Mo’men, the sandwich company, launched its first branch in 1988as a family-run business for sandwich takeaway and delivery. Today,Mo’men is the third biggest player in Egypt’s fast-food market andhas the third biggest market share, serving over 9.5 millioncustomers a year. This transformation from a small family businessto one of Egypt’s leading fast-food players did not happenovernight; it is a result of a combination of ingredients, which,when put together, created the perfect recipe for success.
When the three Mo’men brothers first launched Mo’men, their mainfocus was to define its brand identity and product offering. Theysucceeded in building a brand with a local family feel. They alsosucceeded at differentiating Mo’men’s product offering across threelevels: product composition, product packaging , and productvariety. Once brand identity and product offering were defined, thenext challenge was to expand Mo’men’s operations across Egyptwithout compromising the quality of its products or services. Inorder to do so, clearly defined operating standards had to beestablished and implemented. Accordingly, the Mo’men brothersdeveloped the Mo’men standard review to audit the companyoperations and ensure consistency across all branches.
The idea behind Mo’men was to offer innovative sandwiches forquick pick-up or delivery to customers. The first branch opened inHeliopolis and did not have a sit-in area for dining. The businessstarted with a capital of EGP 12,000 (US $2000) and no brandrecognition. When the company launched, the main objective of thethree brothers was to turn the store into a profitable,revenue-generating business; they successfully did so.
The first ingredient in Mo’men’s success was finding a catchy,easy to remember name that set it apart from international andlocal brands that would enter the Egyptian market. The name Mo’menwas initially chosen in reference to the last name of the threefounding brothers. This name has built the foundation for Mo’men’sbrand image: it is catchy, easy to remember name with a local ringto it. “Mo’men†translating into ‘faithful†or “believerâ€, has adifferentiated proposition from international competitors. It isseen as a home-grown champion in the Egyptian market which offers ablend between local taste and culture with international brandingand quality.
Building a brand based on a family name instilled the secondingredient in Mo’men’s branding success: a strong sense of familyculture. From the start of its operations in 1988 till today,Mo’men continues to value and emphasize the sense of family in itsworking culture. For instance, when Mo’men opened its second branchin Agamy, a popular summer destination in Egypt, its staff woreshorts and t-shirts to mirror the culture of its clients. The Agamybranch became an instant hit, and further expanded recognition ofthe Mo’men brand.
The second ingredient to Mo’men’s success is differentiation ofits products. Mo’men was able to differentiate its products onthree levels: product composition, product variety and productpackaging.
Its key competitive advantage was to offer innovative sandwichesthat were not already present in the market. The ingredients usedwere available and well-known in the market. However, the Mo’menbrothers succeeded in combine these ingredients to createsandwiches that had anextra twist to them. For instance, when M’menfirst started , it was renowned for its shawarma sandwiches. Thesuccess of the shawarma sandwiches was due to the addition of extraspices that other shawarma sellers did no add. There was no R&Ddepartment. Instead the three Mo’men brothers would just try addingor removing ingredients until they found the perfect combinationfor the company’s signature sandwiches, such as the Chicken Keuive,were developed.
Mo’men also provided its customers with a large variety ofsandwiches, making it one of the few players in Egypt fast-foodmarket to offer such a wide range of choices. For instance, Mo’menoffers customers six categories of food: chicken, seafood, salads,snacks and deserts. This categorization is similar to ther playersin the market. However, what is different is the large number ofdifferent products offered under each category. Mo’men offers 12beef sandwiches, 12 chicken sandwiches, 6 seafood sandwiches, 6types of salads, and five different deserts; thereby ensuring everycustomer’s taste is met.
The Mo’men brothers then took an extra further step indifferentiating their products. Not only did their sandwiches tastedifferent , they were also packed differently. All sandwiches arepacked in a colorful , high-quality carton, which is color-codedaccording to type of sandwich. Beef sandwiches are packed in redcartons, chicken sandwiches are packed in warm yellow cartons, andseafood sandwiches are packed in golden yellow cartons.
