Biladi’s unique, authentic and premium quality products are produced in Lebanon, their recipes based around small mezze dishes to encourage the Lebanese spirit of sociability and sharing. From sweet tahini spreads to flavourful za’atar, each of their products make bringing Lebanese and Middle Eastern recipes to your home as easy as opening a jar. We asked them a wee bit about their brand, their products, and why they sell through Greencity.
1,How did your business come into being?
BILADI, meaning ‘from my land’ in Lebanon, was founded by childhood friends Khodor and Abbas. Sharing a passion for introducing the world to the authentic flavours and health benefits of Middle Eastern cuisine, they embody their brand promise: ‘Deliciously Lebanese’. There are NO authentic ‘made in Lebanon’ with Lebanese ingredients, food brands or private label products in the UK supermarkets. Current offerings do not provide a coherent message to the consumer about the type of food, country of origin and usage. The Biladi range of Lebanese products fills this gap by offering customers a variety of authentic, made in Lebanon, excellent quality, unique, reasonably priced and semi-convenient ingredients to make their favourite dishes from scratch.
2, You put a lot of effort into sourcing your ingredients; what are your guiding principles?
We teamed up with food industry experts to create our range with simple ingredients – just as eaten across the villages and cities in Lebanon – and there was a lot of trial and error in our quest to get everything perfect. Creating our products involved several separate steps and was made all the more challenging by our commitment to not adding emulsifiers. The team worked on the products tirelessly to create not just a fantastic taste, but also an incredible shelf life, using just simple ingredients - 100% natural ingredients, no additives, no artificial flavourings, no added sugar nor emulsifiers.
3, What is your brand mission and what is it you hope to do by bringing your products to the market?
Lebanese food is a vibrant expression of the rich mix of cultures, traditions, and flavors that converge at the crossroads of the Orient and the Mediterranean. Lebanese food is delicious, diverse, and considered one of the healthiest. It combines fresh ingredients, spices, and flavours. Through its product offerings, Biladi aims to become the go-to brand for the coming trend for Lebanese and middle-eastern food in the UK and beyond.
4, Why do you use Greencity Wholefoods as a distributor?
When we met with the Greencity Wholefoods team at their offices, we encountered a group we were excited to collaborate with and trusted to do their best for our brand. They have successfully increased our coverage in the North and helped build our brand. Over a year into our relationship, we are very happy to be part of this partnership.
5, What are your plans for the future?
Our team continues to work tirelessly to introduce new products that not only taste fantastic, but are also made of natural and simple ingredients that fine food shoppers will love. Despite being new to the British market, Biladi is already reaping rewards. We entered four products into the 2022 Great taste Awards and they all won gold stars. We were extremely proud to have won 3 Gold Stars for 2 of our Flavoured Tahinis (Grape and Carob) with our Chocolate Tahini winning 2 stars and our Spicy Za’atar Sauce winning 1 star.
Browse and place your order for Biladi products at www.greencity.coop/brand/biladi/
Find out more and see lots of tasty recipes at www.biladifoods.com
