VOICES Tunisia: A Beverage Manufacturer That Brings Instant Tea and New Flavors to New Markets

VOICES OF YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN THE MENA REGION

TUNISIA: A Beverage Manufacturer That Brings Instant Tea and New Flavors to New Markets

Tarek is the 36-year-old chief executive officer (CEO) and cofounder of a company that manufactures beverages. Born and raised in France by Tunisian parents, he attended business school in France, where he earned a master’s degree in business management. After completing his education, he went to work for a business consulting firm in France as a strategy and organization consultant for three years and for three years as an assistant to the CEO of a French firm in Morocco. It was there that he gained his initial experience as a business professional. He then decided to move to Tunisia, where he felt he could be an asset to the Tunisian economy due to his French education and knowledge.

Initially Tarek convinced his business partner, the CEO of an agricultural and tree-treatment company in Tunisia, to raise funds with him for a factory to produce energy bars. However, further market research convinced them that instant tea had greater global potential.

Tarek’s company manufactures hot beverages using local ingredients such as mint leaves processed with special machinery. The company officially launched in 2013 with the help of local investors and took off in 2017 after Tarek’s arrival. Tarek and his partner (the Kyufi team) worked hard to design the factory’s production line by contracting local engineers. The contracting, design, and construction process took almost two years to complete, and the cofounders now maintain all proprietary rights for their machinery. The company exports its products by contracting one to two carefully selected distributors per country in Tunisia, Morocco, France, and Canada. Tarek was able to infiltrate the North American market in 2019 after befriending and convincing a Canadian distributor to sell the products in Canada. Tarek now hopes to export his products and beverage flavors to the United States. The company’s annual revenue grew by 300 percent per year for the past three years. Tarek notes that the revenues might have been even higher if the pandemic had not complicated his production process and reduced sales. Nonetheless, in 2019, Tarek sold 1 million sachets of tea, and in 2020, he sold another 3 million. The company in Tunis currently has 39 employees, all hired since early 2019.

Tarek acknowledges several challenges that entrepreneurs in the region face. Getting access to funds is difficult. Tarek credits his cofounder as being instrumental in obtaining financing and also having considerable experience in the entrepreneurial sphere. Tarek believes the entrepreneurs in Tunisia could benefit from progressive laws and regulations. Tarek spent two days filling out registration paperwork to register a business in France. The same registration process in Tunisia took Tarek one month to complete. Digital infrastructure and business training are ways Tarek believes the government could help. Tarek also notes that while it is easy to access talented engineers in Tunisia, it was the soft skills that he found missing in employees—skills that he had acquired through his experience in France.