Salem Ouhibi, 38, is the manager of Mobisco, a pastry company in Gafsa that specializes in traditional Tunisian treats, biscuits, and mini-cakes.
Salem has worked in the pastry business his entire career. He started as a regional sales representative in Gafsa, his hometown, for an industrial pastry company, and worked his way up to commercial manager for southern Tunisia. At the same time, he continued to study, earning his degree in interior design in 2010.
Soon after graduating, Salem helped open a pastry factory in Borj Louzir, near Tunis. He served as the business’ manager and commercial manager for southern Tunisia.
A few years later, however, he split off to start his own company back in Gafsa – Mobisco. It is the region’s only industrial pastry-maker and manufactures a wide range of traditional sweets in bulk for local wholesalers.
Quickly, Mobisco gained a solid reputation for its high-quality pastries, and Salem’s strong business network and sales experience helped him land a lucrative distribution contract with Tunisian pastry brand Mamma Mia.
Today, Mobisco has even bigger growth aspirations – it aims to expand throughout Tunisia and sell directly to retailers. As part of this plan, it is in discussions to partner with large distributors and national supermarket chain Aziza to carry its products. To finalize these deals, however, Mobisco needs to implement better quality and hygiene standards and train its staff in these standards.
At the same time, to sell directly to retailers and develop other sales paths, the company needs to strengthen its sales department, redesign its business development strategy, and improve its packaging design.
Tunisia JOBS is helping the company reach these goals by supporting its business-development strategy, with optimized distribution channels, and training its production staff in quality and hygiene standards. Mobisco, for its part, is investing in new equipment, such as a cake-glazing machine, cream-stuffing machine, and industrial oven, so it can increase its production capacity and create more pastries, including chocolate muffins and brownies. With JOBS’ support, the company aims to triple its sales and create 35 new jobs by the end of 2023.
“We are ready to launch our new products and capitalize on our expertise in pastry production and distribution. We are confident that we can succeed in this new challenge and promote our brand succesfully in the region and beyond.”
Salem Ouhibi
Founder – Mobisco
