Zachary Cartwright [00:00:07]:
How is digitizing food industry activities improving the food industry's performance and helping to promote collaboration in the Middle east and in North Africa? Welcome to the drip, where we keep your mind hydrated with some science, music and a mantra. I'm your host Zachary Cartwright, lead food scientist at AQUALAB. By adium in today's episode, we will be discussing how digitizing the operations of the food industry's supply chain can help improve efficiency and create new opportunities. My guest is Miss Fidel El Akar, CEO and founder of Food site in Lebanon, a leading online platform connecting agro food businesses with freelance international experts to meet the needs of the modern agro food industry requirements. Fidel brings in more than twelve years of experience in the field and she worked across the arab region with the public and private sector in quality control assurance, food safety auditing, training, compliance, standardization and others. She is also an entrepreneur with experience in mentoring and coaching new businesses and startups, in addition to other social, humanitarian and technical engagements as an activist, ambassador and a member of regional and international organizations. Hi Fidel, thank you so much for coming on our show today. My first question for you is how are you disrupting the way that food safety is tackled in the Middle east and also in North Africa?

Fidele El Achkar [00:01:36]:
Thank you for this question with food side what we're trying to do is to introduce a new approach to how food safety activities are run. And not only food safety activities, how mainly the food industry activities are run in the region. And this is through digitizing the activities and introducing a customized approach while opening the door to freelancers and international experts and service providers to jump in and for all the stakeholders to come together to work in this field, not in a traditional way, but following the trends, the global trends, and also following a customized approach. This is mainly how we're disrupting food safety in the region.

Zachary Cartwright [00:02:20]:
And I understand you're going to be digitizing a lot of food industry activities. What exactly do you mean by digitizing them and which food activities are we interested in recording in this way?

Fidele El Achkar [00:02:31]:
Well, on this level, the digitization is related to different aspects. First, we created an online library where you can access databases of ready to use forms, reports, checklists, guidelines related to any activity in the food industry based on the different segments involved. And on another level, we created the library where you can access easily some publicly available, maybe guidelines or regulations or documents or standards, but for the sake of reducing wasted time and effort, we're combining them and we're gathering them under one umbrella under this platform. So the access to the information and to the data is the first digital aspect of what we're introducing with food site. The second digital aspect is the actual technical support and the consulting, if I may name it, the consulting services and the expertise that is provided. That is usually done through email, through in person interventions. You know how it's done. So with foodsight, we created full tracking system from a request submission form to an offer submission form to a full project management, while integrating a lot of tools, digitizing how the technical support is implemented.

Fidele El Achkar [00:03:46]:
While you will be able to chat, send, media, track and monitor the implementation of the progress of the whole project that you're implementing. And we're talking about any project in the food industry, mainly related to the technical aspect when it comes to R and D, regulation, compliance, certification, auditing and anything on this level.

Zachary Cartwright [00:04:10]:
And what are some of the ways that you see this improving the food industry in your region?

Fidele El Achkar [00:04:15]:
Well, in the region we needed to improve proficiency and efficiency in doing things. The impact is on multiple levels. Actually, if I, when I mentioned just the digital approach and how it's really improving things, it's connecting the dots, it's bridging the gaps and easily accessible, making everything easily accessible to everyone, either service providers, either the experts who are delivering the service or providing the technical support, or the producers or any client at the food industry is receiving actually the service. They are easily accessible, accessing the information, reducing a lot of wasted time and efforts, especially in dominion due to the bureaucracy and to the less reliability on the public sector. Unfortunately, the need for similar initiatives or support is needed. So that's where this platform is introducing this new support or a new easy access to the producers.

Zachary Cartwright [00:05:11]:
And when I look at your website, it mentions that there are also some social impacts that this is having. What exactly do you mean by that?

