Revolutionizing the F&B Industry in the GCC: A Digital Transformation Story

Globally, the F&B industry is a risky business with the failure rate in the first year being around 50%. 

However, our region is one of the fastest-growing F&B markets in the world. With the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and other countries' visionary goals and plans, transforming economic and social reforms, this is also opening the region up further to the world.

Embracing Digitization in F&B

Plenty of global restaurant brands are now flocking to open in the region, while homegrown eateries are welcoming the competition and taking this opportunity to up their game. These factors are further cementing the need for digitization in the F&B industry, as more and more outlets are scaling up and growing their businesses. 

In fact, GCC countries have been consistently embracing technology-driven solutions to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of their agricultural and food sectors. Several key factors have contributed to this technology evolution, from government support and strategic initiatives, increased focus on food security and the boosting of domestic food production, technological advances through to the increase of growth prospects for startups and entrepreneurship.

As the CEO and co-founder of Foodics, MENA’s leading restaurant and payment tech provider, I am proud to be able to deliver a one-stop-shop restaurant management ecosystem that enables restauranteurs to effortlessly control, streamline, and grow all their operations, anytime and from anywhere, and that also incorporates payments in every touchpoint to enhance check-out experience and bring more efficiency to the point of sale. Our approach is unique in the fact that we design human-centric solutions - we think of how our products will impact restaurant owners, how they will be used by restaurant teams and how they will impact the customer experience. 

Related: Foodics: The Region’s Most Prominent Foodtech-Meets-Fintech Player

The GCC's Entrepreneurial Landscape

The fast-growing pool of local talent has all the digital skills required to prosper in new industries like FinTech across Saudi Arabia and the GCC. The natural skills of today’s youth, combined with their passion for technology is driving the transformation of businesses. The expectation for the next 5 to years is more growth, investment in tech and sustainable solutions.

Innovation is indeed at the core of many business functions. We listen to our customers and ecosystem partners, and convert insights from them into new products. But innovation and success in F&B Tech and Fintech relies on multiple angles, one of which is to have a compelling value proposition to market and the other a compelling ecosystem. 

We are equally proud to be sharing this stage with Kitopi, Pure Harvest, nana, Impossible, Farmers and many others; and I look forward to a bright future as industry leaders in our field. 

Entrepreneurs have everything they need here in this region and nothing to envy Silicon Valley. With a good idea, good execution, and a good growth curve, there is a way to make it on a global scale. The opportunities that the tech revolution has provided the industry are unlimited, and together we also need to ensure that it is a sustainable one.

To read more about the future of food and the growing business of foodtech – read the full report here.