Muhammad Mustafa

co-founder and CEO of EasyFresh

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Muhammad Mustafa is the chief executive officer of Easy Fresh. After graduating, Mustafa got a job at P&G. His P&G job was based in Karachi, not Islamabad.

Early life and background

Mustafa was born in Islamabad, where he was also raised and schooled. His father retired from government service. [1]

Education

Mustafa attended school in Islamabad and completed his A levels in 2000. He had wanted to become a doctor, but ended up studying engineering. Because the money did not come through, he could not become a doctor and became an engineer instead. He studied computer engineering for four years. [1]

Career

After graduating, Mustafa got a job at P&G. His P&G job was based in Karachi, not Islamabad. There he worked in IT, designing supply chain solutions. He left P&G after about two years and went to LUMS to do an MBA. He said he was drawn to brands and wanted to work on them. [1]

Mustafa spent eight to nine years in the telecom sector, and he started that career at PTCL. He worked as an assistant manager in PTCL's HR department for a few months. He then got his break in brand roles. At one point he went a long time without finding a job. He eventually worked at Jazz for the longest time, with the same people, and his last job there lasted until 2016. [1]

Stanford

Mustafa then went to Stanford. There he took the MSX, a one-year business program for experienced people. At Stanford he first learned that venture capital existed. His program included CEOs and US military personnel, and he was the only Pakistani in it. His wife was completing a PhD remotely from Pakistan at that time. [1]

Mauqa Online

Mustafa says the winner receives about one lakh dollars. He brought the money back to Pakistan and launched Mauqa Online. Mauqa Online was an Uber-style service for blue-collar workers, and it offered on-demand domestic help. He ran Mauqa Online for almost four years. [1]

Mustafa says Mauqa Online had around 100 to 150 helpers visiting homes each day at its peak. He says its biggest challenge was supply: hiring, onboarding, training and deploying helpers. He says unfortunate circumstances followed, including COVID-19. Mauqa Online was shut down, and its staff found other jobs. [1]

Mustafa worked with Airlift for two months. At Airlift he learned about fresh produce, and he had earlier wanted to get into this supply chain. [1]

EasyFresh

Mustafa is one of four co-founders of EasyFresh and is introduced as its co-founder and CEO. All four co-founders work on it full time. EasyFresh's chief technology officer studied with Mustafa at university and was two or three years senior to him. [1]

EasyFresh has been operating for about one year. It says more than a thousand farmers have transacted with it. It describes itself as a tech-led solution for farmers worldwide. It wants to become a marketplace connecting farmers with retailers and businesses. [1]

EasyFresh dispatches produce to retailers from about 4 am and delivers to retailers every day. It handles about 100 tons of produce a day and focuses mainly on vegetables. Street vendors are a large part of its buyers, especially in Karachi. Mustafa says its customers want deliveries seven times a week. [1]

EasyFresh has sold to bigger clients, including Airlift. It sets its daily prices by benchmarking against the mandi. EasyFresh covers delivery costs for its customers. It has sold its own branded mangoes and has partnerships with some farmers. [1]

EasyFresh obtained its own export license. It has exported produce to Dubai and Sri Lanka, and it sold produce from its own container in Dubai's wholesale market. EasyFresh exports broccoli to Saudi Arabia. It offers farmers a better rate for their whole crop if they control fertiliser inputs. [1]

EasyFresh has about 50 office and tech staff in Karachi and Islamabad. About 60 to 70 more blue-collar workers manage its warehouses. Its north star metric is the number of farmers it transacts with each day. Mustafa says EasyFresh has been unit-economics positive from day one and is a couple of months away from full profitability. [1]

Mustafa names Deosai among EasyFresh's partners, along with other partners and angel investors. He says this is not a good time to raise funding. EasyFresh wants to raise another round. He calls fundraising a vanity metric. [1]