As production of Mo’men sandwiches began to grow, the Mo’menbrothers wanted to ensure that all Mo’men sandwiches looked andtasted the same, regardless of who assembled them and where theywere served. In order to fdo so the Mo’men brothers began to defineoperating standards. Operating standards included the exact amountof ingredients to be used in each sandwich, the amount of time eachsandwich should be served in store, the exact way of communicatingan order between staff, and so on. The Mo’men brothers recall thestarting point for defining operating standards began with definingthe exact amount of condiments to be used in each sandwich.Condiment jars were weighed before and after each sandwich wasmade. The net weight became the set target for condiment use persandwich. Today, each Mo’men store has identical menus andidentical sandwiches. Clearly defined operating standards andoperating processes have enabled Mo’men to grow withoutcompromising the quality of its products or service.
Clear definition of operating standards and processes enableMo’men to deliver the same level of quality across its branches.However, in order to sustain this level of quality over time, aspecial ingredient needed to be present: the auditing of operatingstandards and processes. Auditing occurs in a cycle. It refers tothe examination of each operating standard to ensure it is fullyfollowed as well as continuous identification of ways to improveeach operating standard. For example, when it comes to auditingoperating standards for Mo’men sandwich delivery, an auditorexamines each step involved in delivering the Mo’men sandwich ,sets a target for the time this process should take, andcontinuously looks for ways to exceed the target delivery time.These new ways become the basis for anew action plan to improvedelivery time, which is then audited again. Accordingly, thecompany has developed the Mo’men standard review (MSR), which is ascoring system for each restaurant, designed specifically to auditMo’men’s level of service, quality and cleanliness. Each branch hasa quality team which is responsible for filling out the MSR andcommunicating it to the branch staff. The MSR pinpoints criticalareas of operational improvement. On reviewing the score, thebranch’s staff can identify operational strengths as well asdevelopment areas. These development areas form the basis of a newaction plan to further improve operations.
This combination of ingredients has created the perfect recipefor Mo’men’s local success. Mo’men restaurants are serving morethan double the number of customers and achieving double the salesper restaurant compared to any of the international brandsoperating in Egypt. Today, Mo’men restaurants are in the process ofrapid expansion to open more restaurants, serving Mo’men sandwichlovers all over Egypt and Overseas.
Mo’men’s next challenge is global expansion of its brand andproducts. It has set out on this path via a series of jointventures and acquisitions. In October 2005, Mo’men opened its firstbranch in Sudan, which became an instant success, generatingrevenues four times those forescasted before its opening. Sincethen, Mo’men has opened up branches across the Arab world andbeyond, with eight branches in Bahrain, three in Lybia, two inSudan, one in Malaysia, and one in the UAE. The UAE expansion beganin 2007 as a joint venture between Mo’men and AL Islami food, witha 15 year span and a total investment of US$22 million. InMalaysia, Mo’men is looking at acquiring a chain of about 20restaurants for approximately US$5 million. According to Mo’mem’schairman, the company is looking to acquire various local firmsworking in food production outside the meat and dairy sector, andhas up to US$12.5 million to exapanf ist market presence globally.Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Emirates are among the markets inwhich the group is eyeing acquisitions.
Mo’men has gone from a small local takeaway and deliverybusiness to Egypt’s third largest fast-food player after MCDonald’s and KFC. The Mo’men brothers leveraged Mo’men’s success inEgypt and aspired for global growth. Through a series ofacquisitions and joint ventures, they were able to expand graduallythroughout the Arab world. Mo’men’s plans dp not stop at globalexpansion. Mo’men group is planning to sell a 40 per cent stake initself in an initial public offering (IPO)in late 2012. The IPO’svalue would not be less than US$70 million. If Mo’men moves in thisdirection its main challenge would be to maintain a favorableenvironment for effective corporate governance, where eachemployee’s role is clearly defined and communicated, starting fromthe chairman all the way to the cleaner. Corporate governance is akey ingredient in maintaining transparency to investors.
the Q is :what expansion strategies did momen pursue? and whatis his branding strategy ?
