Junaid Jamshed starts new business and it has nothing to do with kurtas

Popular for his clothing brand J. Junaid Jamshed, a nationally renowned religious figure, unveiled a new product under his brand Jazaa Foods called Jazaa Rice, a branded rice product with 5 different variants.

According to reports, Jaaza has been introduced in Pakistan as well as the international market considering health precautions and quality standards of the product.

https://twitter.com/JunaidJamshedPK/status/713756812198223878

According to Ali Jabbar, CEO, Jazaa Foods, “as a staple crop, rice has traditionally been dominated by wholesale suppliers, where the business model relies on low-cost milling and production – and the hope of a steady monsoon season.”

Unbranded khulla chawal accounts for almost 96% of the total industry output. There are only a handful of branded players and these include Matco’s Falak, Engro Eximp’s Rymah and Guard Basmati.

The focus of these brands has always been on export markets, because of higher profit margins. Jabbar says, “there was no brand catering to the growing domestic demand for quality, branded rice and we wanted to take advantage of this gap.”

Given that rice has the third largest crop production output in Pakistan (Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2015), supply was not a problem and according to Jamshed, Director, Jazaa Foods, the “real challenge was to select rice variants of the highest quality, add value through standardized milling, and bring Jazaa rice to market as an affordable product of the highest quality.”

The name of the company as well as the brand originated from this extensive focus on delivering value-added products. Jazaa translates to ‘reward’ or a ‘fulfilling return’, which is appropriate, as Jamshed’s vision for Jazaa Foods is to establish Pakistan’s first FMCG initiative producing branded consumption commodities of the highest quality.

Junaid Jamshed said: "Despite the stringent quality control standards the product was subjected to, I wanted to ensure that Jazaa rice remains affordable for every Pakistani household.”

“I wanted to replicate Tilda’s success in Pakistan, which is why despite the stringent quality control standards the product was subjected to, I wanted to ensure that Jazaa rice would remain affordable for every Pakistani household.”

Implementing this vision meant that the pricing strategy had to be carefully devised so that the brand would be affordable across most socio-economic groups. To ensure this, Jazaa rice was launched in five variants, each of which has two SKUs: Jazaa Elite Steam Rice (Rs 199/one kg; Rs 985/five kg), Jazaa Premium Basmati (Rs 170/one kg; Rs 840/five kg), Sela Gold Rice (Rs 160/one kg; Rs 790/five kg), Basmati Rice (Rs 140/one kg; Rs 690/five kg) and Economy Rice (Rs 110/one kg; Rs 540/5 kg). To put it into context, a one-kilogram pack of unbranded rice sells for between Rs 90 and 100, while a similar quantity of branded rice is priced at between Rs 120 and 1