FIVE MINUTES IN KITCHEN UTOPIA WITH MOHAMAD BALLOUT

Mohamad Ballout, CEO and founder of Kitopi — a renowned cloud kitchen platform — prides himself on being in the business of “satisfying the world’s appetite.” Here, he speaks about allowing brands to scale up across borders.

Kitopi is short for “kitchen utopia.” What can you tell us about the company?

We are the world’s leading managed cloud kitchen platform. As F&B concepts develop and grow, we make sure our kitchens are perfect, technologically advanced with state-of-the-art infrastructure, hence the name: Kitchen Utopia.

How does Kitopi help F&B concepts?

By replicating a firm’s menu and offering access to any of our 60 plus kitchens in UAE, KSA and Kuwait, we take care of the operations on behalf of the brand, so that they can focus on what they do best — marketing and product innovation.

What do you anticipate the new normal will be post Covid-19?

From a business perspective, the new normal is the work-from-anywhere culture. Last year, we gave our Kitopians the freedom to work wherever they felt most comfortable, with our offices open for those who wanted to use them; productivity is not confined within office walls.

From an industry standpoint, customers today have access to thousands more additional options than they had a year ago due to the rise of on-demand delivery and cloud kitchens alike. Dine in will never be the same again, and the winners will be organizations and brands that not only put the customer first but those that are highly customer focused.