Syrian engineer builds up Belgian chocolate enterprise in Abu Dhabi
For Syrian Nour Tarsha, a civil engineer in Abu Dhabi, entrepreneurship is second nature. Now he has turned his attention to the luxury chocolate market.
Entrepreneurship is second nature to the Syrian Nour Tarsha. Even as the recent unrest in Syria almost wiped out his two businesses back home, the serial entrepreneur persevered in his adopted city of Abu Dhabi.
As general operations manager for an oil and gas company for 12 years, he has always had business interests in the emirate. Then late last year, he exited his investment in a salon, and opened a Belgian chocolate shop this summer.
And it’s more than just chocolate. Via Dolce also trades in hand-painted crystalware and silver products. “A luxury city like Abu Dhabi needed quality chocolates,” says Mr Tarsha, 37, who is one of an increasing number of entrepreneurs attracted by opportunities in the capital’s fine chocolate segment.
Several boutiques and mom-and-pop stores have opened recently as the local population develops a taste for luxury chocolate.
“The time is now,” Mr Tarsha says. “Abu Dhabi is getting into the luxury [sector], most brands are here, it’s the future city; the buying power of the people will also rise.”
Even coffee-exporting countries such as Ecuador are trying to tap into the trend.
“The business of fine chocolates is profitable and demand is widespread across gender, age and nationalities in this region,” according to Hussam Hassan, the head of the Ecuadorean commercial office in Dubai.
Last month the trade promotion organisation of Ecuador held a business matchmaking session in Quito with UAE enterprises to boost coffee trade.
For Mr Tarsha, chocolate is a new line of trade.
The Syrian entrepreneur first came to the UAE 15 years ago as a civil engineer and still works in an Abu Dhabi company with interests in construction, plant equipment, transportation and accommodation services for the oil industry. But Mr Tarsha also enjoys having entrepreneurial ventures on the side of his regular job.
In 2007 he entered the telecoms sector in Syria and launched a plastics factory in Aleppo. However, Syria’s recent wave of violence has damaged the plastics factory and it is no longer operational. The telecoms business Syriana, which is involved in hardware and software programming for phones for corporates and is a supplier of phone accessories, is still trudging along with three employees.
Mr Tarsha is now focusing on his partnership in Via Dolce, the parent company that manufactures and exports the chocolates to Abu Dhabi from Belgium. He markets 74 types of organic and regular Belgian varieties, including exotic options such as chilli dark chocolate, salted caramel and Earl Grey dark. The prices range from Dh275 per kilogram for the organic variety to Dh175 per kg for the regular chocolates.
It takes up to two weeks for chocolate shipments to reach Abu Dhabi from Belgium, but the store has a stock for quick deliveries. These are wrapped in the Abu Dhabi workshop for corporate gifts, birthdays and weddings.
“In Europe you have to sell chocolates individually and packaging is not important,” Mr Tarsha says. “Here, since it is a hot country packaging is important.”
The shop, which opened in July, has received four corporate orders so far and offers up to 15 per cent off larger orders, depending on the amount and delivery time.
In a year’s time, he expects 30 per cent of the clientele to come from the corporate sector, with the rest from retail.
The Via Dolce parent company started in 2000 in Abu Dhabi as a wholesaler of Belgian chocolates and home-made jam that are also supplied in Europe. The Abu Dhabi store, which employs five staff, is the first retail outlet.
Mr Tarsha has invested almost Dh1 million in the Abu Dhabi outlet and says it will take about two years to break even. Another store in an Abu Dhabi mall is on the cards and there are plans to sell ice-cream and Belgian waffles from that outlet.
There will be a maximum of three stores in the capital, to retain the quality, according to Mr Tarsha.
While the entrepreneur also recognises Dubai as a lucrative market, he says the target audience would be different there, catering to the tastes and preferences of tourists.
Any expansion outside the country would be through franchises.
For now, however, Mr Tarsha says he wants to secure the Abu Dhabi market before expanding the Via Dolce footprint farther afield.
Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
Priority access to new homes from participating developers
Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
Flexible payment plans from developers
Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says.
Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.
Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier.
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024. It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine. Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages]. The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts. With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians. Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved. Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world. The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UK Innovator Founder Visa is aimed at those who can demonstrate relevant experience in business and sufficient investment funds to set up and scale up a new business in the UK. It offers permanent residence after three years.
Germany Investing or establishing a business in Germany offers you a residence permit, which eventually leads to citizenship. The investment must meet an economic need and you have to have lived in Germany for five years to become a citizen.
Italy The scheme is designed for foreign investors committed to making a significant contribution to the economy. Requires a minimum investment of €250,000 which can rise to €2 million.
Switzerland Residence Programme offers residence to applicants and their families through economic contributions. The applicant must agree to pay an annual lump sum in tax.
Canada Start-Up Visa Programme allows foreign entrepreneurs the opportunity to create a business in Canada and apply for permanent residence.
The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities. Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids. Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
