? OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK — Every Tuesday, Founder of the Week looks at how a successful member of Egypt’s business or startup community got their big break, asks about their experiences running a company, and gets their advice for budding entrepreneurs. Speaking to us this week is Mahmoud Barakat (LinkedIn), founder of Egyptian confectionary brand Mōko Chocolates.

My name is Mahmoud Barakat, I’m the founder of Mōko, Egypt’s premium artisanal chocolate and confectionery brand, built to international standards. We believe that chocolate should be part of everyday life, not limited to special occasions. I have a Bachelor’s and MBA in economics and finance from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. My education really taught me how to think analytically — which is invaluable when working in the F&B industry.

Before I started Mōko, I kicked off my career in private equity, later joining my father at his private equity fund here in Egypt. Then I came to inherit our family’s confectionary factory from my grandmother, and discovered that this could be a career path that I wanted to take — the entrepreneurial path. The factory used to operate under a different brand name, and Mōko officially launched in 2021.

Extensive research showed us that it was about time for an Egyptian premium brand to enter the market — it was a clear opportunity to create something that didn’t exist yet. Even though I’m not a chef, I took chocolate and gelato courses in Belgium and Italy. There’s a lot of knowledge required to make good chocolate, and I wanted that know-how. We launched slowly with a few products in supermarkets and saw that there was the demand we expected.

Other chocolate brands position themselves around gifting and special occasions, but we saw a different opportunity — chocolate should be accessible. We wanted to go for vibrant packaging to reflect that philosophy, as we noticed that our competitors were just going with black and gold.

I felt successful when I realized that people were consuming our products as part of their daily routine — going from one location to seven made me feel like we’ve become part of people’s lives. Another moment was seeing international visitors come to our stores and enjoy what Egypt had to offer.

In five years, I see Mōko as a regional brand and a leader in artisanal confectionery and chocolate. We already have our sights set on expanding to the Middle East very soon, bringing new offerings to the region while scaling thoughtfully and maintaining quality. That’s been our ethos and our goal over the past couple of years.

I started this business at a very economically turbulent time, and we’ve learned so much in a short span. We had to deal with supply chain obstructions and crazy cost flights, and we adapted by diversifying our product lines to circumvent certain price increases. Our most important takeaway was that our customer loyalty was rooted in our consistency. Supply chain issues or price increases aren’t the customer’s problem.

There are things I’d like to change about the industry, with the first thing being supply chain resilience. Being able to source locally and having alternative networks will give everyone more stability and will allow business owners to focus on quality rather than logistical crisis management. This will pour into operational discipline, seeing as consistency is everything. The second thing would be consumer education. Many don’t understand the craftsmanship that goes into the products — there’s an art behind chocolate.

Watching our vision turn into reality and seeing our team grow gives me so much satisfaction. On the other hand, maintaining quality in an environment that’s constantly changing — from ingredients to supply chains — is a constant challenge. It can also get hectic, given that it’s a 24/7 job. I don’t think work-life balance exists in entrepreneurship. Work comes in waves and seasons — sometimes you’re running to meet deadlines, and some weeks are a little more relaxed. It’s about managing priorities, moment to moment. It’s less about having an unrealistic equilibrium of “I have to be there at X and leave at Y.”

I love listening to audiobooks, and one that I’ve enjoyed recently is Bn DollarWhale. It’s a non-fiction account of one of the biggest financial heists in the world. It’s very, very riveting — and an interesting story about thieves. I’ve listened to it more than once, and I found it very well researched.

If I weren’t the brain behind Mōko? I don’t know. I love to travel, I love going fishing, but I don’t know what I would do in life. It’s not like I grew up a chocolate aficionado — I was thrown into it and I found that it was something I had a passion for. This is going to sound cliché, but if I went back in time, I’d tell myself to trust the process, celebrate everyday wins, and know that building a business comes in increments.

Every success story takes its own time, and you should filter out the noise of other success stories and focus on building something solid. Every problem has a solution, and you’ll find it eventually. It might not be the solution you’re looking for, but you’ll always find a way.

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