Fidele El Achkar [00:05:19]:
The social impact is mainly within the mission or the vision of food site. From what we created as a start, foodsite was created not to be just providing a service or being just another consulting company. Foodside Aim was to onboard all the industry stakeholders under one umbrella, help the experts get more chances to work on more projects, create for them job opportunities, opportunities and help them be more involved in the industry. Even if they have other commitments. They are maybe full timers in another job or maybe they are working on a specific area in the industry. They can widen up their expertise and work on new projects and add these to their portfolio, to their cv's and on the other level, the services that we are delivering, we always try to help through them, the producers and the stakeholders to improve how they're doing things, and not just as a service that's implemented. And this is another job that's done on the checklist. It's the way they are doing it, how they are implementing sustainable food systems and they are improving how they're doing, and indirectly also being part of the climate change and the environmental monitoring through the activities that they are doing.

Fidele El Achkar [00:06:33]:
So the impact is on a lot of levels, and we try to push for more as well, and bondage within the businesses that we work with.

Zachary Cartwright [00:06:43]:
I think there's so much benefit when you can collaborate and build a platform where people can actually get a hold of each other and help each other towards certain goals. And of course, some of those are food safety concerns or food safety goals. What specific food safety concerns has this platform been able to address?

Fidele El Achkar [00:07:01]:
There are a lot of concerns. Maybe the thing that would come to mind is based on the recent success stories that we were able to be part of and support the producers. In Lebanon specifically, we had a lot of complaints and export injections specifically to the US and to the states and to other countries since back to 2019 and even before this was based on, or actually due to the lack of maybe knowledge in the regulations or in how to implement things, what to get a certificate, how to monitor things, how to control their food. So through our services and activities, we were able to collaborate with FTA consultants, with people who work in the US specifically. And this also is applicable to you Europe and to Canada and to other countries as well. But taking the example of the states specifically, we were able to collaborate with FDA consultants and with people who work in the shipping industry and distribution industry to help the producers know what are the regulations from the start, for them to work on their product and to have them compliant to reduce any contamination, any complaint, and make sure that the products that will be produced and shipped will actually enter the country and will be actually consumed by the consumer and they will have their place on the shelf. And in addition to the export compliance and the trade regulations, we were also able to support on the R and D in Lebanon due to the financial crisis and the economic crisis. And this is also somehow applicable to the MENA region on different levels.

Fidele El Achkar [00:08:33]:
We had, after Covid also lack of possibility to import and the cost of import was high. So producers were thinking on how to create products as replacement to the imported ones, or how to create new formulas or come up with new lines for them to improve their revenue streams, or produce new products and sell to a new customer or target markets. And here is where the expertise that we have. The multinational experts were able to support them on the process optimization on the RNG level, on how to optimize their processes and the recipes and come up with products that maybe can be compared to international products, but also that have the capacity to be an actual product comes in the market.

Zachary Cartwright [00:09:17]:
And how are you finding different food professionals to participate on your platform?

Fidele El Achkar [00:09:22]:
Well, on this level, the focus was initially on the MENA region and through our connections, through the different activities that we were able to implement, the interest was super high and it started through referrals, through connections, through experts that are in Lebanon working in the industry, through collaborations with a lot of local associations stakeholders, me personally being one of a lot of clubs and associations and food site as well being a service provider with some donors, with funded programs. This helped us to reach local experts and even expats. As you know, we have a lot of lebanese people or experts who are abroad now. And on the same level, we saw a lot of interest and sign ups from regional experts not originally from Lebanon, even with minimal efforts to reach them. And this is not also on the MENA region. Applicable on the MENA region. We have now more than 230 experts who as freelancers working with us. And they are not just from the MENA region, they are also from Europe, from India, from Africa, from Canada, from Australia, from the US.

Fidele El Achkar [00:10:32]:
So I can tell you that we're now at a place where we're working on engaging more and more the freelancers that join us, even if there is no specific current project that they are working on. And we're putting the plan for having them part of our activities and social impact and also put the plan to reach new experts from around the globe as well.

Zachary Cartwright [00:10:53]:
It's amazing, this interconnected world that we live in. I talk to food scientists every day all over the world and even us. We're talking on almost opposite sides of the planet. It's awesome that you've built this platform that so many people can be involved in. What does the vetting process look like? For example, if I wanted to participate on this platform, what steps would I have to go through in order to do that?

