Rapid social changes are transforming the way that Saudis spend their mealtime. As the founder and CEO of startup Siwar, Loaye Al-Nahedh is delivering young Saudis an ever-growing variety of nutritious ready-to-eat meals.
In a country renowned for its extraordinary hospitality and for extended meals around the family table, Loaye Al-Nahedh is the standard-bearer for a nationwide convenience-food movement that is changing the face of eating in.
When the Saudi government implemented its Vision 2030 plan to open up society, liberalize the country’s economy, and unlock a new generation of startups and entrepreneurs, Al-Nahedh reasoned that it would not take long before young Saudis joined the global ready-meal revolution.
“More than 60% of Saudis are under 35, and they want to participate in the lifestyle changes that they see in other parts of the world,” Al-Nahedh explains. “At the same time, we have become a more modern and dynamic economy. There has been an acceleration in work and activity. Time is becoming a scarce resource, whether at home or at work.”
Inspired by this conviction and supported by an early group of seed investors, in May 2020, Al-Nahedh launched fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) convenience-food startup Siwar to tap into Saudi Arabia’s unfed appetite for ready meals.
Al-Nahedh says that it would not have been possible to launch Siwar without Vision 2030 and the surge in support for Saudi startups from venture capitalists, networking initiatives, and accelerators.
Like Siwar, which last year raised $7.5 million in a Series A round, Saudi startups are finding an abundance of financial support from investors eager to tap into the country’s potential.
“If you do something worthwhile, you will get attention,” Al-Nahedh says. “The funding environment has transformed.”
Expanding rapidly across the country, Siwar now sells in excess of 50 different types of meals, from margherita pizzas and cinnamon rolls to plant-based dishes and traditional Arabian meals of meat and rice.
As well as distributing its products in supermarkets, Siwar uses a mobile app to deliver convenience meals directly to households. It also provides catering services to hotels, cafés, large companies, and government organizations. In office buildings across Saudi Arabia, Siwar is installing high-tech vending machines they call “Chef in a Box” to make sure that busy workers can enjoy a favorite meal when they need it most.
“Since the launch of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has become a hotbed for startups.”
Loaye Al-Nahedh, Founder and CEO, Siwar
Home cooking is great, but it takes time,” Al-Nahedh says. “We are making people’s lives easier and taking a little pressure off of them. It is time at the table that counts, and we are giving them more of it.”
What inspired you to launch a food technology startup?
Vision 2030 was a fundamental enabler for us. It has given people the chance to dream and make their dreams a reality. Saudi Arabia used to have a very static market, and it was hard for someone new to make inroads. That all changed with Vision 2030. Suddenly, everything was up for grabs and competitive. We were convinced that Saudi Arabia would catch up with the rest of the world in convenience meals. We wanted to be the first entrant into the market.
of high-tech “Chef in a Box”
vending machines to distribute
frozen meals across Saudi
Arabia and beyond
What are your most popular meals?
Top sellers are items such as pizzas, biryani, and mandi, which is a traditional meal of smoked chicken and rice. We developed the products with our manufacturing partners. Our first products were all tested repeatedly by Saudi women. We have stringent inspections, and every batch is tested in a lab. All our food adheres to the strictest health and hygiene requirements for ingredients, packaging, and processing. This is what our consumers are demanding. There is also a huge demand for diet meals and for sustainable products.
How much do your meals cost?
We are very keen to make our meals affordable. The whole world is feeling the brunt of inflation. We are going a little against the current wave and making food more affordable. Our range of dishes starts at 20 riyals ($5.33). We want to maintain a philosophy of offering value for money. People will remember that when prices were rising, we did not take advantage. We want to be very accessible to the masses. That is how I think we can add value.
How is Siwar funded?
We have completed two funding rounds. The first was the angel round, and then we raised $7.5 million in a second round last year. We want to hold another round at the end of this year for institutional investors.
We are using our funds mainly for marketing, to build the brand and grow our coverage of the retail market. We have aspirations to expand our offerings further afield into the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), Egypt, and potentially beyond. We are helping to develop Saudi Arabia’s culinary identity and find international markets for Saudi food products
Published as branded content in WIRED magazine
