An Interview with Fine

AN INTERVIEW WITH FINE HYGIENIC HOLDING CEO JAMES MICHAEL LAFFERTY

We had the pleasure of speaking to James Michael Lafferty, CEO of Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH), and we got an inside scoop on how they flawlessly handled the pandemic, their mission and vision, their upcoming projects, and most importantly, their wonderful efforts towards women empowerment in the workplace.

1. How did your company deal with the pandemic in terms of producing and developing different kinds of sanitary products?

One of the things that played out to our advantage was that we were well ahead of the game. We were prepared that the virus would soon become a pandemic so we started to stockpile and plan for what that pandemic would entail; shortage in raw materials and supply chain, closing of international borders, and possible lockdowns. We were able to navigate the situation very well, but we also had a little bit of luck on our side as we made a strategic decision that pivoted towards wellness before COVID-19. We started sterilizing our tissues as part of our responsibility to provide the best quality for such sensitive products. We also improved the quality of our diapers to include more moisturization to help keep the baby and the senior citizens’ skin healthy.

As for COVID-19, we did our research about how the virus gets transmitted. And since the results showed that it’s airborne, we had to think of the ultimate solution and that’s when we launched our first re-usable masks with the antiviral technology that we licensed from Switzerland on February 8 in Amazon UAE.

2. As a company that never stopped working during 2020 despite Covid-19, how did you deal with the economic crisis that came with the pandemic and affected many companies and individuals?

Our products are not as economically sensitive as other categories like, for example, the airline industry. Our core is selling “Hygiene products” and no pandemic in the world can stop people from using hygiene products. On the contrary, consumption levels peaked; our type of business is immune to fluctuation.

Also, as precautionary and proactive measures we ordered huge quantities of raw materials to anticipate the shutdown of ports, airports, and shipping lines. We also innovated and worked on meeting the market needs by offering new products to serve the people with masks, gloves, and topquality sterilized tissues.

At the same time, we did not lay off a single employee. Instead, we gave bonuses and increased their pay throughout the year.

3. Fine is known for promoting gender equality in the workplace which is a bonus point and actually crucial these days because women empowerment has recently become a subject of interest to many at least in the region - even though it should be a given; how do you try to promote women empowerment and contribute to such a movement through your work and at the workplace?

80% of the purchase decisions on our products are made by females. How can a man alone make the decisions in a company that mostly sells to women? We also believe that women should be fully represented in our company and diversity is viewed as a fundamental business strategy. Thankfully, we took several steps towards gender equality.

For instance, FHH provides 16 fully paid weeks as well as an additional 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave. Working moms at FHH enjoy other benefits, such as working from home and shifting to a parttime basis. Also, all female employees at FHH are provided with an additional day of leave per month, easing discomfort arising from menstruation.

Creating an environment to support women is crucial because you can recruit women, but if you put them in an unfavourable environment, they won’t stay. So, we built a diverse inclusive environment that includes a work from home policy and letting working moms spend extra days with their children through flexible work arrangements and reduced daily working hours. We tend to raise awareness for women to know that you don’t have to sacrifice being a great mother to work for a company. We think you can be a great mother, wife, and businesswoman.

We also focus on putting women in leadership positions to set an example in the company to acknowledge visible female role models. And a few years back, in only 6 months, we went from 0% women in the 15 top managerial positions to 30% female representation and we’ll continue till we reach our 50% target. We also launched our female leadership program, “Shine with Purpose”, to help build a pipeline of female leaders for executive/ leadership positions, and to focus on promoting female talents from within.

4. What’s Fine’s main mission and vision?

Our mission is to improve the wellness of the world’s consumers. Fundamentally, we believe that if you don’t have your health you don’t have anything. And we proudly support that through sterilizing our tissues to kill 99.99% of germs, producing diapers that improve skin health as well as disinfection products like hand sanitizers.

Our mission is to be the shining star of the Arab fastmoving consumer goods (FMCG) and to show the world what a company in our region can do. Our region has great creativity and great talents and we want to show the world that FHH, a company that has been established in Jordan, can be among the big players.

5. What’s next for Fine? Is the company expanding in terms of production?

We have a lot of new products coming but there’s one that’s very special. As part of our wellness mission, we have bought a majority stake in an Arabian company called “Nai” that sells healthy beverages. The product uses flavors from our region and is healthy and natural with no-added-sugar; it tastes as good as lemon mint. We’re launching it everywhere and in Egypt next month. Besides Nai, we’ve also added an ancient formula for a tea that was designed in Lebanon. And after clinical trials, we are in the process of finalizing it and we can proudly say: It will “help you live longer”.