Lessons learnt while being a Boy Scout can leave a strong impact on your character. Jalel Aossey can vouch for that. The director of Midamar Food Corporation, the largest US producer and distributor of halal foods, tells Sara Sayed how they helped him
One of the most important formative experiences that shaped Jalel Aossey's character happened a long time ago - when Aossey was growing up in Iowa, US.
"It was during my days as a Boy Scout,'' he recalls. "I really cherish those days and believe the skills and lessons acquired and learnt participating in sports and scouting pointed me in a positive direction and laid the foundation for who I am today.''
Being a Boy Socut helped him to learn more than just a few techniques of surviving in inhospitable places.
"We were taught to utilise the resources around us. If you didn't have a rope, you had to make one. If you didn't have food, you learnt how to recognise what is edible and what is poisonous; you learnt how to tie a knot so your tent wouldn't blow away ... (being a Boy Scout) is about finding the best alternative and making do with what you have - if you don't have the appropriate resources,'' he says.
The lessons learnt early in life came in handy for Aossey, who is now the director of Midamar Food Corporation, America's first and largest producer and distributor of halal foods.
The word 'halal' literally means 'lawful' or 'permissible'. But it is also used in everyday Arabic to mean, 'good' or 'pure'. Jalel Aossey's mission is to ensure that high-quality, halal US food products are produced and delivered to consumers almost worldwide.
Aossey was in the UAE recently to participate in the Abu Dhabi Halal Foods Show.
"The food business is all about trust and integrity. People want to put the best food possible on their tables. To me, this is more than simply a business, it is an obligation.
"We are really in the relationship business, where consistent high-quality and halal integrity are key to providing value to our customers.
"We are fortunate to be located in the Midwest, where there is a strong work ethic, a commitment to food production and a general love for good food. That has certainly helped us expand to over 30 countries in the last 34 years, and to become the largest halal food company in the USA."
Friday spoke to Aossey about the people who influenced him, what made him enter the family business and of making a mark in the food business.
I
I believe that most successful business people believe in what they are doing and what they are offering. You need to have an intrinsic motivation for what you are offering, and the belief that you are providing real value to your customers. I don't think a lot of people who are solely motivated by profit achieve long-term success.
I believe in taking time out for reflection and planning, and working hard to achieve goals. Once those goals are achieved, it is important to be grateful, and be appreciative for every success and every achievement.
I value simplicity. Keeping business simple makes it easier to maintain it.
I think that trust takes time and energy to build and foster. It is also an easy asset to lose so it has to be guarded with more vigour and ferocity than you would guard a mountain of gold.
I feel very blessed in times of ease as well as in times of hardship. I know that both are trials and how we react to them would have a bearing on our character and frame of mind.
I am at peace with what I do. I love my family dearly, and know that whatever I am blessed with in this life is the way
it should be.
Two years ago, I would never have imagined how much I would love being a father. I couldn't have imagined the huge responsibility that comes with being a parent.
Our children learn so much by what we say and how we behave at home. I take that responsibility very seriously. Children bring so much joy. I feel blessed, and I cherish the moments I spend with my daughter.
Me
I was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in October, 1974. I was raised in Iowa but was fortunate to travel internationally with my father and family since I was six years old. Cedar Rapids is a small, traditional Midwestern city.
My paternal grandfather emigrated there from Lebanon in the early 1900s and opened one of the first grocery stores in the state. As kids, we spent most of our time outdoors bicycling and playing in the wilderness. We were fortunate to live in what was known for years as the safest city in the US.
Me and my family
My early childhood influencers were certainly my parents. My mother Naomi Aossey, represented all aspects of what one would expect from a mother - kindness, love, humility and compassion, while my father Bill Aossey, instilled in us the imporance of the disciplinary, entrepreneurial and humanitarian values.
In the 1960s, my father went to Saudi Arabia as a teacher with a US company called Raytheon. He and my mother lived in Saudi Arabia until 1967. He made many friends and contacts, and upon his return to the US, there were many requests for him to send goods to Saudi Arabia.
That is how he started exporting (food products) to the Gulf. Prior to going to Saudi Arabia, my father was in the Peace Corps. He has always been interested in international development and world affairs.
In 1980, he decided to take a group of Iowans to Libya on a youth exchange programme. He wanted to introduce them to the culture and history of people in Libya.
He left his family and business and took six weeks off (from his work) so that youth from Iowa could learn more about an Arab country.
He is really an educator who happened to be in business. I think this contributed to his success. He encouraged us to learn from the family business, and taught us how to serve customers, make them happy and foster loyalty.
My grandfather owned some land and ran a grocery store. He taught us discipline and work ethics. Whenever my grandfather received a box of Hershey's chocolate bars, he would offer his sons a few.
'Enjoy them,' he would say, 'but remember how much you would have to sell in the store to make up for what you have taken out of the stock.' In such simple ways, he taught us lessons about the importance of hard work.
During my adolescence, I was also inspired by my older brother, Yahya, who I looked up to because of his confidence and ability to overcome problems and obstacles.
Although he was five years older than I, he was very active with me and my younger brother Amin. I still remember the 'old Western' photo of my brothers and I as teenagers dressed up as Cowboys.
My brother titled the photo "Aossey Possee." It speaks of the nature of our closeness.
Me and the original Cornell College
My university years were more a time for introspection ... figuring out who I wanted to be and how I was going to go about reaching my goals.
