{"id":271899,"date":"2020-04-22T07:00:20","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T10:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=271899"},"modified":"2020-04-20T19:11:17","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T22:11:17","slug":"deli-negotiates-its-way-through-crisis-arab-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/deli-negotiates-its-way-through-crisis-arab-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Deli negotiates its way through crisis, Arab style"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Over 80 kinds of Arab sweets to choose from at one single shop in S\u00e3o Paulo. And the ingredients are not the only thing sourced from the Middle East at Alyah Sweets<\/a>. According to the restaurant and pastry shop\u2019s commercial director, Issam Sidom, more than ten people in the staff came straight from Lebanon to bake the goods. The place opened last November, the brainchild of a group of Lebanese entrepreneurs who were in the food business back in Lebanon, and it has shareholders in Brazil. Sidom is the son to Lebanese parents, and here in S\u00e3o Paulo he takes part in the decision-making for the Arab group\u2019s first venture in Brazil.<\/p>\n

Sidom explains that the strategies and approach to doing business is all Arab-like. \u201cOur concept is to be the best Arab patisserie in Brazil. What did we do? We brought pastry chefs in from Lebanon, from Hallab, the best delicatessen in the Middle East, plus a chef who runs the whole show \u2013 both the restaurant and the pastry section. We gave them freedom. We want the best product. We do not meddle with their choices. They can do whatever they like. Our ingredients come from Lebanon, in the Middle East,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

The owners\u2019 knack for business has proved handy in at least one aspect amid the Covid-19 pandemic. \u201cEverything we buy, we buy in large amounts of. Right now, for instance, we have over 10 shops\u2019 worth of inventory, and this has really helped us through this crisis. Thank God, we\u2019ve only been buying the bare minimum. When you have product in store and demand is going strong, it\u2019s no good to be depending on suppliers all the time. And by ordering large amounts you get better pricing. The secret\u2019s in the buying, not the selling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n