NCA Rouiba

ABOUT THE CO-FOUNDER

Growing up between Algeria and Tunisia in the early 1900s, Mohamed Saïd founded a small business selling local food products in Tunis. He became a supplier for agricultural and processed products, serving a variety of institutions including hospitals, schools, universities, and barracks. He married Fatma-Zohra, an Algerian woman, and they had their first of nine children in 1928, Salah Othmani. ^[7]

After graduating from the Sadiki lycée — the most prestigious secondary school in Tunis — Salah Othmani went to Dijon, France, to study management.^[8] During his time in university, he would visit Tunis and Algeria, where he built up a network of connections and identified various business opportunities.^[9] In 1960, he married Romdhana-Josepha Belaid-Costa, a half-Tunisian, half-French woman with whom he had two children, Slim and Soraya.^[10]

FOUNDING STORY

Following Algerian independence in 1962, the new government began to rebuild the war-ravaged nation. Based on the relationships the Othmani family had already established in the country, Salah Othmani was invited by the Algerian authorities to move to Algeria from Tunis and contribute to Algeria’s development.^[11] Salah Othmani, his parents, and most of his siblings relocated, leaving behind two of his brothers to look after the family business in Tunis.^[12]  Salah Othmani and Mohamed Saïd established the Nouvelle Conserverie Algérienne (NCA; New Algerian Cannery) in Algiers on April 8, 1966. Driven by the Algerian authorities’ demand for canned food products, Salah Othmani and his father acquired a warehouse in the suburbs of Algiers near the village of Rouiba from a French family that was leaving the country.^[13] They soon transformed it into a modest food manufacturing plant, and the business began with the production of canned food, tomato puree, harissa, and jams. In its early years of operation, NCA had approximately 50 employees working at the factory. ^[14]

GROWTH PHASE

As Algeria’s postwar market economy boomed, the company’s sales and production climbed exponentially. Until the early 1970s, Algeria had a liberal open economy built on the economic system left by the French in 1962. However, in 1973, the government nationalized nearly all Algerian companies.^[15] While Salah Othmani and his father managed to partially avoid the nationalization of their business, the government still intervened on the distribution side by fixing prices and limiting delivery of NCA’s goods.^[16]

In 1973, Salah Othmani moved to France for personal reasons, leaving his wife and children in Tunis. His brothers Saïd, ElHadi, and Mohamed Othmani took over the company’s management.^[17] In 1978, cofounder Mohamed Saïd passed away. For the better part of the next two decades, Salah’s role at the company was fluid. When he visited Algeria, he acted as CEO and chairman of NCA. When he was in France, he would often only receive updates via phone, though he still participated in key decision-making. ^[18]

During Salah’s time in France, he studied the range and quality of products available in the supermarkets, inspiring him to diversify NCA’s product line. Although the company’s new products were successful, it struggled financially amid Algeria’s political instability and economic downturn, precipitated in part by the nationalization policies and 1970s oil crisis. In the 1980s, NCA focused on minimizing waste by using surplus fruit liquid to produce canned nectars.^[19] The company also introduced innovative pasteurized juices in aseptic carton packaging for the first time in Algeria.^[20]

During this period, Salah’s son Slim Othmani took an active role in the family business.^[21] In 1991, he struck a  deal with Coca-Cola to produce their trademark drink through a new company named Fruital CocaCola. As Fruital CocaCola grew, more family members joined the management team, including Slim Othmani’s cousin Lamya Benyahya, to oversee the marketing budget and financial logistics^[22], and another cousin, Hyem Mellouh, to head its supply chain department. ^[23]

Between 1993 and 1998, Algeria experienced a horrific wave of terrorism.^[24] With Coca-Cola regarded as a symbol of Western consumerism,^[25] even imperialism, in 1994, Fruital CocaCola’s production plant was a direct target of a terrorist attack. The Othmani family persevered, both rebuilding the bombed plant and opening a second one in a safer area.  ^[26]

In 1999, Slim Othmani finalized a deal with his uncles in which they took full control of Fruital CocaCola in exchange for granting him full control of NCA.^[27] Assuming the title of NCA general manager, he modernized the company’s business operations and management structure and expanded its points of sale to markets across Africa, Europe, and all the way to Canada. He also professionalized the administration and financial management and began incorporating up-to-date corporate governance systems.^[28] To fill the role of deputy sales manager, he hired another of his cousins, Sabhi Othmani. ^[29]

In 2003, NCA became one of the few locally owned Algerian companies to start publishing annual reports, and the following year, Slim officially became its CEO.^[30] In 2006, Salah Othmani stepped down as chairman and Slim was appointed to the position. Four years later, Sabhi Othmani was named the new CEO of NCA-Rouiba.^[31] He focused on expanding exports across the continent, and in 2013, the company was listed on the Algerian stock market.^[32] In 2017, Lamya Benyahia, having spent 15 years with Fruital Coca-Cola, joined NCA-Rouiba’s board of directors, with responsibility for audit and control.^[33] The next year, Slim Othmani’s son Youssef became the first member of the third generation to join the company.^[34]

When founder Salah Othmani passed away in 2017, Slim Othmani became the majority shareholder of the company. Sabhi Othmani left his position as CEO two years afterward, and the family secured additional external investment by bringing on board a new majority shareholder, opening a new chapter in company history.^[35]