Meet Qatar's First Raw and Vegan Food Company
Qatar has one of the highest obesity rates in the world. About 40%
of its citizens are obese, and experts predict that number could
rise to more than 70% by 2015.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some local entrepreneurs
are launching startups with the aim of making the country’s
population more health conscious.
Raw ME, a raw and vegan food
company, is one such new venture. Founded by Qatari-American Layla
Al-Dorani, 28, the company sells unpasteurized, cold-pressed
juices, and special detox packages and monthly juice kits that
customers can order to their homes or workplaces.
“We try to provide food that is very wholesome and
nutritious and closer to nature, but blended, squeezed and mixed
into something that tastes good,” Al-Dorani says.
Raw ME’s website outlines what makes its juices special. The
startup uses a special hydraulic press juicer that applies 2 tons
of pressure to squeeze the produce so that the resulting juice
supposedly contains 3-5 times more nutrients and a higher
concentration of enzymes and vitamins than the typical
mass-produced fare. The cold-pressed method, which minimizes
contact with air or heat, also results in a slower oxidation
process, which allows the juices to stay fresh for longer.
Expanding in the Gulf
Despite launching only two years ago, Raw ME is
already making a name for itself. In 2012, it won second place in
the Al Fikra Business Plan Competition and was named a finalist in
the SILA angel investment network live demonstration, where
entrepreneurs from around the Middle East presented their business
plans to a group of angel investors in Doha. This year it was also
a finalist in the Reyada Award, which honors Qatari
entrepreneurs.
The business, however, is still getting up on its feet; Al-Dorani
only recently hired a general manager to oversee her small kitchen
and production facility in Barwa Village near Doha’s airport.
Still, she has big plans.
Al-Dorani wants to sell juices online and through various vendors
throughout Doha and, eventually, Dubai. The vendor sites would also
include a permanent raw-food salad bar that would be healthy as
well as ecofriendly: the bar’s plumbing would be recycled to water
an on-site green grass wall, leftover juice pulp would be donated
as fertilizer to local agricultural projects, and the salad bar’s
take away boxes would double as plant pots.
“We’re trying to encourage education and awareness,” she says. “For
me it’s about collaboration; how can we work together to create a
vendor setup that is actually using recycled contents?”
Al-Dorani says she is currently in talks with several possible
vendor sites, including Qatar Foundation’s Education City main
student cafeteria.
Once her salad bars and juice stands are actually up and running,
Al-Dorani’s company will fill a necessary niche in Qatar. As any
resident can tell you, unhealthy foods and snacks tempt at every
corner. In most public dining areas, it’s difficult to find
quick-and-easy unprocessed, nutritious meals. Raw ME will
likely appeal not only to those who already believe in the benefits
of raw food, but also to those simply hoping to lose some
weight.
Facing Competition
The concept is original, but Raw ME does face some
local competition in the health food delivery space. No other
company is focusing exclusively on raw juice, but several other
Qatar-based health food delivery services exist, including the
Green Box, which delivers locally sourced and organic produce,
poultry and cheese, and Diet Center, which provides low-calorie
meals to subscribers.
For now, Al-Dorani’s biggest challenge lies in convincing potential
clients that raw food and juices are the best way to change a
person’s eating habits and lifestyle.
“We’re special because we believe in protecting our food and not
over processing it. And as far as the other diet shops, we’re not
based on calorie counting. We’re based on how you can get the most
fruits and veggies in your diet in one day, and we try to meet that
target, “ Al-Dorani says.
“There’s been a lot of positive feedback,” she adds. She’s also
planning to minimize competition in a small sector by teaming up
with her competitors to sell each other’s products. “If people
order their fruits and veggies and poultry from the Green Box, and
want to juices with that too, we can provide it.”
Al-Dorani says she is also considering developing raw food meals
and juice detox kits with the Art of Abundant Living, a local
wellness and health-coaching center.
“That’s one of the benefits about being a startup, “ Al-Dorani
explains. “You try to work with what’s existing in the market
instead of having to spend a large amount of capital
upfront.”