Fidele El Achkar [00:11:16]:
Okay, so there are different steps. Since we're not following a traditional approach, we benchmarked somehow against the freelance international platforms. But try to customize the process to the food industry because, you know, there are specific dynamics. It's a critical field somehow, and expertise need to be really targeted whenever there is an assignment for it, for an expert. For now, the process is semi automated. We're working on having it optimal and being more automated following the new model which is covering subscription packages that we're trying to improve during this year. As a start, any expert who is interested to join our platform can sign up on our webpage. We have the main webpage where we have the library, we have the Isha page and we have the main services categories page.

Fidele El Achkar [00:12:02]:
And then whenever they sign up as experts with minimal information of their profile, name, contact details, etcetera, they will be redirected to access the web app page, their web app page as an expert, and there they will be asked to fill in more details on their profile. And as a next step as well, they will be redirected to fill in a questionnaire as we integrated different tools within our web app. So they will be asked to fill a questionnaire which will take them more deeply into specific aspects of their expertise, not just sharing an attachment, their city as an attachment. They will be asked through this questionnaire to really tell what projects in RNG they have worked in which field, in which sector, what exactly what the aspect of RNG, for example, they worked in. Is it just related to the shelf life stability, for example? Is it just related to the packaging optimization or is it also related to the feasibility of the implementation, the process, the equipment, what aspect of it? And this is also applicable to all the categories of the services that you cover by that. The software that we developed and that we integrated as well, the parts of it that are integrated will be capturing all these data. And this will help us whenever we have a request for a project to match through the keywords and through these data on the experts profiles to do the assignments. So yeah, that's basically it.

Zachary Cartwright [00:13:26]:
And where did your passion come from to build a community or a platform like this? Where does this even start for you?

Fidele El Achkar [00:13:34]:
Well, actually this starts because I was an expert. I started working at the food industry since 20 2012, and I've been working and I've been in their shoes and I've encountered these problems as an expert. Whenever I want to work on different projects, I want to just not just be working in this industry or in this field. I want to meet new people. I want to really broaden my expertise and challenge myself even, and be part of the bigger picture of the change, not just doing things on the smaller level and as well on the other side, working with different stakeholders, with the public sector, with municipalities, with the ministries, with the private sector. We've seen how they're doing things and what are the gaps and how we can solve even what the public sector cannot do or the government cannot do. And this is the only way where the idea of food site came from and where we felt that we need to do something, and we needed to bring everyone together to join forces.

Zachary Cartwright [00:14:36]:
And what can other regions learn from the success that you're seeing in the Middle east and in North Africa? What can other places learn from this?

Fidele El Achkar [00:14:44]:
We usually think of this in the opposite. We usually tend to look at the states or Europe, which are the success stories that are doing, and how we can integrate this in the MENA region, and how we can help the industries that we work in improve based on this. I guess one thing that we can maybe share from what we did is that we always have crises and challenges in our region due to a lot of things. I'm not gonna name them now. So this, this is creating a lot of creative ideas and a lot of opportunities. And we're not just creating something that could be a vitamin. We're trying to create painkillers, and we're trying to really solve problems. And I guess this helps us really disrupt the market whenever we create things, because they are based actually on real problems and they are trying to solve real problems and the resistance to change.

Fidele El Achkar [00:15:41]:
Somehow we're facing this, but the resilience to continue and to push forward and to collaborate, even on a smaller level. We don't have like mass productions on the food industry, but the small scale, the small supply chains that we're trying to work in, and the smaller scales and then going global or working on a global level. I guess this is, this is one of the success stories that we can say that we're doing in the real region.

Zachary Cartwright [00:16:08]:
And what is next for you and for food site? Looking down the road through this year, or maybe five years down the road, what would you like to accomplish in that time?