Views on agriculture

Mustafa says EasyFresh once criticised aartis but now sees them as a necessary evil. He describes the produce chain as farmers, aartis and mandis. He says post-harvest losses in Pakistan's agriculture are upwards of 35%. He calls the wastage from an inefficient supply chain criminal. He says the older chain can take over 48 hours, sometimes close to 72, to get produce to buyers. [1]

Mustafa says many farm villages are not on the main roads, which makes large vehicles difficult for agriculture startups. He says refrigerated transport would reduce waste, but customers are not yet willing to pay the premium. He says its cost does not yet justify the savings. He rates EasyFresh's produce quality as one of the best. He says excess fertiliser on potatoes leaves dots on the crop. [1]

Views on Pakistan

Mustafa says he is optimistic about agriculture because it is the backbone of the country. He says agriculture is the sector that has had the least intervention. He says educated people are entering farming in Sindh and leasing land. He says farmers increasingly understand that the old way of farming cannot continue. [1]

Mustafa describes Pakistan as a resilient nation that has been progressing. He says more entrepreneurs are opening businesses, farms and trucking companies in Pakistan. He says Pakistan has a young population and good technology adoption. He says many people in Pakistan do not want to upskill themselves. He says the root cause is that Pakistanis are not trained in professionalism from childhood. [1]

Timeline

2000
Completed his A levels.[1]
2016
His last job at Jazz ended.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-11-02 The man trying to fix Pakistan's broken food supply chain Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Muhammad Mustafa?

Muhammad Mustafa is the chief executive officer and a co-founder of EasyFresh. He was born in Islamabad, worked at P&G, PTCL and Jazz, and went to Stanford. He also launched Mauqa Online before co-founding EasyFresh.[1]

What does Muhammad Mustafa do?

Muhammad Mustafa is the CEO of EasyFresh, which operates warehouses in Islamabad and Karachi. EasyFresh dispatches produce to retailers from about 4 am and delivers to retailers every day. It handles about 100 tons of produce a day.[1]

Where did Muhammad Mustafa study?

Muhammad Mustafa attended school in Islamabad and studied computer engineering for four years. He went to LUMS to do an MBA. He later went to Stanford, where he took the MSX, a one-year business program for experienced people.[1]

Where is Muhammad Mustafa from?

Muhammad Mustafa was born in Islamabad, where he was also raised and schooled. His father retired from government service.[1]

What company did Muhammad Mustafa found?

Muhammad Mustafa is one of four co-founders of EasyFresh. Earlier he launched Mauqa Online, an Uber-style service for blue-collar workers that offered on-demand domestic help.[1]

What was Mauqa Online?

Mauqa Online was an Uber-style service for blue-collar workers that offered on-demand domestic help. Muhammad Mustafa ran it for almost four years. It was shut down, and its staff found other jobs.[1]

Where did Muhammad Mustafa work before EasyFresh?

Muhammad Mustafa worked at P&G in IT, designing supply chain solutions, and spent eight to nine years in the telecom sector. He started that career at PTCL and eventually worked at Jazz for the longest time. He also worked with Airlift for two months.[1]

Does EasyFresh export produce?

Muhammad Mustafa's company EasyFresh obtained its own export license. It has exported produce to Dubai and Sri Lanka, and it exports broccoli to Saudi Arabia.[1]

