Noor Janahi, the founder and owner of the successful homegrown business The Salad Bar, tells Farah Baig about how a single conversation changed the course of her life, the role of family in her business and the importance of giving back.
It’s interesting how a single conversation or action can completely alter the direction of a person’s life. We met with the budding entrepreneur behind The Salad Bar, Noor Janahi, at the Bahraini Farmer’s Market. While Noor’s knack for innovation, social listening and community outreach has proved she’s a natural businesswoman, she wasn’t always on this path.
“I used to work in Corporate Communications at a bank, but a casual conversation in 2019 with a colleague led to this,” she explains. “He wanted to start a coffee shop and mentioned that he might be missing a few things, so he asked if I could cook.”
The following morning, Noor took a few salads to work which were an instant hit. “That’s how it started – with nine different salads, and from there we grew,” she says, adding that she moved on to distributors after which she decided to quit her job and open her own café.
Wanting to promote a healthy lifestyle, Noor settled on an overall concept with ease. “I knew what I wanted to do from the beginning. People usually think that healthy food is bland and I wanted to change this perspective. I’m not a dietician but we do take calorie count into consideration as I would like for people to eat clean food,” she says.
Today, The Salad Bar offers customers a range of 36 delicious salads with the most popular being a salad inspired by the Palestinian dish, Mousaka apart from the Mini Samoosa salad.
Family At the Heart of it All
Being a tight-knit family, The Salad Bar is very much rooted in family, which we got a feel for when meeting her mother, Ameera Ismail, and sisters, Reem and Shahad at the market. “I wasn’t into business at the time, but my mother is a business woman, so I would go to her for guidance; she’s my mentor and role model. She guided me to be honest through the whole process,” says Noor.
“The business can be overwhelming but my parents and sisters support me at every opportunity, be it at events, the shop or weekend markets. I always say that’s it’s more like a family business than it is my own business,” she adds.
The youngest of the sisters, Shahad, expressed her pride in how far the business has come. “It was a very small home business, through Instagram only initially. Seeing people’s response and the fact that we actually opened up our own shop is a huge achievement for us,” says Shahad.
Giving Back
As part of their efforts to give back to the community, The Salad Bar is currently collaborating with the Bahrain Down Syndrome Society. The business not only donates all proceeds from their sales at the weekly Farmer’s Market to the society, but also hosts two or more the society’s members every Saturday.
“They are the absolute sweetest people and my mother loves them very much. They haven’t been included very much in society but they are extremely smart, quick learners and friendly too. So this project is very close to our hearts: being able to help them interact with the community and raise funds for the society simultaneously,” says Noor.
Prior to the initiative carried out at the Bahraini Farmer’s Market, The Salad Bar held a campaign to raise funds for the Bahrain Cancer Society. “Once the Farmer’s Market ends, we will be looking into another initiative. Giving back to the community is very essential for us; we’re not just here for business but for a good cause,” says Ms. Ismail.
Apart from her community outreach efforts, Noor makes an effort to include the work of talented Bahrainis at every stage of the business. “Supporting local talent at every level of our business is very important to us too. It’s important that the business gives back to the community in every way,” concludes Noor.