Fidele El Achkar [00:16:17]:
We're currently this year, working on the repositioning of food site as a social enterprise, focusing on the impact that we're creating and trying to engage more and more stakeholders and really develop activities and improve the activities and the services in a way to really target the problems in the industry on both levels, at the level of the experts and the service providers, and on the level of the producers. And with this repositioning, we are also working on the prototype for the new, improved model. And with that, we aim to be expanding to the MENA region, to the whole MENA region, since, as you know, with a more automated and optimal process, we will be able to have everyone joining in from around the globe. But definitely due to the dynamics of the industry. We are trying to target at first the MENA region as producers, but opening it for the experts from around the globe. So that's the plan for the next coming years.

Zachary Cartwright [00:17:15]:
And part of this podcast is also to highlight some of the music and mantra that scientists and professionals use. And I'm curious, do you have a guest music recommendation for us today?

Fidele El Achkar [00:17:28]:
Well, maybe. I would like to mention the songwoman of Andrea Triana. It's an amazing song. I personally love it. And it gives us power as women, as girls, to be empowered and to really trust in our capabilities and push the limits and to really develop our dreams and put actions to them and to be successful.

Zachary Cartwright [00:17:51]:
That's great. Thank you for sharing that. And we will link that song to this show. And I was also wondering if you have a mantra or a saying or something that you use to bring balance to your life and help you focus or be successful at your job.

Fidele El Achkar [00:18:05]:
Well, actually, and it's something that I always said, everyone that knows me knows that I say it. It's pushing forwards. And I mean by that, pushing the limits, moving forward despite obstacles, challenges, crisis, taking risks, creating and taking in new opportunities. And I feel everyone, the main religion who we encounter nowadays is also struggling on some level. So we need to keep on encouraging each other. So we're trying to survive and we're trying to push forward.

Zachary Cartwright [00:18:38]:
That's great. I love it. It's simple and straightforward, but really impactful. So thank you for sharing that. And I just want to thank you, Fidel, for your time, for meeting late in your day and setting this up with us. When we first scheduled this, it seemed so far down the road and here we are already recording. So I really appreciate you and everything that you do and for coming on our show today.

Fidele El Achkar [00:19:00]:
Thank you so much.

Zachary Cartwright [00:19:04]:
Today's episode is sponsored by AQUALAB. In this episode, we talked a lot about collaboration and how this is used to overcome food safety, food quality and regulatory obstacles. Did you know that AQUALAB has its own food scientist and research and development lab where we work with our clients to answer questions about their products? This means that beyond being just an equipment supplier, we are also a partner that's available to help optimize using our technologies in order to overcome R and D, sensory production and quality control challenges. To learn more about our laboratory and consulting services, click the link in this video's description this episode's song is another unreleased track that I've been working on with Christian Martinez, and we're calling it fight for me. It's an upbeat, heart filled house track with a techno feel and definitely a new type of genre that we're trying out. Let's check out the first verse and drop together.

Nasty Cat [00:20:17]:
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Yeah.

Zachary Cartwright [00:21:39]:
Finally, to round out this episode, we will be offering another mantra as a reminder. A mantra is a word, a phrase, something that you repeat to yourself to help you feel calm, motivate yourself, or express something that you believe in. Today's mantra is, I am courageous and I stand up for myself. I'm going to repeat this three times, and you're welcome to say it in your head or maybe out loud. Here we go. I am courageous and I stand up for myself. I am courageous and I stand up for myself. I am courageous and I stand up for myself.

Zachary Cartwright [00:22:17]:
As you keep this mantra in mind, I also challenge you to think about the most courageous thing that you've ever done and how do you show courage in everyday life? Thank you so much for listening to this episode. I'm so happy that Fidel could participate all the way from the other side of the world. My name is Zachary Cartwright, and this has been another episode of the drip brought to you by Aqua Lab. Stay hydrated and see you next time.

Nasty Cat [00:23:05]:
Meet me in the back of the body. Meet me in the back of the room. Back of the party. Back of the party. Back in the room back in the room back of the room back of the party back of the party back of the party.