Citron, a family business based in Dubai offering an innovative range of products from printed lunch boxes, food jars, snack boxes, lunch bags, water bottles and food cutters, has been making waves in the GCC retail market and is now eyeing the UK and US markets, where they plan to launch before the end of the year.
Citron was founded by a mother who had a fussy eater and came up with a product to deal with the situation in 2017.
The Dubai-based SME has gone on to dominate the lunchbox and back-to-school market of the GCC, selling more than 60,000 products and winning a number of awards.
For Citron, safety, customer satisfaction and price are the most important drivers of their business, according to CEO and Co-founder Sara Chemmaa. She said: “As a mother myself, I will never sell something that I wouldn’t give my own kids and as a family business we run multiple focus groups and all products are vetted by many mums across the region before they go on sale, as well as being firmly tested with our own kids at home. I believe these values and our overall business strategy are some of the key drivers of our success and performance to date as every product that Citron has launched was born from a real need.”
Citron launched in 2017 with 1 product — a lunchbox. They now have 55 products, including lunch boxes, snack boxes, lunch bags, food jars, water bottles and accessories such as sandwich cutters and food picks and a new teen line is launching in Q3.
The products are available in more than 100 stores in the UAE, as well as in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. This includes major chains such as Spinneys, Waitrose, Hallmark, The Toy Store, Borders, Zaks Uniforms, Homesmiths, House of Fraser, Bumble Bee, Magrudys, WHSmith and Toys “R” Us, as well as online at all major e-commerce sites: Amazon, Noon, Mumzworld, Sprii, BabyStore, FirstCry and 6thStreet.
Citron will launch in the UK in Q4 2020 and pre-launch in the US by Q4 2020. They are also in final stage conversations with stockists in South East Asia.
Since their launch Citron has sold in excess of 60,000 products. With approximately 1-1.2 million children of school age in the UAE, this currently represents a 5 percent market penetration in the country.
A sixfold increase in revenue year-on-year to date and 40 percent growth year-on-year is being projected for 2019-2020. The company has received two awards in the US — the Mom’s Choice Award 2020 and the Family Choice Award 2020.