Abdulaziz AlTuraiji

TABCo Food has made quite the name for itself in Kuwait by exclusively managing the Elevation Burger brand. What propelled the brand’s beginning in the country was a well-formulated operation manual, which Abdulaziz AlTuraiji, Co-Founder and CEO, TABCo Food, refers to as ‘the benchmark’ that set them up for success. 

Looking back, he tells us about the trifecta of challenges that stood before them. 

“Our first challenge as a new entrant to the market was figuring out its size, key elements, customers’ purchasing behavior, and so on. The second challenge was ensuring that we were maintaining robust legal and government relations. The third, and the most important one, was finding and hiring the right talent,” he says. 

Mr. AlTuraiji underlines the importance of having a complete overview of the industry conditions, staying on top and being prepared for any policy and regulatory changes, and maintaining the sharpest focus on ‘the human element,’ i.e., talent. 

He explains that while every new entrant faces some (or all) of these challenges, the market conditions that Kuwait is predisposed to make setting up a business in the country a unique affair. 

When it comes to raising capital, he thinks it is not as big a concern in Kuwait as it might be elsewhere. He says, “I believe if you have a good idea, then the market will help you get it funded — be it through private funding, friends and family, investment opportunities, or through government policies, such as the SME’s fund, among other options.” 

“If you can distinguish yourself, address the threats from your competition, and plan to do something innovative, you will be rewarded,” he adds. He further expresses that repeating something that already exists does not add any value to the market and, therefore, bears no fruit. Innovation is key. 

We believe these factors help us distinguish ourselves significantly in the market.

Mr. Abdulaziz sees his role as a continuation of building the dynamic foundation built in the first seven years under the leadership of his partner, Ali Ashkanani and the previous management.

He recalls a scenario from the pandemic when his organization was out of chicken for a year. “We didn’t want to substitute our USDA-certified organic chicken with something we thought was subpar. We decided we would rather go out of chicken than serve something that might need explaining. It was a call of ethics and of paramount importance to us because we strive to stay truthful to our values and to what we have communicated to the market, even if it means bleeding capital,” he expressed. 

Kuwait’s import dependence is a challenge for Mr. Abdulaziz as it is for many others in the industry. But what sets his brand apart is the organizational ethos that he shares.

He says, “It is absolutely challenging to find good, sustainable products throughout the year, considering we live in the desert and cannot access everything we need. However, we are trying to overcome this by working with young entrepreneurs in the agricultural industry who are trying to advance in this space.”

Crafting culinary breakthroughs 

Behind every successful business is a unique proposition. For Mr. Abdulaziz, it was identifying the sweet spot between fast casual- and fine-dining establishments and catering to those needs.

“Fast food places prepare the food in under two minutes and fine dining restaurants offer a complete culinary experience. We recognized this opportunity and decided to offer people the best of both worlds: we prepared the burgers in less than seven minutes and gave people the option to dine-in or takeaway,” he explains. 

But retaining consumers requires more than a unique selling proposition. Mr. Abdulaziz takes a three-pronged approach towards maintaining his consumer base. His opinion is that happy employees are great ambassadors of your brand. They put in more effort and go the extra mile to make customers happy. He adds that, to become successful, you also need to maintain a certain degree of variety and quality in your offerings and introduce them the right way to the market. 

He shares, “When we introduce a burger, we don’t go out and say, ‘It’s available for a limited time only. Go and try it!’ We create a whole story around it.” 

We target and collaborate with young and talented local chefs, launch the products with their pictures, and introduce them to the market, among other things. You will see their pictures in the stores, on social media, and so on. We feel this is a win-win situation for the organization and the chefs we are collaborating with as we are introducing a product with a better story by engaging with our community,” he says. 

He also believes in rewarding the consumer. Taking his own brand’s loyalty-based reward system as a prime example, he adds that giving back something to your consumers, be it discount, giveaways, or subscriptions to brand-based loyalty programs, will always give customers reasons to return and order more from you. 

Mr. Abdulaziz feels that to pioneer an industry, you need to be wary of both local and global trends. He says, “We believe people are smart and love making smart choices. And when they want to make a smarter food choice, we want to be ready for that.” 

While he admits that the opportunity for vegetarian options is not significant, he feels that the segment is starting to grab attention and businesses must be prepared to fulfill that need. 

When asked about plant-based foods and his decision to not pursue them, he explains that they do not see an addressable demand for it but are keeping an eye on the need for future consideration. 

A new blend for growth

Growth should not necessarily be in terms of verticals, feels Mr. Abdulaziz. He highlights that improving on delivery efficiencies, operational frameworks, production, and communication are part of it too. 

“We deliver in most of the localities, and average between 22–23 minutes in terms of delivery times at Elevation Burger. This is achieved through operational excellence and clear internal guidance around production,” he says. 

The strategic direction is for TABCO to be a multi-brand and multi-national company. Currently, we are focusing on Elevation Burger in Kuwait to ensure we are providing the best customer experience and the highest standards of operational excellency. 

Another aspect where Mr. Abdulaziz is keen on growing is talent. “Moving forward, we want to ensure that more skilled talent joins us,” he says. 

Mr. Abdulaziz does not diminish the importance of data when it comes to achieving growth. “We completed a few points on our employee resource planning (ERP) system. Now, we are more automated than ever and have greater access to reports and other materials that allow us to look at data in a way that is more conducive to the growth of our business,” he says. 

“We want to open few more stores, digitize our Club 7 Card, launch our new app, and are also working with vendors to introduce new sources of chicken and beef,” he concludes, explaining that the seemingly small measures help his organization diversify their business and allow them to go from one source to many.