Diana Farah Dubai

Japanese mochi ice cream is a sweet delicacy that has gained popularity around the globe. Carole Moawad, CEO of M’OISHI, fell in love with the Japanese ice cream instantly when she first tried it.

Speaking to Arab News Japan, Moawad said she admired mochi so much that she decided to open her own mochi ice cream parlor in the Middle East, M’OISHI.

M’OISHI is the first and only local mochi manufacturer in the UAE and the region, Moawad said.

The process of opening the confectionary was “quite smooth,” Moawad said. “However, the most important challenge that we faced from the beginning was acquiring a whole new set of skills.”

With some economic challenges in the region in 2018, Moawad said it helped “optimize our operations and choose our steps carefully.”

M’OISHI’s CEO explained that they strived to “scale up production while keeping the same consistency of mochi ice cream, keeping exactly the same recipe, texture and taste.”

She added that they designed their own production process with a Japanese manufacturer in order to maintain the quality of the dessert.

“What contributed to M'OISHI's success is the product at the right place at the right time. Plus, quality was and still our highest priority, therefore consistency was the major key to success,” Moawad said.

The Lebanese founder said that 70 percent of M’OISHI’s customer were females from the GCC region.

“In general, our model's market viability is economy that supports high revenues, leisure time and sophisticated culinary taste. The product is relatively new to the market and presents a different kind of confectionery, at the same time different kind of ice cream,” she added.

The confectionary is using food delivery apps to serve its customers amid the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.

Moawad said told Arab News Japan she had visited Japan a few times in the last three years, explaining that she enjoyed their culture and culinary experience there.

“Commitment to high quality and a high standard of living is definitely a similarity between Japan and GCC in particular,” she said, adding that both cultures “love food.”