Name: Moayad Abushokhedim
Graduation year: 2015
Nationality: Jordanian
Program: Diploma in Hotel Management
Current position: Founder, Fooditive
Moayad Abushokhedim has taken the hospitality expertise and entrepreneurial ability he gained at Les Roches and used it as a launchpad for a number of start-ups. With his first business successfully sold, he is now Founder and Food Scientist at eco-friendly food additive brand, Fooditive.
For Moayad, delivering happiness is a key motivator and one that drove him to find the ‘why’ behind his businesses. “With the aim of changing food industry to become a better and healthier for the world, I started my first company in 2016 in alcohol industry under the brand name Blazing Sorbets”, he commented. “After huge success in the best clubs in Spain, Netherlands and UK, I sold it in 2018 which has created huge impact and given me power to open my second business.”
Hungry for success
Within four years of graduating, Moayad has started, made a success of, and sold his first business, and is now growing his second. That’s the power of passion, talent and a Les Roches education. “Since the day I graduated from Les Roches I was able to take what I learned to the next step, learning about my strengths points and challenge myself to become an entrepreneur”, he said.
“I have launched Fooditive, which is the world’s first plant-based additives and sweetener made from 100% recycled fruits and vegetables. Within two months we were already working with brands like FrieslandCampina, PepsiCo, and Hero Jams, and by March 2019 we had started expanding to Sweden and the UK.”
Developing a leader’s skillset
Moayad was drawn to hospitality by its ability to create experiences, memories and emotions. “When I decided to follow my dream and become an entrepreneur I did not want to study Management or Economics, I wanted to study about how to deal with people, how treat people nicely and how to make them feel extra special.”
[quote]Hotel management was the perfect thing as it does not only teach how to lead a team, but develop emotional intelligence that I personally believe is the most important skill nowadays, with all the technology that we have.[/quote]
Feeding the circular economy
With consumers, and brands, increasingly influenced by eco-credentials, the food industry is ripe for ethical start-up ventures. “The new trend in the food industry is to produce food from waste and recycling, I am actually very happy with that trend as we are finally becoming aware of how much waste we produce per person, and companies are following this in very good ways.”
“The food industry will change dramatically in 5-10 years as now we are dealing with quite a few challenges such as climate change, population growth and being able to provide all of that in the most sustainable way possible. As more quick and simple meals will be prepared and prices will keep going up, the food industry will have a challenge to maintain delivering healthy and high quality food.”
Top 5 tips for entrepreneurial success
Like all successful leaders, Moayad was happy to share his advice for anyone seeking the entrepreneurial mindset:
- Never give up on your dreams and passion, as you may be the reason why others start to believe.
- Maintain your positivity, no matter what is going on around you.
- Stay focused on your past successes, rather than your past failures.
- Know the next action steps you need to take to get you closer to your goals.
- Life will give you lots of distractions, just focus on reaching that next step.
Thank you to Moayad for sharing his entrepreneurial journey and advice with us. We wish him, Fooditive, and all his future ventures (of which we’re sure there’ll be many!) every success.
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