Walid Hajj

Walid Hajj Co-Founder & CEO of Lavoya A visionary and award-winning entrepreneur, who has defined his unique imprint in the food and beverages business creating innovative concepts that have disrupted the industry and established his credentials as a pioneer in F&B concepts that integrate advanced technology with exceptional service. With more than two decades of hands-on expertise in food services and related businesses, Walid co-founded Kitch in 2020, further revolutionising the ‘kitchen-in-thecloud’ concept. A delivery-focused cloud kitchen operator, Kitch today takes digitisation and fast execution of F&B concepts to a new level. In 2021, Walid launched Lavoya, a premium restaurants operator. Established with the purpose of significantly transforming dining experiences, Lavoya introduces new and experiential casual dining concepts to reshape the F&B industry in the region. In one year only, Lavoya launched 3 hugely popular franchise brands in the region: Joe & The Juice, global healthy-eating lifestyle brand of juice bars and coffee shops with more than 300 locations around the world from London, to New York and Paris, Dave’s Hot Chicken, latest LA-born street food sensation backed by celebrities like Drake and Samuel L Jackson and Barbar, a 45-year old Lebanese street food brand. Prior to establishing Lavoya and Kitch, Walid demonstrated his entrepreneurial acumen with the founding of Cravia, one of the region’s leading food and hospitality groups that brought world-class franchises to the Middle East, including Zaatar W Zeit, Five Guys, Cinnabon and Seattle's Best Coffee. From selecting and negotiating with brands, to creating and achieving operational excellence, Walid has been the driving force behind the amazing growth story of Cravia. Since its inception in 2001 and under his strategic direction, Cravia has grown from strength to strength. Today, the company’s portfolio includes more than 100 franchised restaurants and has presence in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar and employs over 3,000 employees. In 2016, Walid stepped down from his role after Fajr Capital, a private equity firm, acquired a majority stake in Cravia. He continues to be known as the Founder of the group and has become a highly sought-after speaker at industry conferences and summits around the world. In his early career, Walid was a Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble for two years and Vice President of Operations for his family business, United Group, in Saudi Arabia. Walid holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in the US and a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia. He is married and has three children.