
- By food-experts
- July 9, 2025
- No Comments
The Saudis Said It Loud and Clear- “We are not “the Consumer”
The Saudis Said It Loud and Clear: “We are not “the Consumer”
Ahmed Samir Ragab, Food Marketer, Founder & MD of Food-Xperts
This week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with one of our key partners in Saudi Arabia — Namaa Al Tharawat, the powerhouse behind some of the Kingdom’s well-known brands: Nakhet Al Badiya, Kumana, Malhamet Tary, and Hashi Pasha, the world’s largest camel meat restaurant chain with over 150 branches across Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
After the meeting, I found myself reflecting deeply on one essential concept in marketing: The difference between “understanding the consumer” and “becoming the consumer.”
We strive to understand — not pretend to be the consumer. We analyze — not assume. We observe the market through the lens of real consumer life, not through the filter of our own preferences.
It’s the same difference between a doctor who accurately diagnoses your illness and prescribes exactly what you need, and one who sees your pain and gives you the medicine that he found useful for him — simply because he thinks you’re “similar.”
We never impose our taste. We don’t copy-paste our culture or personal preferences and habits onto the consumer. We don’t speak for them — we create space for them to speak for themselves: in their dialects, with their rhythms, reflecting their cities, tribes, and heritage.
This approach isn’t just theory — it works. It has worked in Qatar, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Why? Because we don’t use templates. We bring attentive listening, objective interpretation, and solutions tailored to what’s needed, not what’s personally liked.
Can you believe that an Egyptian team successfully marketed a camel meat restaurant chain to the Saudi consumer? Yes — it happened. And yes — it worked.
Soon, we may even market an Indian restaurant in India. And, by God’s will, we’ll soon launch something truly meaningful in the Iraqi market — and after that, Senegal.
We extract the essence of a brand’s story from the consumer’s pulse — combining global and local insights, deep consumer understanding, and company capabilities to craft strategies, brand identities, and narratives that resonate emotionally and fulfill real needs.
We don’t recycle ideas. We rediscover truth — with each project, every time, as if it’s the first.
We choose to understand without dissolving, to participate without dominating, to create without clichés.
But as we say — one hand can’t clap alone. A it takes 2 to tango.
This was only possible because of the open-minded leadership at Namaa Al Tharawat — a team of southern Saudis who know their consumer deeply, yet had the humility to take a step back and trust in structured methodology. They understood that while they are from the culture, they do not represent all generations or every pattern.
Working with such open-minded teams makes the process a joy. We learn, we adapt, we evolve — and we celebrate cultures along the way.
And there’s more to come very soon with Namaa Al Tharawat and Hashi Pasha.
أحمد سمير رجب – خبير تسويق غذائي، مؤسس ومدير شركة فوود اكسبرتس