Most retailers are worrying about consumer confidence, but when their product is a staple of many households, they've got an edge
While some retailers might be struggling in the current economic climate, at the end of the day, everyone needs a good cup of tea.
That's what Amal Prasad, CEO of Newby Teas of London in the Middle East, is counting on as he expands the brand in the region. Between that, and his almost eerie passion for a cuppa, he's got more than a good chance of making it.
What was the employment path that led to your current position?
I spent around eight years with Philip Morris in varying roles and then I got transferred to a sister company which was Kraft Foods.
I didn't enjoy this work as much as Philip Morris. So I decided to move on and I moved to FedEx.
One night, I went to a friend's house for dinner and she served me peppermint tea and I loved it. And I said, "Wow, that's a fabulous tea, what brand is it?"
She gave me the packaging and I found that it was Newby Teas of London and I'd never heard of it before. So I did some investigation and found out who the people were behind it and managed to find the email address of the chairman.
I sent him an email saying; "There is no doubt you have an amazingly brilliant tea and no doubt you have your own reasons for not marketing it! But that's what I'm good at - I'm good at building brands, re-engineering brand strategy and taking brands to the next level, with my experience in your region maybe we can take it to the next level, do you want to give it a shot?"
One week later - no response. Two weeks later I get a call from his secretary telling me he's on holiday and he'd call when he got back. I got a call from him the following week, spoke to him a couple of times on the phone then he sent me a ticket and I went to London, met his team, spent two days with them and they offered me a job and I took it.
I joined the company as a marketing director for the Middle East and Asia. Another gentleman was the CEO and when he moved on I was offered the role of the CEO along with the role of marketing director.
What are the best, and worst, parts of your job? What characteristics do you think a good CEO needs?
We are now in around 90 per cent of Dubai and Sharjah in areas where we have the right affluent target and we're expanding into Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. The challenge we have at the moment is expansion into Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq. These are core destination markets for us.
I enjoy using my passion, I like to believe that I'm very passionate and creative. To be a good CEO I'd say you need great leadership and you need to be creative in looking at different challenges, finding creative solutions to issues that makes you a good CEO. Whether it's an issue in the marketplace, or an issue with your brand, or an issue concerning personnel, it's all about finding creative solutions, there's no one fix for all. It's like handling different people, different people have different buttons to push, it's about finding the right buttons to make sure that you're dealing with that person with the same intensity and passion and creativity that you would with anyone else whatever the grade or level they're at.
I enjoy working with people because I believe I'm a pretty extroverted people person.
Being a CEO has its positives and it has its improvement side. Because being a CEO comes with a lot of responsibility. You've got to build a brand, build revenue and make sure you meet a long-term plan, and that takes a lot of effort.
Are you affected by the current economic conditions and have you needed to make any changes to meet these conditions? Do you find the current economic climate challenging?
Relatively, products that are very high-end in the luxury segment, are the ones that have probably been affected a lot, but essentially people who are buying day-to-day goods like tea, sugar, milk, which are necessary items, have not been as impacted.
Where do you see the UAE economy heading over the next couple of years?
In my personal view, the economy has suffered a fair bit, essentially the property industry and fin-ance. The pace has slowed down and as a result there's been a domino effect across food and beverage, because let's face it, someone who's earning a huge amount of money in the property market was then going out to the Madinat Jumeirahs of the world and spending a lot more money.
I believe that it is turning around, but it's going to be a fairly steady upward growth, not at the leaps and bounds that we had before, but a gradual slow and steady upward pace. And I think in that upward movement a lot of local brands will stand to benefit, they will very strongly become large players, for example Masafi or Al Ain water, will definitely gain momentum and become big brands, not just locally but in the Middle East and eventually worldwide.
There are lots of these smaller brands that will piggyback on the economy going steadily back up.
Things will come back - as in most countries in the world, you peak and you crash and you peak and you crash.
About newby
The Dubai Tea Trading Centre recently announced that it registered 62 per cent growth in the first half of 2009, transacting 4.2 million kilos of tea compared to 2.6 million in the corresponding period of 2008.
This is the growing market that Newby Tea of London in the Middle East hopes will have a taste for premium brand tea.
Newby is an international brand sold in Russia, Europe and Asia and is part of the N Sethia Group, with more than 100 different types of tea, including tisanes, from all over the world.
Newby was the only brand to ever win 15 Gold Great Taste Awards in 2009 from the UK's Guild of Fine Food.
The tea company has won 31 Great Taste Awards over the last four years.
Here in the UAE, Newby teas are offered in many hotels and restaurants and can also be found in certain grocery stores such as Waitrose, Spinneys and Union Co-op.
© 7Days 2009
