Ms. Safiya is the owner of Good Food Chimney Cake UAE, a well-known cake shop and bakery franchise. She is a lawyer but has been passionate about baking from an early age. Safiya is a go-getter who has been to several places around the globe as a child.
During our interview, we learned that Safiya had a challenging time in the UAE market as the culture and industry were entirely new to her. However, what inspires us the most is that Safiya didn’t give up. She kept working and learning about the market while coming up with excellent ideas for the franchise.
Good Food is the first-ever bakery to develop this unique concept of Chimney cakes. They mold the classic Trdelník chimney shape into a unique cone shape and fill it up with excellent flavors. The franchise also has social media presence on Instagram and Facebook. This adds more to their uniqueness and sets them apart from their competitors.
Learn more about Good Food and the journey of Safiya in the interview below.
Explain the background of you and the Company in detail.
Originally, I studied Law, and as time went by, my love for baking never faded. So, as I progressed in my career as a Lawyer. In addition, I also decided to follow the path of my passion.
All across the world, Good Food was the first to take the classic chimney shape and mold it into the unique, original cone shape so that we can fill it full of flavor.
Good Food keeps its title as “THE ORIGINAL,” as we have registered this shape in order to ensure its uniqueness. All our products come from our own recipes, along with our homemade gelato and flavored whipping cream. We strive to provide the community with a unique taste by combining our chimney cakes and homemade gelatos.
What are your goals?
Starting a café can be quite intimidating to some people. Many of us go into business to gain a profit, and some really want to contribute to their community or leave something behind for their family. Although for me, it was to share the love I have for baking.
My goal was to introduce THE ORIGINAL chimney cake to the market and have the customers compare it to the other recipes in the market. I have added high-quality coffee beans into the shop to compliment the chimney cakes. With the coffee shop improving by adding other pastry items, I am aiming that Good Food will become the leading coffee shop in the UAE.
What do you feel is the biggest strength of yourself/Company right now?
Being part of Good Food and having the original recipe of the chimney cakes, I feel like that is our biggest strength. Many people try to replicate the recipe but fail, and this is to our advantage as we stand out in the market.
As I have the leading franchise for UAE, I have a great responsibility to ensure that the branches or the sub-franchisees are up to the same standards as where they originated in Prague. Having this control gives me the biggest advantage as I decide if the person who wants to open a branch is trustworthy with the recipes and training.
What was the path you/your Company took to get to where you are today?
Originally I studied Law, and as time went by, my love for baking never faded. So as I progressed in my career as a Lawyer. Furthermore, I decided also to follow the path of my passion. There were a lot of obstacles that I had to go through, as this was my first time opening a shop.
Due to this being a unique concept, the training I had to go through along with my staff was done over a few days. When hiring employees, I had to ensure I could trust the staff and their skills to produce the products as expected.
Why did you start (or want to be the head of) this Company?
Since I was little, the love for baking was always there, even though I went and studied something entirely different. But as I went on with my career, at some point, I realized that I always wanted something more. When I decided to go into the one product that always caught my attention, THE ORIGINAL chimney cake, with this, I wanted to ensure that the UAE also has access to THE ORIGINAL chimney cake and sees the market difference.
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For me, the biggest challenge I had to face was entering into an industry I had very little knowledge of in the UAE. I had to adapt to the culture and learn about the new market that I was entering. I had to study the risk factors that I had to face at some point.
Give us one word that describes you the best.
“Persistent.” While having the business, I have realized no matter how bad it goes, I get up and fight through it. I was never someone to sit back and just give up. I ensure I fight till my very last for what I believe in.
What makes you excited about Mondays?
It’s another chance to try even harder than last week. This day allows me to plan and set goals for the week in order to achieve my main goal.
What do you value most about your culture and vision?
Every culture is unique on its own. Being from Turkish culture, we value the sense of honor, hospitality, and neighborliness. When you take these to heart, your vision or goals in life become a reality.
Tell us about a project that forced you to be innovative and creative.
Every public holiday we have a lot of competition as customers want to gain as much discount or new products during this time. When the holiday EID came up, we immediately jumped all hands in and added 2 new gelato flavors to grab the customers’ attention. We had to order completely new ingredients that we had never used before and new designs to complement the final product.
Luckily for us, we managed to pull it off as we had the right connections to help us achieve the final product for the customers.
What are the strategies of your Company, and how do they stand unique from your competitors?
We ensure that all open branches are approved and maintain the same quality as our main branch. We stand out by having THE ORIGINAL recipe of the chimney cakes, and because this is what makes us unique, I need to ensure that the other branches use the training to the same standard as what the main branch does.
I go by myself and give training and ensure that the quality is up to the standard I set in the UAE.
What are the key values that helped you overcome the roadblocks/challenges in your career? Tell us something about your memorable incident in your leadership?
Our main challenge in the market was our prices are a bit higher than the competitors we have around us. During our first few months, we struggled to get the customers to understand our products, such as gelato and chimney cakes are made from fresh ingredients, and using fresh ingredients can be time-consuming for the staff to make the products.
We do not use any sort of gelato powder for our products as we believe in only fresh products made daily for our customers. Once the customers tasted the difference between our gelato and the competitor’s gelato, they understood why our prices were a bit higher.
A couple of months ago, an Italian man who is in the ice cream-making industry came to us, accusing us of using artificial powders for our gelatos. We decided to invite him to our shop to see the process of making homemade gelatos. He was amazed by the production line we had and the time frame it took to make our products so perfectly. He was so pleased with our products that he decided to buy gelatos from us for his own store.
How do you see the Company changing in two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
I see the Company growing into a nationwide spread in the next two years. I am looking at opening several branches all across the UAE to share the same experience my current customers are getting all over the UAE. In addition, I will ensure all these branches get the proper training and support from my end to ensure the quality continues. Customer satisfaction is a key point in my success, and I will ensure that my team and other branches continue with this satisfaction.
Where is your leadership going? What benefits do your clients get from your Company in this competitive world?
The joy of experiencing THE ORIGINAL chimney recipe along with our delicious gelatos. We already stand out as we have THE ORIGINAL recipe, and we tend to keep it that way. Customers come from all over UAE to visit us, and the joy they get by entering our shop is the benefit they receive. The customers come back, and that already tells me that I have left a piece of memory with them and they will return.
What are the services/solutions or products offered by your Company on par with the current industry standards? Tell us something about your upcoming products or services?
We offer freshly made pastries at our shop. We provide chimney cakes with homemade gelatos along with pastry items. Furthermore, we are busy looking into adding more pastry items for the customers. In addition, we will continue to add unique gelato flavors on special occasions for the customers to have a new experience every time. We will ensure that we will not disappoint the customers with our products at any point in time.