Joe Frem is the CEO and Co-Founder of Matbakhi, a hotel-based cloud kitchen startup in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, powered by underutilized Kitchens within hotels, and focused on re-imagining the culinary experience in the Kingdom.

Joe brings a wealth of experience in conceptualizing and implementing successful growth strategies to build scalable and profitable cloud kitchen businesses and virtual brands, by leveraging innovation and continuous improvement.

Prior to Matbakhi, Joe was a senior manager at McKinsey & Company before later joining Delivery Hero, MENA where he built one of the largest cloud kitchen networks in the region. He setup a large multidisciplinary team that transformed the cloud kitchen vertical from an idea in 2020 to a market leader in 2022, with notable projects such as Talabat’s cloud kitchen at Expo 2020 Dubai, one of the most progressive digital food halls in the region at that time.

Joe holds a bachelor’s degree in electromechanical engineering from St. Joseph’s University in Beirut and a master’s degree in Business Administration from INSEAD.