12th May 2024
Indian-born British chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author Asma Khan, who operates Darjeeling Express in London’s Carnaby, has partnered with food and lifestyle brand Boxooo in a joint bid to “empower women through food” in Saudi Arabia.
In a partnership facilitated by Think Hospitality, Boxooo is launching in Jeddah, while Khan is in the country to deliver a keynote speech at the UK government’s Great Futures event, with a message of “equity and empowerment.”
Khan will be the first official chef ambassador for Boxooo’s academy programme, giving people the chance to build entrepreneurial skills and technical knowledge to develop their own restaurant or food business. A focus of the programme will be female entrepreneurs, among other marginalised communities, with a specific programme just for female founders. The initiative is aligned with Vision 2030 – Saudi Arabia’s roadmap for economic diversification and global engagement – including the inclusion and empowerment of women, developing tourism and encouraging entrepreneurship in the food sector.
Khan said: “The life experience of cooking for friends and family at home can become a career for a woman – all she needs is the support and training to transform herself from a home cook to a food entrepreneur. The journey of my restaurant, Darjeeling Express, is one such story and I want to encourage more women from every culture to transform their lives — to empower themselves by starting a food business.”
Boxooo chief operating officer, Peter Bruun, added: “We’ve been working on the concept for a while now, so it’s incredibly rewarding to watch it coming to life, especially with the expertise and support of inspiring creators such as Asma. As our first couple of destinations in Jeddah take shape, we can’t wait to welcome guests and budding food entrepreneurs into the space very soon.”