Success story: Aromada
Background
Established in 2019, Cardiff-based Aromada produce a range of mirror glazes, jams and jellies which they supply to the baking industry.
Founded by Samir Bougaci and Motaz Dadou, Aromada combines the pair’s experience in ingredient manufacture and luxury patisserie. Motaz previously worked in development for a European ingredient manufacturer whilst Samir is a trained baker who also owns a Cardiff-based celebration cake company.
Samir had always wanted to own a company supplying ingredients to the baking industry and so collaborated with Motaz to turn his ambition into a reality.
Having secured a manufacturing unit in Cardiff and purchased a range of equipment in 2019, Aromada’s progress stalled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the company initially started with limited production runs to a small customer base.
To grow the business, Samir and Motaz decided that they would need to secure SALSA certification. Designed for smaller food producers and suppliers, SALSA is one of the most widely recognised food safety certification schemes in the UK.
Securing SALSA certification would demonstrate that Aromada was operating to industry-recognised food safety standards, and it would enable them to supply their products to much larger wholesale customers.
As neither, Samir nor Motaz, had experience of SALSA certification, they approached the food safety experts at ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre for support in 2024.
Support from ZERO2FIVE
Working closely with a ZERO2FIVE technologist, Aromada were mentored to develop their food safety management procedures and paperwork in line with the requirements of SALSA. This included areas such as cleaning, pest control, traceability, incident management, labelling and product shelf-life.
ZERO2FIVE also delivered a range of bespoke training on subjects including the HACCP approach to food safety, allergen management and supplier approval.
In line with their HACCP food safety plan, Aromada were supported to validate their cleaning procedures through microbiological testing, and their production processes by ensuring their pasteuriser reached the required temperature.
In preparation for the SALSA audit, ZERO2FIVE conducted an internal audit of Aromada’s paperwork and processes against the requirements of the standard to identify any final necessary improvements.
Benefits of the support
Aromada successfully passed their SALSA audit in January 2025 and securing this certification has opened up much bigger wholesale markets for the company, both in Wales and across the UK.
Aromada has already secured an order for their products from BAKO Wales, a co-operative that supplies bakery ingredients across Wales, and they are in discussions with a London-based ingredient supplier.
ZERO2FIVE will continue to support Aromada as they grow and as part of a new project will validate the production processes for new products that the company is developing.
Samir Bougaci, Director, Aromada, said “We’re incredibly grateful to ZERO2FIVE for their invaluable support throughout our journey. Their guidance with our hygiene paperwork and their expert assistance were key in helping us achieve our SALSA certification. Their team was always approachable, knowledgeable, and truly committed to our success – we genuinely couldn’t have done it without them.”
Get in touch with us
If you’d like to find out more about how we can help your business or have any questions about the support we can offer, then please get in touch.
