In an interview for Hospitality News ME, Hodema consulting products and companies caught up with Firas Mando, chairman of Almond & Past Iraq, to uncover out extra about his pastry belief and how it is leaving a collection on the Iraqi pastry scene.
What are you able to repeat us about Almond & Past?
In 1968, Homs-Syria, Almond & Past bakery and pastry opened its doors as a modest, family-traipse substitute. It provided baked goods, pastries, bread, ice cream, candies and confectionery to the Homs space with 65 workers. A big selection of the merchandise were manually ready.
In 2014, Almond & Past opened a 2d branch in Erbil, Iraq, with 35 workers working 365 days a year, offering a fluctuate of bakery and pastry items, with a dine-in dwelling and catering products and companies for events (weddings, engagements and birthday parties).
Our fluctuate of merchandise is varied to fulfill the rising wants of our customers. We safe bigger than 2,500 various forms of bakery items, including bread, pastries, confectionery, desserts, desserts and ice cream.
Our vision is to safe excessive-quality specialty merchandise while putting ahead very just correct customer satisfaction.
The bakery includes utter-of-the-art, fully and semi-automatic manufacturing strains. Our team of extremely educated workers ensures that every goods are freshly produced.
What are the main success components of Almond & Past?
We continuously try to innovate unique goods reckoning on local tastes, events, trends and shopper feedback. We focal level on continuous improvement, and we’re continuously up as a lot as now with essentially the most in model unique ways aged in the bogus to construct up the typical of our merchandise.
Our predominant objective is to construct up quality, excellence and consistency by the use of one of the best raw materials, serving connoisseurs, whether or no longer consultants or visiting cooks. We strongly judge that consistency is key when it comes to quality and customer service.
We additionally provide exceptionally pleasant service. Our workers and cooks safe pleasure from ongoing practicing conducted by world consultants and cooks in the baking and cake-making industries to safe the info wanted to construct up excellence.
How would you portray the food retail model in Iraq this present day and in the upcoming years?
Iraq’s food substitute confronted essential difficulties between 2020 and 2021due to Covid-19.
On the replacement hand, the retail grocery store is evolving, and the bogus is expanding. As a result, a essential need of restaurants, espresso retail outlets and food ideas are opening in Iraq to fulfill the rising ask.
To your notion, is it a proper time to put money into Iraq?
Despite the proven truth that the industrial mission is no longer stable, I strongly judge that it is a proper time to put money into Iraq. The market is rising, and there may perhaps be ask in the pastry and bakery industries. The buying vitality is increasing in Bagdad. A clear stage of balance is evident in the market despite increased costs.
What are your quick- and medium-duration of time plans for Almond & Past?
Almond & Past is taking a spy to prolong worldwide, in particular in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain. Over the last year, now we own worked on rising our franchise manuals, and we’re now able to prolong our stamp. Baghdad is our priority in the quick duration of time. In the medium duration of time, we’re working on coming into the Cairo market by both signing a franchise or a administration/franchise deal.
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