Taufiqur Rahman
Managing Director
OMG Food and Beverage Ltd
Introducing Taufiqur Rahman, a visionary leader and the Managing Director of OMG Food and Beverage Ltd. With a stellar track record in corporate strategy and innovation, Taufiqur drives transformative growth initiatives in the F&B industry. His leadership prowess and dedication to excellence set the benchmark for success, making him a true corporate genius in today’s dynamic business landscape.
Mr. Taufiqur Rahman, please share your professional and academic peregrination for our readers!
After passing my HSC from Adamjee Cantonment College in Bangladesh, I obtained my BBA degree from the University of Mississippi and MBA from the University of New Haven, both in the USA. Having had my degrees, I worked for Toyota Motors (USA) inc. for an year and half and then moved back to Bangladesh. Once back, I started with working as a part-time lecturer at North South University in 1997 and then successively worked at the marketing department of Beximco Textiles and the Sales Department of a FMCG company. In 2005, I became the DMD & COO of Bengal Meat Processing Industries during their formative years. During my career so far, I held key positions such as Corporate Head of Marketing of Rahimafrooz Bangladesh Ltd., Director- BRAC Dairy & Food Enterprises, CBO- DBL Ceramics Ltd., ED- TEAM Group, Chief of Marketing & Supply Chain- SMC Enterprise Ltd. and MD- CEAT AKKhan Ltd.
Because I have to deal with numerous people both at my workplace and in personal life, I have completed my ICF® recognized Professional Coaching Certification from the Australian Institute of Professional Coaches and completed Emotional Intelligence Certification course under People Builders, Australia as well.
What inspired you to establish OMG Food and Beverage Ltd, and how do you envision its future growth under your leadership?
I have worked with the food and beverage value chain of the country for many years, so I am very well aware of the willful adulteration and unethical practices that occurs in the country right from the growers to the end producers. And I always had an urge to bring about a change! I believe safe and hygienic food is essential for every human being to live a healthy, happy and progressive life. It is their right. Yes, many companies are delivering safe food items but most of them are hyper priced and therefore beyond the purchase ability of middle to upper middle-class consumers of the country. That is why I initiated OMG Food & Beverage Ltd. with a vision to provide ‘value for money’ products maintaining every HACCP and VACCP parameters and benchmarks. This is not about selling cheap food, rather producing products of different price range maintaining all food safety parameters despite their price differences. Our vision is to create a trustworthy food brand, that will be a synonym for safe, hygienic and appetizing food available at the ‘right price’. This will improve the health and life expectancy of people and act as a benchmark for the food service industry.
Officially OMG is in the middle of its second year and we have already faced so many challenges. However, we have never deviated even slightly from our vision and definitely plan to do the same in future regardless of any challenges that may come our way. We do not compromise with our quality to increase the profit margin and do not communicate what we do not practice. This is what I want to establish as long as I am holding the leadership position of the company.
Can you discuss a pivotal decision you made as Managing Director of OMG Food and Beverage Ltd that significantly impacted the company’s trajectory?
Our initial aim was to establish our own outlets throughout the city and sell directly to the customers. But later I realized that it will be very time consuming and too complex for the initial years. Also, it requires a huge amount of investment which we did not have. Though this yields a much higher profit margin, but will slow down our mission to habituate customers with value for money safe food which has been the main objective behind establishing the company. Therefore, we took a detour back in October 2023 and gradually closed down 4 out of 5 of our outlets which we were operating then. We then converted ourselves primarily as supplier to other owners/entrepreneurs who has established or wanted to establish their own food outlets. Management and production of these kinds of food products are much more complex than managing the outlets and many have failed in the past trying to manage both ends. Thus we shifted our focus from being a retail based company to a production based company. This has given us a much better control over our production and our own supply chain. At the same time, our latest approach is encouraging young and educated ‘want to be entrepreneurs’ to start their journey in the food service sector without much hassle and worries. At the same time, our products are reaching to a larger number of customers than we could reach through our outlets only.
What values or principles guide your leadership style in both your professional and personal life?
I lead from the front, from the middle or from the back as and when necessary. There is actually no specific or particular style that I follow. I am always an out of the box thinker who tries to find out easy solutions to difficult problems. Some approaches may be highly unorthodox but necessary to solve the issue. This is what my peers say about me. Although whatever I do, I never commit what I can not deliver, I am not a believer of ‘shortcuts’ and I never put money before morality.
I am the same in my personal life as well. I have a very supportive family who understands my strong ethical standards and commitment at the work place issues.
Can you describe a milestone achievement or project at OMG Food and Beverage Ltd that brought you a sense of personal fulfillment and pride?
We have executed several very large projects with last minute notice during the last two years, but this I consider as ‘a part of the job’, not achievements. To me, the achievement is the journey so far. My wife and I had initiated this company from our own kitchen back in May 2021. It was just something that we loved doing in our spare time. OMG actually started its commercial operation in December 2022. So, the total length of the journey is only 34 months so far. Within this short span of time, the company has grown from a ‘0’ value company to a Tk. 10 crores+ value company employing more than 50 individuals. On the other hand, we have gained over hundreds of loyal customers who truly understands the value of safe and hygienic food. This is the achievement that gives me the most satisfaction and the drive to achieve more.
What strategies do you employ to stay motivated and resilient amidst the challenges of running a corporation and managing a team?
To me, failure is never the end of the world! I believe, if you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and if you are determined to achieve them, no matter how many times you fail, your inner-self will motivate you to fight back or maybe start from scratch again. When you have the hunger to achieve and you fail despite trying your best, you get to observe and learn from your mistakes and that of others, re-strategize and re-plan, but you never give-up.
Mr. Taufiqur Rahman, please say something to the readers!
Learn, unlearn and then re-learn again. Learning is not limited to books only, you may learn a lot from observing other people, culture, society, process, etc. and try to convert your learning to something meaningful and beneficial to the society. You may come from any background or any profession but you should not just run after money. Running after money may give you money for a while but your impact on the society may not be that noticeable. The people whose quotations you are posting on Facebook and LinkedIn are definitely not fools. You should try to learn about their lives, their way of doing things, what actually made them so great. Set a benchmark for yourself and always remember that.
Quick Chat With Taufiqur Rahman
The most outstanding achievement of your life as of now:
Having fathered two wonderful kids.
The greatest philosopher in your view:
Immanuel Kant
Your Icon:
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed
Name the most influential books you have read:
‘Arthashatra’ by Channakya
Your greatest fear:
Dying without any impact
Best piece of advice you’ve received:
“No matter what you do, try to be the best in it”.
You in only three words:
Persistent, ethical, mentor
Skill Set
Hard Skills: Time & Money management, Project Management & Supply Chain, Consumer Behavior & Market Research, Talent Management & Appraisal.
Soft Skills: Empathy, Networking & Communication, Social & Emotional Intelligence
Prayer For The Human Civilization:
May human be human again. May logic and reasoning be the foundation of decision making; not social, family, or peer pressure. ‘Stakeholders’ is not just another fancy word, may we start realizing who the real stakeholders are, beyond official entities. May we start living ‘happily’ again.
The InCAP: Thank you, Mr. Taufiqur Rahman! It’s a glittering conversation with you!
Mr. Taufiqur Rahman: My pleasure! Wish you all the best! Thank you.
