By Sohila El Saadany
Nabulsi Sweets is the go-to destination to satisfy cravings for Arabian sweets. See what Osama Nabulsi, the General Manager, had to say.
Osama Nabulsi begins the interview by talking about its history. The founder of the business was Sheikh Hashem Zaki Nabulsi, his father. He pursued his passion of making authentically baked Arabian sweets especially the Nabulsi kunafa. Soon enough, the first store opened in 1982 on Makkah road. The Nabulsi family sweet craft has extended across five generations. Nowadays, Nabulsi is adding a sixth branch to its name in Tahlia Street; it will be the flagship branch due to its size and prime location.
The fact that people from all over the Kingdom come to this specific sweet brand in Jeddah definitely cements its stature as a high quality Arabian sweet shop. As Nabulsi explains, “We care about the taste and the recipes of our products.
We maintain these things to keep the quality consistent. Our products are very close to homemade ones. They give the same feel and taste.”
He continues, “We are always experimenting with new ingredients to make the products tastier. We even use a special type of ghee, one that is light so our customers don’t feel heavy after their dessert.” They sometimes even conduct tasting sessions, where customers try new products and give their feedback, which is taken very seriously.
What makes Nabulsi such a successful business is their delicious sweets that taste as if they have been made in the comfort of home.
Nabulsi owes a huge deal of its success to its loyal workers, a lot of whom have been there for 15 years or more, also all legally under his care. However, today it is hard to find competent workmanship that is up to Nabulsi’s standards. Even though it was proven to be hard to integrate women into the business, they plan on involving women at work after setting up the proper accommodating environment Finally, since Ramadan is upon us, Nabulsi is getting ready with our all-time favorites such as cheese, date and cream kunafas, gatayif, along with baklavas.
We make everything manually, no automation for mass production. We take care of how each item is produced in one central factory. — Osama Nabulsi
As a strategy to attract younger customers, Nabulsi describes, “We introduced Nutella chocolate and halawa tihini and different jam flavors to the products. That proved to be a fruitful addition to us.”
Nabulsi Kunafa Uncovered
• Nabulsi Kunafa is known for its orange color.
• Kunafa should be heated over boiling water vapor for the best texture and taste.
• Nabulsi Sweets uses real Nabulsi cheese for its kunafa.
• Nabulsi Sweets sells kunafa raw ingredients for use at home.
