Ashraf Abushady: Liquid assets

Further, the company is also looking to go beyond its traditional ‘liquid' base in the very near future. "We're also evaluating a number of different products, and early next year we're going to look at introducing our first food section," he divulges.

With so much scope for expansion into a range of different fields, and the money to invest in creating the production facilities and marketing the new products, the main question must be how to choose the next sector to target: "We work with local and international consultants, and we always share our ideas with them. But more importantly we listen to our consumers, I like to say that before we take any new business we ask permission from our consumers!" he laughs. "We have to make sure that we're in line with their expectations, and for that we invest a lot of money on research and development - about 7% to 10% of our revenue is allocated to that and to making sure that every time we enter a new business it is in line with our short and long-term strategies."

The company's long-term strategy of diversification, which began a few years ago is already reflected in the percentage returns of the products: "We are investing in both the brand equity and the business; we are a very profitable organisation. At one point Masafi water was making up 70% to 80% of our revenues, today it is 50% and we are looking at introducing more products to reduce the focus on the core business and to make sure that bottled water is just one unit of the many products that we have."

Abushady splits his daily focus between what he considers the two core competencies that go toward running an organisation; corporate strategies and personal relationships. "One of the main areas where I spend my time is in formulating the strategy of the company. Then I obviously have to make sure that those strategies are met; new products is one of the aspects that I am spending the most time on at the moment," he admits. "I also place a lot of importance and time on our key domestic and international customers. I always make sure that I am aware of the performance and needs of our top ten customers and key accounts, we have regular visits with them, domestically and if they're abroad. But to me, the key to managing your business is the people." This has become increasingly important to Abushady as the company has grown from 250 employees three years ago to over 800 today. "When we start the day we remove our name tags, we really communicate with each other, it's very transparent. We're a family, a team."

Abushady has certainly set his ‘team' a high benchmark. With an aggressive expansion policy Masafi aims to have doubled its revenue by 2010, no mean feat in a highly competitive sector, but he remains sanguine: "You know, the way I look at it is as a long term objective, I see Masafi as another Nestle but of the Middle East. This is the vision that we want to see."

In order to achieve this vision Abushady is calling on his previous experience with global corporations and his FMCG background. "I spent 15 years before joining Masafi working for Coca Cola and Pepsi Co," he says. "I learned during those years, that big boys, multinationals, are moving from being carbonated soft drinks (CSD) companies because, as we are all aware, CSD is in decline. So they are all still trying to move from being just CSD into diversification. They're moving into juice, into water, into snacks - and that was the model that I wanted to apply here with Masafi."

The fact that the Masafi name was already well established in the region prior to Abushady's appointment has also greatly helped further his plans for the brand's expansion: "The brand has a high equity and level of accountability. Because Masafi is known as a regional company it has a nice feel for consumers compared to companies from outside. So the brand itself is actually helping me to meet my goals and objectives."

These goals and objectives are already well along the path to fruition. Abushady made sure that the core business was properly consolidated before launching his ambitious ‘second phase'. "Our objective at the beginning was to grow vertically; new products, new business within established markets - but now it's time to grow horizontally," he explains, leaning forward excitedly. "Not only by increasing our reach with the number of distributors and business partners but also by investing in places where we see potential, and we have a few countries that we are considering. Hopefully we'll soon be able to announce our investment in terms of setting up manufacturing plants outside as well as distribution, we'll also look at acquiring new companies, we want to invest in the brand equity."

With so much on the drawing board the future certainly seems rosy, but Abushady is aware that the base must be secure before the offshoots can take wing and there are always fresh challenges and market forces to be overcome: "The most challenging part of my role is juggling the cost of raw materials," he admits. "We cannot keep increasing the prices to our consumers; if we were to do that to maintain the same margins we had a couple of years ago the price could easily have risen by half as much again. This is what creates the challenge, not just for us but for everyone in our industry."

Abushady refuses to dwell on this too much, he has plans to minimise the impact that the price increases will have on his manufacturing output, but right now he needs to go and see if that plan ticket problem has been resolved. And can he tell me where he's flying off to? "Not right now," he grins. "But if it comes off you be the first to know."

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