Lychee’s Mohamed Assy On Scaling A Healthy F&B Brand

When Mohamed Assy launched his healthy F&B brand Lychee in Cairo in 2012, he wasn’t following a trend—he was filling a personal (and public) gap that he couldn’t ignore. In fact, its genesis can be drawn back to his time living in the US—a period that opened his eyes to what a truly wellness-centric lifestyle could look like.

“Healthy food options were everywhere, and it felt effortless to find food choices that were aligned with my healthy lifestyle,” he tells Inc. Arabia. “But when I moved back home, I instantly saw how limited the market was. There was a clear gap, and I felt immediately that there was something to be done about it.”

That realization quickly turned into a mission. Assy’s personal commitment to health and performance served as the foundation for what Lychee would become. “I’m very in tune with how my body responds to food, sleep, and lifestyle choices,” he reveals. “When I fall off track, I feel it in my performance. I genuinely feel slower, less sharp, and less energized. Once you feel the true effect of what a health-focused lifestyle feels like for your body and mind, it’s hard not to get hooked to that feeling. So, I’ve always prioritized that quality of life. That’s what drives my passion, and what ultimately sparked Lychee.” 

Headquartered in Cairo, Lychee now operates a growing number of branches across key Egyptian cities, including Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, El Gouna, and New Alamein. In recent years, the brand has also expanded regionally, with new locations opening in KSA, marking its first steps outside Egypt and into the wider Gulf market. Lychee’s menu thus reflects a growing demand for everyday health-conscious eating. It includes cold-pressed juices made from fruits and vegetables without added sugar, smoothies blended with ingredients like oats, nut butters, and protein powders, and simple meals such as quinoa bowls, salads, and sandwiches. The offerings are designed to be quick and convenient, often appealing to busy urban customers looking for lighter or more balanced options throughout the day. While the ingredients are mostly familiar, the preparation leans toward minimal processing and a focus on freshness.

But making that simplicity repeatable—and scalable—wasn’t easy. “That’s the most difficult thing in the world,” Assy says. “It’s the million-dollar question. But what I’ve learnt is that at its core, it’s about processes and people. Better people will build better processes. Growth without structure is chaos.” That philosophy has shaped everything from hiring to supply chain decisions for Lychee, with Assy prioritizing operational infrastructure long before scale became urgent. “We’ve focused heavily on creating strong processes, developing them constantly, and investing in a team,” he says. “Our other main focus is the value chain of the brand—high-quality ingredients and suppliers through a strong, well-managed supply chain.”

Plus, instead of chasing complexity, the brand trimmed its offering to what it could deliver well. Assy is unapologetically focused on reliability over novelty. “We build our product strategy around our value chain—we don’t overwhelm the business with complexity that can’t be managed well at scale,” he explains. “Instead, we stay focused on what we can deliver with consistency and excellence.” That focus on consistency leads to another non-negotiable for Assy—one that’s often underestimated in the wellness space: food science. “If you compare us with most local players, the caliber of talent we hire in quality and food safety is on a different level,” Assy says. “That’s intentional. Especially with fresh, healthy food, safety is everything, and we don’t cut corners.”

With its foundations firm at home, Lychee took its next step—crossing into Saudi Arabia in 2024. But entering a new country meant more than setting up operations; it required deep cultural understanding and community connection. “The biggest challenge was understanding the market on a deep level,” Assy shares. Knowing that a cookie-cutter approach wouldn’t work, Assy went deep into research—not through data sets, but by being there. “I personally spent over 12 hours a day driving around different neighborhoods in Riyadh observing traffic flow, how people moved, when they ate, where they gathered, all to build a real understanding of the culture and consumer dynamics,” he says.

Assy also admits that there was a perception challenge in the beginning. “Regional brands were often seen as inferior to global players, which made early conversations with the local community more challenging,” he explains. “But that’s shifting quickly. Saudi brands and other regional players are now leading innovation, and proving they can compete at the same level as international names.” What helped Lychee though is knowing exactly who its customer is—and then meeting them where they are. “We understand our customers very well,” Assy says. “We choose spaces where our customers already are. We don’t try to force behavior change or reinvent the wheel. It’s about being accessible, convenient, and part of their everyday life.”

At the same time, Assy points out that consumer expectations have evolved dramatically. “10 years ago, we were in the business of convincing people to choose a healthier lifestyle,” he says. “Today, the consumer is far more informed and proactive, constantly learning through social media and holding brands accountable. They’re not just asking for healthy products; they’re defining what healthy means to them, and pushing the industry forward. Gone are the days of global brands that followed a one-size-fits-all model. The consumer expects more from the market, and local brands like ours have the ability to respond in real-time, to local tastes, cultural nuances, and emerging trends.”

Lychee is now looking outward—toward regional and continental growth. “We’re planning to grow into the UAE and other Gulf countries,” Assy reveals. “And as a homegrown Egyptian brand, we also feel a strong responsibility to play a role in expanding across our own continent, Africa. It’s the fastest-growing continent in the world and full of untapped opportunities. The health consciousness trend will soon penetrate, if it hasn’t already.” And for regional wellness brands aspiring to scale, Assy is happy to share the key tactics that have guided his own journey.

“Build the right team, maintain product focus, develop strong processes, and strengthen the backend—from finance to supply chain and operations—so that scaling is manageable,” he says. “And lastly, be authentic and believe in your identity. It’s easy to get distracted by what your neighbors are doing, or feel pressure to mimic global players. But the real power of local brands lies in their authenticity. Learn from the trends, but ultimately stay in your lane, and have the belief that local players can do it just as well as anyone.”

Pictured in the lead image is the founder of Lychee, Mohamed Assy. All images are courtesy of Lychee.

This article first appeared in the July 2025 issue of Inc. Arabia magazine. To read the full issue online, click here.