I attended Cornell College in Mt. Vernon - a private college, with only 1,100 students. I chose Cornell because of their 'one course at a time' programme. You took 9 courses a year, at 3.5 week intervals - one course at a time. The classes were intense, in-depth, and had a student-teacher ratio of 11 to 1.
As a student, you could put all your efforts into one course. During that programme, we went to Jordan and stayed there for 4 weeks without missing any classes. Only two other colleges in the US have similar learning structures.
My focus was to do well in my studies while playing for the football team and participating with numerous groups on campus.
I was a member of several clubs, for example, the Cornell Alumni Student Association. We invited alumni to speak and helped to mentor relationships. (Cornell students are known for their work ethic.)
To me, college was more than just about studies and sports. It taught me how to go about finding information and how to utilise resources in the academic environment.
Many times, this lesson alone makes the difference between success and failure. Yes, knowledge is necessary but having knowledge and knowing how to apply it productively is a skill some people simply never learn.
I majored in International Business and Fitness. I was keen to seek more knowledge on factors that affect the global economy and how to better understand the cultures and people we interact with in life.
I greatly enjoyed being with people from different backgrounds and learning about what factors influenced their decisions and why. My fitness interests were driven by my desire to learn how the human body adapts, grows and responds to the environment in which we live.
I love competitive sport - both playing, and watching, it.
My true passion lies more in fitness than in business.
I have a deep passion for wanting to help others seek their own fitness goals on a personal level and as such, I pursued my personal training certification. I became a certified personal trainer at age 21.
This was a great achievement for me. So I started my own Personal Training business, helping families and the elderly reach their goals. I ran this business during my last two years of college. During summers, I worked as a fitness trainer in Scottsdale, Arizona.
My professional development began at an early age travelling with my father overseas and simply sitting in on meetings while he conducted business. I would help out at trade shows around the world.
I truly enjoyed meeting his business colleagues and hearing their stories about how they got to know my father and how they developed business relationships.
As I reflect on these memories now, I realise that that phase of my life left more of an impact on how I perceive business today than the courses I studied in college.
After graduation, I spent four years in the financial services industry at a time when the economy in the US was booming.
During this period, I learnt how the banking and investment world affected the US and global economy, and what that meant to our family business, considering that the majority of our sales were international.
When I graduated in 1997, I worked as a personal financial planner for Prudential Financial Services, and learned some very valuable financial planning and direct marketing skills.
Me and Midamar
After four years, I decided I had to join the family business. There was a lot of competition emerging in the halal foods market.
While I worked at Prudential, I was also travelling extensively on family business and I was getting too busy to maintain both professions. I knew that I had to do more for Midamar in the growing domestic market.
Initially, I spent some time getting to know the business. I observed, questioned, searched for answers and solutions ... My father gave me 30 trade magazines and said "learn".
After studying the market and our capabilities, I chose to focus on the domestic market. At the time, we only had orders for the US market. I developed a strategy that focused on the development, branding and marketing of our products.
We began to market more aggressively in the US, by re-branding and attending trade shows and exhibitions.
My father was not convinced about this new way of marketing, but once he saw the nicely done-up booths, professional print material and packaging, and the feedback from the domestic market, he was convinced.
We received a tremendous response.
Perhaps my greatest discovery and most humbling experience was the day I came to work full-time for our family business - I realised then what my father had achieved over the last 30 years.
I also realised that one day it was going to be the responsibility of my brother and I. Everything I learned at college and working in the financial industry was simply a preparation.
I had always thought that I needed more education, like at graduate school, but in reality, all I needed was an open mind, a humble demeanour and the will to never accept anything less than what I believe could be achieved.
One of my managers (who worked with me during the early years of my business) used to tell me often: "Honest, intelligent effort is always rewarded."
To this day, that statement, coupled with my faith in Islam, has given me the will and perseverance to weather any storm or obstacle and yet be thankful and appreciative of the successes we have achieved.
The greatest asset a businessperson has is his honesty and trustworthiness. You can take a lifetime to earn the trust of your partners and customers and in a split second, jeopardise it by failing to live up to their expectations.
It took me some time to realise that the business world is all about building confidence and trust. You provide the best product and service you can. Do this consistently, and you will gain the trust of the people you deal with.
Me and my Family
I have a wonderful, growing family. My wife, Surriah, is a teacher and an author. She is also an American-born Muslim having grown up in North America.
Our religious and family values and traditions are a blend of various Mid-Eastern and Western cultures. We are involved in our communities, we have many friends of different beliefs and backgrounds ... We have a daughter, Jameela, who will be two years old soon and we are expecting another child in February.
Myself
What are the prospects for the halal market?
Global halal food production will be the single largest factor impacting international food trade in the 21st century.
As international economies in the Muslim world develop and multinational companies compete for that business, there is no question the research, understanding and commitment made to credible halal food production will continue to take centrestage in board rooms, focus groups, trade events and media coverage around the world.
Awareness on the halal market will be sought by consumers as well as companies. Governments in countries with high Muslim populations will play a greater role in ensuring halal integrity.
In the end, the brands that will win will be the ones consumers trust due to transparent halal programmes from reputable global halal certifiers.
Is there a trend towards organic and halal?
No question about it. Even people who are not Muslims like the idea of added insight into production methods.
The pricing is higher for this line of products; however, those who believe in organic and halal and have the disposable income believe it's worth it.
