Fresh from Brinc’s Virtual Demo Day, BEntrepreneur interview some of the most promising startups featured. Below is an interview with Ahmed Al-Awadhi, serial entrepreneur and CEO/ Co-founder of Frij. 

1. Can you tell us more about Frij and what inspired you to start the business?

Frij is a first-of-its-kind technology in the Middle East providing 24/7 access to chef-prepared, fresh food at your office, apartment building, or gym. Frij was a concept that was developed to address a prevalent lifestyle problem in today’s world. Frij was launched in 2019–where we conducted research to find the most convenient way to provide easy access to healthy food to accommodate contemporary lifestyles and so…..  the smart refrigerator was born.

Frij is a state of the art smart frij that provides:

a) 24/7 access to chef-prepared, fresh, healthy food at your office, apartment building, or gym

b) regular new recipes to satisfy the customer and accommodate his or her healthy lifestyle

c) Affordable prices

d) an instantaneous healthy option as you grab it from the frij and go without the hassle of leaving your location.

2) How does it work and who are your clients?

The Frij Method is very simple

We cook healthy food that is rich in nutrients in our fully-equipped central kitchen

From there we prepare, safely pack, and deliver the food to all of our fridges all over Bahrain through our chiller van. The smart fridge provides seamless transactions with intuitive user experience allowing customers to pick up their meals, and pay for them within seconds using their debit or credit card and even Benefit Pay. And the end-customer will be also able to monitor his or her daily intake as the machine displays the number of calories per meal. So basically Frij is a one-stop-shop to your breakfast, snack, lunch, or dinner at your convenience. Moreover, Frij monitors the quantities, prices, and products in order to replenish the stock timely, with real-time sales and inventory updates.

3) When you say that the Frij is the worker and salesman and delivery person, how do you guys manage it?

Our business model is a B2C one as we aim to target the employees of the banking sector and financial hubs in order to maximize our reach to the main customers who are workers looking to accommodate a healthy lifestyle despite working long hours.

4) What were the challenges in setting Frij up?

We feel that our product creates an opportunity for people to explore new dietary plans and be able to access a healthy alternative to existing market offerings.

Nevertheless, the challenge of having a large number of people trust a vending machine creates a barrier. Either way, we will ensure that our food, technology, and service are at the highest of standards to ensure efficiency and productivity and the trust of our customers.

5) What advice can you give to aspiring entrepreneurs/ startups?

I would always advise entrepreneurs to stay hungry, look for opportunities, and never give up. Try to focus on one thing, but at the same time make sure to diversify and invest your time in different projects. This may be a contradiction, however, it is all about creating a balance. We live in a turbulent economy, and in order for us to survive, we need to create opportunities.

For more information: https://blog.brinc.io/welcome-to-our-new-startups-in-the-mena-accelerator-program-ab62f6e6d458