the Middle East and North Africa region. The Group’s acquisition of a 51 percent stake marked the start of a major transition, which would supercharge Al Kabeer’s growth.

“They were ready to make a big change because they believe that this category offers a very big opportunity of growth,” Sengupta explains.

“That is how I stepped into this role. The first task really was to lead the transformation from a family owned business into a full corporate structure.”

That wasn’t his only task, however. Also pressing was the need to re-evaluate the Al Kabeer brand. Although well established, it was in need of a refresh.

“For a while, consumers had been telling us that we had a very established brand, but that brand had grown and didn’t resonate with the younger generation,” Sengupta admits.

Reimagining the brand in order to forge deeper connections with Al Kabeer’s consumers was therefore next on the agenda.

“As of today, we have a brand that resonates a lot more with the younger population and that’s proven in research,” he says. “Post the revamp of the brand, there has been a very significant strengthening of the brand pyramid, which now has reached parity with other key players in the market.”

The right tools

It’s a high-stakes mission for Al Kabeer. Fortunately, Sengupta brought with him around 30 years of experience at Unilever, which he describes as a university of professional skills.

“The three decades at Unilever were a very enriching and fulfilling learning experience,” he reflects. “I left with that rich knowledge, and that has really helped me.”

He took up the position of CEO at Al Kabeer in August 2022, armed with many of the necessary tools to take the business forward.

“The power of brands, and the need for a winning business to have powerful brands, is a strong conviction I came with,” he says. “The power of teams is the other big conviction I came with. If you want to build a large organization, it’s very important to have the right people.”

The third element of his initial approach, inspired by those Unilever years, was what he describes as institutionalization.

“That’s about business processes, ways of doing things and the collective memory of an organization,” he explains.

“The knowledge of an organization should not rest with one or two people. It needs to be collectivized and it needs to be institutionalized so that you transform it to a learning organization where the collective knowledge stays and grows.”

Innovation investments

As Sengupta advances toward his goal of cementing Al Kabeer’s position as the number two company in its category in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, he will heavily invest in innovation – a tool he sees as essential to maintain a competitive edge. This will come into play in a number of ways, starting with the quality and flavor of the products themselves, as well as the convenience and their presentation in-store.

And with consumers demanding healthier options, Al Kabeer is exploring the possibilities.

“We have a lot of work that is happening around product formulation, which is one of the cornerstones of a healthier option,” Sengupta says. “For example, more and more products are moving to air fryer friendly options as compared to the deep fryer options, which traditionally was the main way of preparing these products at home.

“With both husbands and wives working, and more unitary families living independently in the United Arab Emirates and in Saudi Arabia, the need for convenience, giving birth to the need for meal solutions, is going to rise dramatically, in our opinion.”

A broader approach

Al Kabeer’s emphasis on innovation extends well beyond the products themselves to deliver a superlative customer experience.

“One of the things that we are working on is to make sure that over the next 10 years, we bring in innovation to make sure that we stay on top of the game as far as serving our consumers is concerned,” he stresses.

Improvements to supply chain, distribution, marketing, talent, working environment and culture are also a focus. Indeed, with the power of teams so important for Sengupta and Al Kabeer, change has already begun.

“On the people front, there has been enormous infusion of high quality talent that has come into the business and from all kinds of companies, including leading multinationals,” he says.

“Now we have a mix of people who understand the future of consumer business and who have the expertise, having worked in leading organizations across the world.”

Workspace improvement, superior HR policies, competitive remuneration, a more focused performance management system and a culture of meritocracy are among the ways the company is transforming its culture.

The company’s technology will also be upgraded to enable this next chapter of change, including its shift to Oracle and the adoption of a new sales automation process.

“The whole objective is to make this company future-fit. The future of this business will lie in whether we are able to tap these opportunities and win in this space,” Sengupta says.