Maison Samira Maatouk

ABOUT THE FOUNDER AND  FOUNDING STORY

Mahmoud Maatouk was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1931.^[6] When Mahmoud turned 18, he experimented with various startups in food services and manufacturing on land gifted to him by his father.^{[7] [8]} He married soon after, and had ultimately seven daughters and two sons.^[9]

In the 1950s, Beirut became a cultural and economic hub in the Middle East. Mahmoud saw that coffee was the primary drink consumed at social and intellectual gatherings around the districts of Hamra and Central Beirut,^[10] and that few businesses were catering to the shifting coffee preferences.^[11] He turned his focus to coffee production, setting up a roastery on his land in downtown Beirut. In 1960, he officially registered it under the name of Maison du Café Maatouk.^[12]

GROWTH PHASE

The roastery was a success thanks to Mahmoud’s creative approach of introducing unique coffee blends of different origins.^[13] He expanded, setting up an adjacent restaurant, pastry shop, and coffee shop, and the area soon came to be known as “Maatouk Street.” A second branch was opened in the district of Khaldeh in southern Beirut. Over the course of the 1960s, the Maatouk coffee shops became known as meeting spots for A-list celebrities and leading regional politicians whenever they visited Beirut. Mahmoud himself became close friends with many key public figures in the Arab world.^[14]

Fleeing the civil war in Lebanon in 1974, Mahmoud’s wife and children relocated to the French city of Nice, while he moved to London, where he had identified a market gap — the lack of Middle Eastern coffee.^{[15] [16]} Mahmoud at first struggled to break into a market that was still unfamiliar with Middle Eastern providers and products. He eventually succeeded at establishing a complete supply chain,^[17] becoming a pioneer in offering premium Lebanese coffee blends in the UK.^[18] His businesses in Lebanon remained operational until 1979 when they were destroyed in the war.^[19]

In 1987, the Maatouk family reunited in Dusseldorf, Germany, where Mahmoud set up a new operation.^{[20] [21]} He officially involved his daughter Samira,^[22] who had shadowed him around the business since she was 10 years old.^[23] By the early 1990s, stability was returning to Lebanon, and the family returned to participate in rebuilding the country’s economy.^[24] Mahmoud reestablished his business after a long absence, starting with a factory in Dohat El Hoss, Beirut.^[25]

Samira sought to expand the business with a branch abroad, where she would have the freedom to pursue her own vision.^[26] Knowledgeable about the wave of economic development and investments in the gulf market, especially the UAE,^[27] she saw the lack of industrial coffee bean production there as a major opportunity.^[28] In the mid-1990s, she moved to the UAE. In 1995, Samira met Emirati-Egyptian Mohsen Mahfouz, who became her husband and she ended up settling down in the UAE.^[29]

Samira opened Maatouk Maison du Café in Abu Dhabi in 1996.^[30] With the help of her brother Jawad, she set out to modernize the business concept and technological infrastructure. In 1996, her sister Mariam started a new business in Beirut under the name of Mariam Maatouk & Co.^[31] Responding to the diversity of the UAE market, Samira expanded her offerings beyond Lebanese and Turkish coffee. Her new location gave her access to Bedouin experts who had mastered the craft of traditional Gulf region coffee, and she also collaborated with experts from other leading coffee-making countries such as Italy.^[32]

Gradually, Samira expanded her manufacturing unit to handle multiple kinds of packaged coffee blends.^[33]In 2001, the family established a more technologically advanced factory for coffee production in Lebanon’s Bchamoun Industrial Area, allowing them to supply a larger customer base in both local and international markets. In 2003, Maatouk reopened a coffee shop in Beirut, near her father’s original location.^[34] In 2009, Maison Samira Maatouk further expanded its production capacity with a new facility in Abu Dhabi.^[35] After two decades of operations in the UAE, the business was producing 3,000 tons of coffee beans a year, with 30 percent annual growth and a turnover of $250 million.^[36] Their business lines diversified beyond coffee into tea, nuts, chocolate, and restaurants.^{[37] [38]}

TODAY

Today, the Samira Maatouk Group is headquartered in the United Arab Emirates and owns multiple brands that cater to the coffee demands of retail, food service, and branded outlet customers throughout the Middle East and other regions. The group is led by second-generation Samira Maatouk, who serves as chairwoman.^[39] Her brother Jawad leads the family business operations in Lebanon.^[40] Samira has a daughter, Lara, who is based in San Diego,^[41] where she aims to open a branch of the business.^[42] One of Samira’s sons is involved in the group’s operations in the UAE, and another is set to join after completing an undergraduate business degree.^[43] Samira Maatouk Group has 26 coffee shop outlets in the UAE and Lebanon, with plans underway to expand to Egypt.^[44]