Syrian Refugees Overcome War To Bring Halloumi To Britain | Dragons’ Den

Razan Alsous and her husband Raghid Sandouk lost virtually everything including a thriving laboratory supplies business when they packed their suitcases and left Syria, now they're in the Den pitching their British-made alternative to Cypriot halloumi, but will the Dragons think it is a tasty proposition?

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#DragonsDen #SqueekyCheese

[ileolai]

You can tell from the delighted way he says ''she's a pharmacologist'' that Raghid thinks his wife is the bees knees, that was cute haha

[SiriusMined]

Deborah, ever heard of trying to maintain the product integrity and quality rather than trusting it to an outside source?

[timtam]

Deborah’s logic: I just can’t understand why Nissan would want to spend £300m on a new factory when they can get Toyota to manufacture for them.

[nelelf]

Oh I would have called it Cowlloumi, then there would be no branding issues XD

[BillionaireCEO]

I liked Sarah's feedback, am glad she also saw that Deborah was being unreasonable here... They really missed a great investment

[AwesomeMetalBands]

Companies with heritage that have their own manufacturing plants live on for generations and build years of customer Trust. They have a unique story which would be lost if they outsourced the product.

[kicn]

Good decision not to outsource, keep going guys with your passion it will surely be success. Have patience though as doing everything takes time. Really good couple

[CaptainGlack]

I thought I recognised it, then he said they supply Morrisons and there you go (I work there). Very cool!

[rumisteps]

They made it this far. They will make it further. They didn’t over value their product. They based the value upon demand. Bad luck to the dragons

[andrewquick]

I hope this couple go on to be a HUGE success

The dragons wrong here

[sarahpenney]

YES! I've had their cheese before and it's absolutely fantastic.

[YehudaGoldman]

Deborah wasn’t listening. She missed the point that there are no machines in England available. To suggest going to the only other competitor in the country with the machine to outsource it was ludicrous. They are the competition. Sometimes the dragons need to shut up and listen themselves. Their strategy is solid. Buy a modern machine to increase capacity to fulfill upcoming orders. Seems like a smart move. They need to check if they can use the term “Halloumi style cheese”. Or as someone here posted call it “Moolumi” Which is quite brilliant. Hope they succeed.

[Iburn]

I gotta disagree with Deborah here. Not saying the couple should or shouldn't get a deal... But I totally understand why the couple didn't want to go that route

[cookwithdeedee_]

Respect to her for not wanting to outsource it! I cook a lot and can notice a good product and I hope to buy from them one day.

When you have something precious, you really don't just want to give it out like that

[stuartbroad]

Lovely couple bless them. Sad whats happening in Syria. Wish you all the best ❤

[Hope-bnxz]

Bless them, I hope both of them will be successful in what they do.👍

[homamfayiz]

From Jordan 🇯🇴, all the love to the people of Syria 🇸🇾 ❤️

[minigrande]

Wonderful story how people can appreciate such simple things like Dale's and cows

[MrRilarios]

I don't understand Deborah.. Why outsource your own product?... You are making it because you think it is better than the competition. It baffles me. I understand outsourcing things that are not your own company core function/producto, but outsourcing the production?.. I seriously don't understand

[SpencerGD]

I would have totally funded this, if I was in the den. They have an awesome back story, there clearly seems to be demand (although, that would need to be vetted), they are born entrepreneurs (they found a market and made it work, despite being down on their luck), and they are clearly hard workers. Those are the kind of people I would want to partner with, even if this product doesn't blossom to the degree they suggested in their pitch.