Ahmed Perfume charts ambitious growth plan across the GCC

Ahmed Perfume, a leading UAE-based manufacturer of oriental and western perfumes, announces plans to add several retail stores to its strong network of 150 stores across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

Of the 150 retail stores, 75 of them are located in the UAE, 15 in Saudi Arabia, 45 in Oman, 20 in Bahrain, 17 in Qatar and three in Kuwait. With more than 1,000 employees, it serves a customer base of 50,000 in the UAE mostly comprising Emirati and Arab customers who love the oriental fragrances.

Ahmed Perfume produces a wide range of oriental perfumes, including oud, bukhoor, oil-based high-quality perfume blends as well as spray-based occidental fragrances.

The GCC fine fragrances market size is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.5 per cent to $19 billion by 2032 from US$12.4 billion in 2022, according to a report by Market 24X7.

“The GCC fragrances market is influenced by several key factors including an affluent consumer base that has a penchant for luxury products, making it a lucrative market for fine fragrances, increased tourism inflow, as well as cultural significance with a tradition of wearing perfumes that dates back centuries. This cultural affinity drives the demand for fine fragrances,” the report says.

Established in 2000 by Kafeel Ahmed, a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) fragrance specialist, who turned his passion and expertise into a global enterprise, Ahmed Perfume now serves hundreds of thousands of customers in more than 20 countries around the world.

It also exports perfumes to the United Kingdom, Europe – in Bulgaria and Italy, Azerbaijan and a few other Central Asian destinations as well as Chicago and Dallas in the United States.

It has a large manufacturing plant in Ajman from where the products are made, packaged and shipped to its network of retail outlets and distributors across the world.

The company plans to open at least five new outlets in Saudi Arabia, where business is growing due to ongoing economic reforms and massive infrastructure development.

“For more than two decades, we have been developing the business and our products quietly without publicity. Despite that, we have gained more than 50,000 loyal customers in the UAE and hundreds of thousands of customers across the world. We didn’t put much effort in marketing, advertisement or branding exercise for the last 23 years – as our business grew organically through the word of mouth,” says Kafeel Ahmed, Founder and Chairman of Ahmed Perfumes.

“However, we now live in a competitive world dominated by marketing, branding, advertisement and social media. As we seek to grow further and expand our customer base to make it more cosmopolitan and diverse, we are introducing new products that appeal to a wider variety of customers who perhaps would like to see them on social media or the press before purchasing or trying them,” he added.

“Hence, we are now embarking on a journey that will help us gain more customers from all across the world and help us reach a global audience, especially those who are young and trendy. As we strengthen our existing clientele with more value-added and creative product lines, we are also expanding by inspiring the youngsters to try our trendy new fragrances.”

Ahmed Perfume distinguishes itself from many other perfume manufacturers in the market through high-quality mixing of perfumes, he said.

“We mostly maintain a 60:40 ratio in favour of oil – that helps the fragrance to last long,” says Kafeel Ahmed. “Due to a number of quality attributes, quality-conscious customers come to our stores to buy their favourite products. This is why the number of our customers is increasing by the day that necessitates expansion,” he said.