Analyzing ‘Organic Foods and Café’ as a Brand

How was the Brand built?

Organic Foods and Café was founded by Nils El Accad in Dubai,UAE. The story begins when his mother gets ill with cancer and then shifted to organic and wholegrain foods which helped her a lot. Later Nils also was being poisoned by the food he ate (non organic) and doctors were unable to cure him. Later homeopath discovered it as food poison thus he also shifted to organic foods and changed his lifestyle which gave birth to this brand. He started this trend of organic foods in UAE as it was unavailable and propagated it as healthy nutritious food. Also it’s not about money but it’s about nutrition which this range of foods offers.

Brand Mantra

Brand Mantra for Organic Foods and Café is to create awareness about organic and bio dynamic products throughout the world and educate customers about the nutritional value it offers. Also they take fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts products, eggs, meat, poultry, dairy directly from the owners of the respective products. They have farmers working with them from all over the world starting from Australia, Austria, Uganda, Sri Lanka, and UAE.

Keller’s Model

Kapferer’s Model

Leveraging Secondary Brand Associations To Build a Brand

Brand Value Chain

What Store Says?

Organic – Foods & Café, outlet in Sheiklh Zayed Road took me into the world of Organic and bio dynamic food products, supplements, skin care, cosmetics, baby items and household products. The store located at a very prominent location on the main Sheikh Zayed Road and this gives greater visibility to the store. In Dubai Organic-Foods & Café have 3 outlets –
Sheikh Zayed Road, Village in Jumeirah and Greens.

Also they have a store in Masdar, Abu Dhabi. Masdar city is the epitome of alternate energy i.e. solar energy and other renewable energy sources. Organic represents the “Alternate” way of lifestyle by using organic and biodynamic products. Masdar city also represents an “Alternate” way of living by using renewable energy sources. This association of Organic-Fods and cafe with Masdar City is a good brand building step.

In the store, they discussed about their policies of sourcing products only from farmers that they have hand-picked and personally visited who adhere to the strict organic or biodynamic guidelines. The store does not buy from the open market or traders. They source the food from all over the world and stock only the items that are seasonally available which can also mean that they don’t have certain fresh produce due to the seasonality elements. The fresh produce is also priced at a premium due to the expensive production in UAE.

The store layout was as follows:

• The entrance to the store had the fresh produce of fruits and vegetables and the main store room had the aisles of the packed food items.
• One side of the store had the makeup section along with health supplements.
• Also, there was a separate room for ‘Pork’ which was clearly marked as “Not for Muslims”, this clearly shows that they are culturally sensitive to the region they run their business out of while catering to the international needs of people.
• The store also stocks all kinds of household supplements, personal care products and other FMCG products.
• They also stock certain Non-organic food items for people who require products with very specific allergy requirements. But all this is clearly marked in the displays.
• There is a fresh bakery region where they also serve bread pieces with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for people to try out the variety of baked goods available. The store has a strict policy of not eating within the premises which also relates to the strict health guidelines
• There was a specific area where the butcher was preparing the meat and this was in plain sight of the customers as well.
• One side of the store was reserved for the café

The staff in the store was very helpful and was guiding everyone on the products available. They also were convinced about the benefits of the products available as well as committed to their jobs. There was also a great ethnic diversity in the staff employed.

Also, the customers who were shopping in the store were well educated about the products
available. The products available were of a higher price range and so the customers belonged to a higher income group who were educated and concerned about the health implications of eating good quality food and using organic products.

To encourage brand loyalty and engagement they also have discounts on different products every Fridays and Saturdays. They also told us about a few customers who have their food at the café every day as they feel assured about the quality of the food they produce. The loyalty among the customers is very high due to the assurance provided by the brand.

Organic food and café also delivers within Dubai and have a delivery network to deliver
according to a schedule and also have pick up points. They deliver across other emirates as well. They have now started delivering to Oman as well. The delivery to Muscat is done twice a month where people can place their orders in advance.

What Next?

Brand building done by Organic foods and café touch the heart of its loyal customers in every aspect of life. Though there are few of the areas where they can focus more which we were able to draw from our analysis.

• Organic foods and café can have events associated with best nutritional value food products in UAE and can step up their stalls in various events which occur day in and out in this part of world.
• Along with they can set up their mini store during Dubai Food festivals to give the taste and flavor.
• They can also use you tube videos and 30 minute talk in the stores itself to demonstrate how this brand was built, what are the steps they are taking to maintain its uniqueness, how they are different from other organic outlets etc.
• Also they can leverage the secondary associations in terms of involving people who works towards spreading and educating people towards this new lifestyle.
• In the stores they are offering discounts on products but on the website they are not mentioning about this, to create awareness about the same they should publish about discounts on social media as well.
• They can also take use of sample food packets to create awareness.

This whole analysis helped me to understand that how can we analyze a brand as a big picture and find the gaps where we can help them to grow.

P.S Thank you Avantika Toshniwal – Pursued MBA in Marketing from SP Jain for contributing in the analysis made.

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