At a time when many commercial enterprises, especially small and medium-sized ones, tended to close due to economic conditions, the duo Ghwa Al Zoghbi and Ayman Mallat tried to break this rule and set up their own small factory, aiming to create a future for them and challenge the difficult circumstances Lebanon is going through.
Zoghbi and Mallat’s initiative has begun to break the cycle of poverty into which they have entered in spite of themselves, thinking of a special project, to guarantee the necessities of daily life, especially since the two are responsible for a family that needs important. The couple work in the education sector and receive their salary in Lebanese pounds.
The collapse of the economy, and the rapid deterioration of the exchange rate of the lira against the dollar, confronted them with a difficult financial and life fate. Last January, the couple opened a small factory in their home to produce fine chocolate. She called it Mallatlechocolat. The project was not easy, but it has been successful since its inception, despite the surrounding economic conditions.
milestone
Joy Al-Zoghbi tells Al-Modon the details of her journey in the chocolate industry. He says: “We found ourselves unable to meet the daily needs, after our salaries weren’t enough to buy bread or water. We tried to look for additional income, but the lack of jobs and job opportunities made it prevented”.
According to Al-Zoghbi, it was not easy for her to choose the chocolate industry as her main resource, at a time when people could not feed their children, but she decided to be innovative in this sector and to target mainly the chocolate lovers, and then all segments of society.
This category, according to Zoghbi, has been affected by Lebanon’s economic situation, as it is no longer able to buy chocolate from abroad, due to the interruption of import operations and its high prices.
Ayman Mallat, the main founder of the company, and husband of Ghawa Al-Zoghbi, told Al-Modon that choosing the chocolate industry was not an absurd idea, or a mere attempt to get out of the economic crisis, but rather an idea to create a new food industry with a Lebanese character.
According to Mallat, the chocolate industry is considered one of the luxury industries, which used to be a part of Western heritage, and therefore, I have tried and tried to add to the Lebanese heritage, mixing flavors and juices that are unique to Lebanon.
Lebanese-Western blend
In the region of Qalamoun, in northern Lebanon, where Mallat and his wife grow up, the traditional food industry flourishes, including the production of rose water, jams of all kinds and healthy drinks, such as berries, apricots and others. these natural ingredients together with chocolate formed the core of the brand launched by Mallat. .
He says: “It’s not easy to create new flavors in the world of chocolate, so I really tried to make the piece of chocolate contain some of the aroma of Lebanon. Therefore, we now have chocolate varieties made with grape molasses or lemon flower jam”.
Mallat has tried, during the process of creating the chocolate bars, to provide a product that is healthy and at the same time respectful of the environment. He says: “All the mixtures that are combined with the chocolate are made manually in Lebanon, and most of the time Mallat produces them himself. As for the products he imports, he confirms that he wants to be environmentally friendly and 100% natural , because the goal of Selling Chocolate is to offer a healthy product.
In her speech, Al-Zoghbi praised the issue of selling healthy products, stressing that her goal in the sales process is to provide a product that all family members can eat, and therefore she was careful not to put chemicals, materials artificial colors or even flavors, and no sugar products of any kind have been added.
Difficult beginnings
The project started with a cost not exceeding 100 dollars and, despite the simplicity of the amount, it was not easy for Mallat and his wife, on the contrary, carrying it out required commitment and time, and they also gave up many of the foundations that the family needs on a daily basis, so that you can save on the amount and buy the basic equipment.
The manufacturing process started with creating simple flavors and then distributing these products to family and friends to get their opinions. The result was very encouraging and the requests started pouring in, according to Mallat. The latter did not require customers to purchase certain quantities or a minimum quantity of goods, but rather let them do according to the buyer’s desire and ability, then they sold the chocolate beans by the gram, just to encourage citizens.
Not only was the start difficult, but they also faced and still face many problems, including those related to changes in the prices of raw materials, including the price of raw chocolate, which is imported from Belgium, France and Switzerland, as well as the electricity problem. According to Mallat, it was not easy to deal with the production of raw chocolate beans, without the presence of permanent refrigeration, and therefore they had to borrow to buy solar energy to secure electricity.
Ghawa Al Zoghbi also does not hide the logistical obstacles he faces in his work, for example his inability to deliver orders in many Lebanese regions, due to high fuel costs. For example, she is now busy delivering her orders to the capital, Beirut, on certain days of the week, while she could not deliver orders further south.
Future projects
Over the summer, and with the arrival of Lebanese expats, the sales movement increased significantly, which opened up wider areas for them to develop their work. Projects outside Lebanon flocked to them to develop the chocolate industry. According to Mallat, no decision has yet been made regarding expanding the business overseas, and he confirms that the main focus now is to market his brand regionally, expand globally and then transfer traditional flavors Lebanese in various countries of the world. For his part, Al-Zoghbi hopes to be able to create an integrated factory for the chocolate industry.
Such projects indicate the aspiration of Lebanese youth to revive their country’s economy, if the appropriate political conditions are available.
