Dolly’s: A Lebanese ketchup with American taste
Lebanon’s own ketchup company finds a receptive audience in the region and beyond
There’s a joke from the classic cult film Pulp Fiction: “Three tomatoes are walking down the street – a papa tomato, a mama tomato, and a little baby tomato. Baby tomato starts lagging behind. Papa tomato gets angry, goes back to the baby tomato, and squishes him...and says, ketchup.”
It’s the champion of condiments, and Dolly’s ketchup evokes nostalgic memories among some Lebanese. Through casual conversations with Executive, they talked of blissful summers past eating hotdogs and homestyle french fries drenched in ketchup piled high atop a red checkered picnic table on a sunny, cloud-free day near the coast. These are wistful Americana summers to remember.
Ketchup does not easily mix with traditional Lebanese cuisine. It is a rare sight to find a bottle of that fine red sauce served with mezze, unless there are also french fries on the table. So it is not wrong to perceive ketchup as uniquely American (even though it isn’t) and boy do the Lebanese seem to love all products red, white and blue.
Dolly’s ketchup too, according to the company’s regional brand manager Saaddine Abou Merhi, is perceived as an American brand. “There is no per- ception of the brand as a Lebanese one – it’s an American brand with a Lebanese taste. Most of our new customers think Dolly’s is American more than it is Lebanese – because of the name.”
It wasn’t exactly the image the company’s founders were going for but the brand does have strong ties that foster this American perception. For one, Dolly’s ketchup is registered as a trademark in the United States. Moreover, to achieve the desired taste its main ingredient – fresh tomatoes – are an American product. “To get the exact taste we have to import from California and work with a specific farm to source the tomatoes.” Abou Merhi also says Californian tomatoes provide a consistency in quality that defines their ketchup’s texture. Other ingredients such as salt and vinegar are also imported, with water being the only ingredient sourced locally. The taste of Dolly’s ketchup, Abou Merhi suggests, is preferred because of the high level of sweetness, with the precise formula being a closely guarded secret known only to a precious few.
Widriss Holding – the group owning Dolly’s and other local brands, like Idriss Supermarket and Conserves Modernes Chtaura, a cannery – is 80 years old and Dolly’s is nearly 42. Dolly’s started as a ketchup company and has evolved into a condiment brand producing mayonnaise, mustard, pizza and spaghetti sauces, as well as canned corn and canned mushrooms.
DOLLY’S LIVES ON, DESPITE CONFLICT AND UNCERTAINTY
Their flagship product remains ketchup, which Abou Merhi says leads the brand’s sales by volume. Mayonnaise leads in sales when measured by value. “Ketchup is the backbone of the company. Mayonnaise is more profitable for the business – it’s mainly oil with egg yolk – but when the prices of oil fluctuate there can be a shift. And there are only two brands in the market that [dominate] in mayonnaise, Dolly’s and Lessieur.” Profit margins tend to be more robust due to the company’s share of the mayonnaise market.
The ketchup market, he says, is more diverse and Dolly’s must compete with Libby’s and Xtra, both owned by Interbrand, Heinz, and producers like Yamama and Maxim’s that have a smaller share of the ketchup market. It is a saturated market, he says, and profit margins for ketchup are driven through bulk sales. To this end, Dolly’s can rely in part on its sister company, Idriss Supermarket, to sell ketchup. The company also has agreements with a number of restaurants to exclusively serve Dolly’s condiments, though Abou Merhi did not give specifics.
Dolly’s, as well as many of the brand’s competitors, passed through a difficult period during Lebanon’s civil war. The war split the country – barriers and checkpoints were erected and no-go zones physically inhibited Dolly’s distribution to areas like the Metn and Keserwan, Abou Merhi explains. De facto distribution monopolies were established, the extent of which can be