The Story of How Ooredoo Enabled This One Special Ingredient to Spice Things Up in Ramadan 1443

Every year, Ooredoo Maldives as part of their Corporate Social Responsibilities initiates a special campaign for the holy month of Ramadan, bringing something meaningful and impactful into life. The team surprised us all this year when things took a spicy turn – a literally spicy one.  
 
Council President of Kandoodhoo, Ahmed Reehan got a call out of the blue one day earlier in the year from Team Ooredoo. The brief call was to inform him of the team’s arrival to the island, and a special discussion they plan to have with the council. Little did he know then that this was about to be the beginning of a rather fiery venture.  
 

The Ooredoo team consisted of Hussain Niyaz - Chief Commercial Officer, Noora Zahir - Senior Manager Brand & Marcomms, Nishan Waheed – Senior Manager Distribution, and Mohamed Aksham - Manager Brand & Marcomms. The four of them were on a mission to explore the island’s iconic fruit ‘Kandoodhoo Mirus’ and dig in to its hot story.  
 
What makes ‘Kandoodhoo Mirus’ so special? More importantly, why was this Ooredoo team so interested in it in the first place? Reehan had the same question in mind and was delighted to find out that the council’s thoughts of building on the product aligns with Ooredoo’s theme selected for 1443 Ramadan Campaign.  
 
Anyone who knows Niyaz is familiar with his ‘crazy’ ideas so when he suggested making Kandoodhoo Mirus the theme for the campaign this year, his colleagues instantly got onboard. Ramadan in the Maldives is heavily associated with watermelons from the agricultural island of Thoddoo. ‘Kurumba’, tropical fruits, and dates are on the priority list of must-have ingredients on the table for Iftar too. But what about scotch bonnets?  

 
The local cuisine embodies tastes balanced with heat from scotch bonnets and us Maldivians love to eat spicy. This explains why news flashes on rising prices of the special scotch bonnets homegrown in the island of Kandoodhoo hit the medias without fail nearing Ramadan. One kilogram of these delicacies could cost close to a whopping MVR 1000. 
 
Not that Niyaz can even eat spicy food, but this spicy thought struck as an opportunity for Team Ooredoo to research further. 
 
Having established itself as an agricultural island, Kandoodhoo has dedicated farm lands prominently growing the famous Kandoodhoo Mirus. Families grow it in their backyards, and indulge in its blazing heat regularly.  
 
So, why Kandoodhoo Mirus in particular when scotch bonnets are commonly farmed throughout the country? It really is different from the rest. The journey through the farmlands in Kandoodhoo and from talks with islanders and farmers, Team Ooredoo found out that the shape, color, and taste of the fruits grown on the island differ distinguishingly from the rest. Be it a seedling sprouted on the island and grown elsewhere, or a fresh plant grown from seeds. This experience was one the team just had to have to believe it. 

 
The trip was essential to come up with a strategic approach to transforming the idea in to reality. In line with Ooredoo’s efforts to positively impact the community, the team decided to add a lasting value to the island and its farmers through the campaign. Team Ooredoo was welcomed by mutual interest from the council in developing Kandoodhoo Mirus as an authentic product with potential to grab attention from a global audience. They extensively discussed the importance of protecting the identity of the product, building a professional brand, and opening for opportunities to expand the business.  
 
Back in office, the team went straight to the drawing board with their Design Partner, Publicity Bureau. Every little detail that goes in to establishing a business – from core elements to colors, logo design to branding guidelines, advertising to marketing, and more – were officiated and executed to finesse by the team.  
 
Marking the beginning of the auspicious month of Ramadan 1443, Ooredoo Maldives partnered with Enzi to create a collection of hot sauces using Kandoodhoo Mirus. The branded sauce bottles were launched in a special ceremony. The package came in sauces of 3 varying levels of heat - Hot, Very Hot to Fiery Hot. 

 
The ultimate gift to the islanders of Kandoodhoo as part of the campaign was the launch of ‘Kandoodhoo Mirus’ website. This portal has opened doors for the farmers and islanders of Kandoodhoo to market, sell, and grow their products in the international sphere. With Ooredoo’s assistant in establishing themselves as a potential business, the Council of Kandoodhoo aims to find gateways to incorporate their special Kandoodhoo Mirus into different foods, and create more products with it.  

Sharing sentiments on behalf of Kandoodhoo islanders, Reehan commented, 'We are truly humbled that a multinational organization such as Ooredoo Maldives took up an initiative aimed to guide our local community towards establishing a successful brand with homegrown produce. Our local farmers can now get direct exposure to bigger business opportunities and directly earn from it.'
 
The Kandoodhoo Mirus campaign received an immense amount of support from vendors, food outlets and food makers, added Reehan. One phone call after the other, he promises to deploy more shipment soon, with more and better options for buyers.

In order to maintain the credibility of these scotch bonnets, the website calls for vendors of original Kandoodhoo Mirus to register themselves as authorized distributors. Those who wish to use original Kandoodhoo Mirus in their products can do the same.  

 
Ooredoo Maldives aims to continue gifting the local community with more of such attested means that empowers niche groups. Reehan is grateful for the organization’s initiative that has paved way for his islanders to earn self-sufficiency with an everyday activity.