Despite the challenging times Lebanon is through, Crossover Holding has never stopped innovating with new F&B concepts catering to the local and the regional markets. Here’s what Saadi Hamady, CEO, told HN in that regard.

Saadi Hamady

What makes Crossover’s brands stand out? Is it the diversity in concepts? The different location, or your brand strategy and experience?

What makes Crossover stand out is a bit of everything you mention, with a pinch of luck to top it off. We believe in the diversity among our brands and concepts. It can be a challenge to create such different concepts, but we need to do this to be able to survive in a vital market. The richness of our team and their varied experience is a huge factor in our success and our ability to stand out from the crowd.

How do you assess the F&B industry in Lebanon?

Innovative, diversified and continuously expanding. Although the expansion and success of this industry is closely associated with national growth and disposable household income; we have witnessed a slowdown in the sector’s vital signs since the beginning of the year due to the acute economic depression Lebanon is facing. Now with the spread of the Coronavirus -, we in the F&B industry have to start thinking outside of the box… The F&B sector is vital to Lebanon, not just in terms of the economy, but also in terms of our culture, our ability to enjoy life, to meet with friends and family. It’s how we celebrate, how we relax, how we take time out, people need F&B businesses to succeed, we need an outlet.

How are you facing the challenges of the Lebanese market?

As with all Lebanese operators, we are not immune to the disruption and instability today’s economy has created in different sectors and businesses. We only can do so much under these circumstances, and we are managing the situation, mainly by monitoring and scheduling our expenses, and making our guests, our suppliers and our employees our top priorities. Also, we firmly believe in the concept of “from the farm to the table”, and we are able to offer our guests fresh and certified organic produce from our own farm, which not only ensures a successful economic model that is able to support our operation, but also allows us to know exactly what we are offering our customers. Without a doubt, we are going through a difficult period; however, we refuse to doubt the ability of the Lebanese market to re-adjust, and we believe in the resilience of the Lebanese people and their unwillingness to cave in.  

What are your latest ventures? Do you have any new restaurants in the pipeline?

After our successes with ONNO we have created a concept for lovers of artisanal bread and the very best pastries. ‘SIFT’ is a bakery and coffee shop where guests can indulge in the world of savory breads, sweet treats and handcrafted and blended coffees. For the lovers of French and Italian cuisine, ‘NEWBURY’ is a concept that will definitely tickle their taste buds, one that speaks the language of the most famous cuisines in the world and where we’ve teamed up with two-Star Michelin Chef Charbel Aoun. There is also a new concept cooking on the back burner that involves a new take on Lebanese street food, but within a contemporary context. The Coronavirus crisis has led us to deepen our reach in terms of concepts, so we are now developing a new ‘market’ concept. This market will be both online and have a brick and mortar store; it will be run hand in hand with our certified organic farm (Trees & Bees) and will also take advantage of wholesome and natural locally sourced products.

Do you have any plans to expand your business abroad? When and where?

We are currently opening ONNO in U-Walk, Riyadh. It is the first branch of a Territorial Franchise in KSA. In the next two years, ONNO will see a total of six branches opening in Riyadh and Jeddah. We are also in negotiations to open franchises in Egypt. As for SIFT and NEWBURY, we are negotiating franchise opportunities for these models in the GCC as a first phase. In the current situation, we have to remember that the F&B industry is important to people, our restaurants and bars play an important role in people’s lives. We also have to remember that we are part of a system. Our customers, our suppliers, our staff, even our competitors, all rely on us to be part of a bigger ecosystem. We are at the heart of the entertainment sector in Lebanon, we allow people to enjoy themselves. That said, we believe with all our heart that the world, and our country, will overcome, that we will survive and emerge stronger. Everything we are doing at Crossover is to help us survive, to help our staff and suppliers survive and to prepare for the world after Coronavirus.