Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I have more than 15 years of experience in brand management, business transformation, and food innovation, including ten years at Nestlé across Angola, Kenya, South Africa, and the UAE.

I began in brand management with MAGGI, where I learned the fundamentals of building a food business—understanding consumers, managing a P&L, setting prices and turning strategy into execution. I later moved into innovation and transformation roles, building an innovation PMO for East and Southern Africa, advising the regional CEO on portfolio strategy, and leading the centralization of innovation delivery across 19 MENA markets.

Today, I am Director of Innovation at Bateel, focused on premium food and bringing new relevance to a strong heritage brand. Much of my work involves deciding where to invest, building the right products, and helping teams move from ideas to commercially successful launches.

Q2. What is one consumer signal you would watch today that most food companies are still underestimating—and why could it matter commercially?

I would watch the shift towards smaller, more intentional moments of indulgence.

Consumers are not necessarily abandoning premium food, but they are becoming more selective. A small personal treat, an after-dinner bite, or something designed to accompany coffee can feel more relevant than a large pack or an expensive formal gift.
Many companies see smaller formats mainly as a response to affordability. There is more to it. Consumers are finding new ways to enjoy quality more often, while staying conscious of price, portion size, and health.

Commercially, this can attract new consumers, increase purchase frequency, and create more accessible price points without relying on discounts. The opportunity is not to make premium products feel cheaper; it is to make them easier to enjoy in everyday life.

Q3. What is happening in MENA’s premium food market today that global food companies should be paying closer attention to—and where could it create the next major category opportunity?

MENA is becoming more confident in its own ingredients, flavors, and food traditions. Consumers still value international quality, but they increasingly want products that feel relevant to the region rather than imported and lightly adapted.

Ingredients such as dates, qahwa, pistachio, tahini, loomi and saffron already have strong cultural meaning. The opportunity is to express them through contemporary products, excellent craftsmanship, and design that can compete anywhere in the world.

I believe modern date-based indulgence could become a significant opportunity. Dates are still often treated as a traditional whole fruit or a seasonal product, but they can play a much broader role in confectionery, snacks, bakery, and beverages.

Successful brands won't use regional flavors as decoration. They will understand the culture behind them and create products that feel authentic locally while remaining appealing internationally.

Q4. If you had to rebuild a food company's portfolio from scratch today, which consumer occasions or categories would you prioritize—and why?

I would start with consumer occasions rather than existing category structures. People do not usually think, “I want to buy a category.” They think about rewarding themselves, sharing something with others, or finding the right gift.

I would prioritize three areas:

Small Everyday Rewards: Premium, portion-controlled products that consumers can enjoy regularly without waiting for a major occasion.

Coffee, tea and after-meal moments: Biscuits, small confectionery, bakery products and pairings built around habits that already happen every day.

Hospitality, Sharing and Gifting: Flexible formats that can work at home, in the office, while traveling or during seasonal celebrations. This is particularly important in MENA, where hospitality is a major part of food culture.

Across all three, I would focus on recognizable ingredients, balanced sweetness, and strong taste. Consumers want more considered choices, but they rarely accept a poorer experience in the name of health.

Q5. Looking ahead 5 years, what is the one key takeaway you would leave industry leaders and investors about building brands that can win the next phase of food innovation—and why?

The companies that win will not be the ones producing the most ideas. They will be the ones that understand what makes their brand genuinely different and turn that into products consumers want to buy repeatedly.

Technology will make research and idea generation faster and more accessible, so many companies will spot the same trends and create similar concepts. The real advantage will come from assets that competitors cannot easily copy—trusted brands, distinctive ingredients, cultural relevance, craftsmanship, and the ability to execute consistently.

My advice: don't use innovation to follow where the market is going. Use it to make what is uniquely yours more relevant to where consumers are going. That is how brands create growth without becoming interchangeable.