Meet Fouad Belgaied of HummusKing Meals in Tempe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Fouad Belgaied.

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Fouad. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
The idea came to me in September 2016. I was sitting in my office inside of my family’s restaurant (Phoenicia Grill). Feet were up on the desk, I remember this entirely, before leaving on a trip to Chicago. I asked myself, ” How do wake up with this “Purpose” that I’ve been reading about?” I was 27 at the time, and at 25, I had made a huge life change. Got back into the gym after weighing 225 lbs, with very little muscle and dropped down to 178 lbs with 9% body fat. During that journey, I dove into Self-Growth books, such as Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. So this “Purpose” was what I was trying to find on my journey. Back to the office, I asked myself again, ” What do I do and love every single day?” The answer was the gym, my work, motivating others, and inspiring others from the transition I have made in my life. Everyone knew me around town being nicknamed the “Hummus King” because our restaurants have the best mediterranean food in Arizona, 24+ years serving the valley. So with those answers, I then asked myself AGAIN, ” How do I combine, all of those things? ” I then realized Mediterranean Food is the HEALTHIEST Food on the planet, so then it hit me. Mediterranean Meal Prep. October 2016, I started writing out my business plan, and on January 23, 2017, I launched HummusKing Meals. I went with the name “HummusKing” after my brother told me I had the perfect name since everyone already called me that. I agreed and loved it because it also holds me to have the Highest Quality of food and to essentially always live up to the name.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
FAR FROM. Launching the business as those know, requires all-nighters, commitment, sacrifice, and belief. Many obstacles were met and overcome. After a Great First year, I battled through a personal hardship, which led me to depression in 2018. I did not think, I myself, would have ever experienced that. Especially after having the self-confidence gained from changing my life, following my dreams, and running my business. I put my business to the side, in September 2018, as it started to affect my business and sought the help I needed. I re-launched my business earlier this year, April 14th, 2019. Again re-launching the business, getting back to life, I had to battle obstacle after obstacle in both myself and the business. Getting everything back on track, finding another kitchen because operating inside of my family’s restaurant was not an option due to how busy we were with both companies under one roof. New permits, plan for operations, and so much more.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
HummusKing Meals specializes in Authentic Mediterranean Meals delivered straight to peoples jobs, doors, heck, if you’re at Target and want us to meet you there we will make it happen. We offer a full menu of mediterranean items, most of it is Gluten Free, a benefit of Mediterranean Cuisine. We provide all the nutritional info online and offer everything from individual meals to, customized meal plans. We are known for our freshness in quality as we use the best cut in meat. All of our meats are Halal/Kosher Style, cut cleaned and marinated by me. Obviously, I have to say our Hummus, thats a given, but everything from our Kebobs to our Greek Salads, to our Protein Bites, are absolutely delicious. I am most proud of how we are able to provide our clients with a healthy lifestyle while having THE BEST FOOD in doing so. Helping everyone from students who dont cook, to stay at home moms, to business people always focused on achieving their goals, to personal trainers helping their clients achieve their goals! I take pride in our authenticity and recipes coming from my family businesses Phoenicia cafe, and making everything from scratch!

Also what I love most is now, we have our “No Child Hungry” Campaign, which came from my new partner and his charity, Change Your Stars Foundation. For every five meals purchased, we feed an underprivileged Child in Phoenix. It’s business with a purpose greater than ourselves.

What sets us apart is our passion to provide people with that healthy lifestyle, the best quality of food, and our prices. Our prices are unmatched, ESPECIALLY with the quality of food we are providing, and most importantly helping others along the way.

What’s your outlook for the industry over the next 5-10 years?
I see our industry growing. HummusKing Meals was actually the First Mediterranean Meal Prep company in America, and actually, with meal prep being more popular and convenient, the sky is the limit. The Meal Prep industry as a whole is growing and will continue to grow for a few reasons. One is that people are not getting the nutritional food they need from their usual every day go-to’s. So that has affected so many people from obesity, to mental health, physical health and so on. I believe the trend will continue to rise as so many people are starting to become more health conscious because of this.

Pricing:

• Vegetarian Options and Salad start at 5.99
• 4 oz. Protein Servings are 6.99
• 6 oz. Protein Servings are 8.49

Contact Info:

• Website: hkmeals.com
• Phone: (480) 725-7536
• Email: contact@hkmeals.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/hkmeals
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/HKmeals

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition, please let us know here.