The Proof is in the Pudding
Ross Turner
Commercial Director, PureMalt
At PureMalt we set exceedingly high standards for the service providers we partner with across the Globe. When deciding to explore the UAE and wider Middle East market, we needed to find a professional partner that not only understood the local market and its complexities but also a company that understood our products and had the same passion and drive for quality and success, with our core values at the heart of everything they do.
We choose to partner exclusively with Ymakan for the UAE and wider region, who now act as our people on the ground, sell our products directly to our target customers, take care of all negotiations and supply us with real and in depth market insight. Ymakan are a true extension of our Brand in the Middle East, which means we can focus our time into other countries around the world, and rely on the fact that Ymakan will take care of the Middle East.
Ymakan have an excellent network and relationships with key customers across various channels and have secured several opportunities including the world's largest food company, in a short space of time. They have exceeded our expectations throughout and have been invaluable to the success of our strategy.
We can't recommend Ymakan highly enough. Great Job!
Over the past 9 months, Vanessa and the Ymakan team have partnered with my team to get visibility of our brand in the press. The keyword here is "partner", as this is truly how we view Vanessa and the Ymakan team. They go above-and-beyond expectations in order to get the best outcome for us, continuously coming up with fresh ideas to solve our business needs and offer a lot of operational support to turn those ideas into reality. It is truly refreshing to work with a team so thorough and proactive, and yet not pushy (they get the balance right).
Holly Richardson
Regional Digital Marketing Lead, Unilever Food Solution
We are very happy to be represented by Ymakan, as they deliver well beyond the standard representative services. They uphold and develop the NOUQ brand with fine-tuned marketing services and find collaboration opportunities with relevant companies and organizations. We are wholeheartedly recommending them to any brand who wish to explore the [UAE - International] markets.
Stephan Barbier
Managing Director, NOUQ
Sarah has worked very closely with us to help deliver a one-stop shop solution, for food and nonfood products. When it comes to working with somebody that really understands food and customer service I would certainly recommend Sarah. Working with us as a trusted advisor, she has a full understanding of our business requirements and ensuring the products we choose are the right ones, to deliver consistency and quality to our customers.
David Owens
Head of Operations, Coffee Club
Clement Raybaud
Master Baker & Pastry Chef, Nikki Beach Resort & Spa
Dear Sarah,
I just wanted to thank you for you and your team's hard work and dedication in helping us ensure that our new menu was filled with some great and unique ingredients.
The launch of our new menu was delivered on time and a success!
I shall certainly continue to work with you as such a team is very hard to find in this region.
I had the pleasure of working with Sarah Motwali while she was employed by 4 Corners as Sales Director. Sarah is a consummate professional, dedicated and hands-on. She has great knowledge of the food industry in the Middle East and its requirements.
Paul Grimes
Managing Director, 4 Corners
Food Emporium
Sales Manager
Having worked for Sarah on two occasions, I have never met anyone so skilled in all aspects of sales up to senior level management. Most people are great at one or the other. Not many people I have met during my long career are fantastic at both and without ego. (Rare) With ultimate support and care for her staff and her clients. A true example of integrity and that we can do business, make good profit margins for all parties and deliver what we say both internally and externally to staff, suppliers, customers. I would always jump at the chance to work with Sarah again in the future.
The Department for International Trade (DIT) UAE appointed Ymakan as its event management company to run its annual ‘Meet the Buyer (MTB)’ event during Gulfood in February 2020. The MTB event is a B2B speed-dating event that allows British F&B product suppliers to meet multiple buyers from the UAE and the Middle East operating in the HORECA, retail and wholesale sectors across the Middle East. Ymakan, with direction from DIT UAE, put together the 1-2-1 meetings within the specified time frame. They liaised between buyers, suppliers, DIT and the venue to ensure that all arrangements for the event were managed professionally and in a structured manner. On the day of the event, they ran the programme on schedule and ensured that last minute adhoc meeting requests from both suppliers and buyers were arranged, managing everybody’s expectations.
All the 100+ British companies and 40+ buyers were extremely pleased with the more than 400 meetings that took place on the day of the event. We were very pleased with Ymakans professionalism, enthusiasm, knowledge of the F&B sector, their willingness to go over and above and their ‘can-do’ attitude.
It was a pleasure working with the fantastic and friendly team at Ymakan and we have no hesitation in recommending them to anybody who is considering running similar events. We would be happy to work with Ymakan in the future.
Adil Khan
Trade and Investment Advisor
Sugumaran Devaraja
Regional Director, Dubai Overseas centre
HavinOn behalf of Enterprise Singapore, I would like to thank the Ymakan team for creating, from concept to delivery, a better event as compared to our usual networking dinner, for our Singaporean Food & Beverage companies around the Gulfood Trade Show 2020 in Dubai. It is clear that your connections with buyers in the Middle Eastern region and knowledge of the market as well as relationships with relevant F&B B2B media are very strong.
Thank you for taking the time to understand the businesses of each and every Singaporean F&B Suppliers and their specific needs, enabling them to meet with relevant buyers and wholesalers across the HORECA & Retail sector that they may have otherwise not got the chance to meet and present their products. Thank you for your ease of communication both internally across 3 departments and with our Singaporean companies, over the 3-month project. All in all the feedback was a success and a great platform for our companies to do targeted business much faster within the Middle East.
On behalf of Lesaffre, we would like to thank the Ymakan team for their outstanding support in organizing the Lesaffre Gala Dinner and Saf-instant brand relaunch. They managed and flawlessly executed our event, overseeing all details including securing a venue, sourcing suppliers, entertainment for the evening which wowed our guests, event production and managing attendees. Weekly meetings were organized by the team and start-to-finish progress reports, including a comprehensive post-event report, was shared with us.
Product launch guidelines were adhered to, and the team was flexible with our last-minute requests within budgetary constraints. The Ymakan team fully understood our needs and brought in a very professional team who ensured a smooth execution of the event.
The team went the extra mile on two occasions - once to incorporate the theme into the selected entertainment options, and a second time where together with the hotel, the team organized a special menu tasting incorporating our product into the event menu and helped us showcase a variety of products created using the newly launched product.
With their professionalism, we were able to host successful event and highly recommend their services.
With our best regards,
Lesaffe Gulf FZE