References

  1. The man trying to fix Pakistan's broken food supply chain . Thought Behind Things , 2022-11-02.
Show the source passages (109 statements)
  1. Mustafa was born in Islamabad, where he was also raised and schooled. Islamabad ka hi burgad hoon. Theek hai. Paida bhi idhar hua. Pala bada bhi, tamam schooling idhar se.
  2. He attended school in Islamabad. I went to school here Froebels.
  3. He completed his A levels in 2000. I did my A levels in 2000.
  4. He had wanted to become a doctor, but ended up studying engineering. Ji ke banna doctor tha. Ended up being an engineer.
  5. Because the money did not come through, he could not become a doctor and became an engineer instead. Lekin bas ye tha ke paise nahi mile to phir main nahi ban saka. So phir main engineer ban gaya.
  6. He studied computer engineering for four years. Um so you went to GIK for four years. Did you do engineering in what field? Computers. Computer engineering.
  7. After graduating, he got a job at P&G. Phir wahan se graduate hua to achcha hua P&G mein naukri mil gayi.
  8. At P&G he worked in IT, designing supply chain solutions. So I was designing their supply chain solutions in IT.
  9. He left P&G after about two years and went to LUMS to do an MBA. To phir wo chhoda do saal baad. LUMS gaya MBA karne.
  10. He said he was drawn to brands and wanted to work on them. I was really you know enamored by brands. Maine kaha yaar ye brand karna hai.
  11. His P&G job was based in Karachi, not Islamabad. P&G was Karachi. That's a different for Islamabad.
  12. At one point he went a long time without finding a job. Phir um you know luck kaafi arsa naukri nahi mili.
  13. He had 13 interviews at Jazz. Uh Mobilink hai Jazz. Uske andar mere na 13 interview hue the.
  14. He eventually worked at Jazz for the longest time, with the same people. Lekin phir Allah ka kehna ke eventually I worked at Jazz for the longest time with the same people
  15. He spent eight to nine years in the telecom sector. so telecom you were how how long were you there for? Yaar mukhtalif. So I think I spent a total of eight to haan eight, aath nau saal lagaye maine.
  16. He started his telecom career at PTCL. I actually started with PTCL.
  17. He says he failed 48 interviews. Maine 48 interviews fail kiye the. 48.
  18. He worked as an assistant manager in PTCL's HR department for a few months. I worked as a an assistant manager at PTCL in the HR department um for a few months.
  19. He then got his break in brand roles. Phir I got my break in brands in Zong and started off from there.
  20. His last job at Jazz lasted until 2016. 2016 tak that was my last work job at Jazz.
  21. He then went to Stanford. phir wahan se main chala gaya Stanford.
  22. At Stanford he took the MSX, a one-year business program for experienced people. This was called the MSX. So it is a one year business degree but for experienced people.
  23. His wife was completing a PhD remotely from Pakistan at that time. my wife was there with me as well. She was studying as well? No she was actually completing her PhD from here in Pakistan but doing it remotely at that time.
  24. His father retired from government service. walid sahab bhi mere wo retired from government service.
  25. At Stanford he first learned that venture capital existed. wahan ja ke pehli dafa mujhe pata chala VC bhi kuch hota hai.
  26. His program included CEOs and US military personnel, and he was the only Pakistani in it. I was in a program with people who were CEOs of companies. Then I was hamare ussi program mein US military ke log bhi hote the. Matlab I was the only Pakistani.
  27. He said the winner receives about one lakh dollars. to wo jo banda jeet jaata hai usko achche khase na ek lakh dollar mil jaate hain.
  28. He brought the money back to Pakistan and launched Mauqa Online. So brought the money back to Pakistan and launched Mauqa Online.
  29. Mauqa Online was an Uber-style service for blue-collar workers. And so Mauqa Online was a Uber for blue collar workers.
  30. Mauqa Online offered on-demand domestic help. Um so yes on demand domestic help.
  31. He ran Mauqa Online for almost four years. Almost four years humne usko chalaya.
  32. He says Mauqa Online had around 100 to 150 helpers visiting homes each day at its peak. At our peak we had like pata nahi 100 150 helpers going to uh people's homes every day.
  33. He says Mauqa Online's biggest challenge was supply: hiring, onboarding, training and deploying helpers. Supply. Matlab aap kitne logon ko helpers ko kitna jaldi hire kar sake, onboard kar sake, train kar sake aur deploy kar sake.
  34. He says many people in Pakistan do not want to upskill themselves. somehow people in Pakistan do not want to upskill themselves.
  35. He says the root cause is that Pakistanis are not trained in professionalism from childhood. The root cause in my opinion is generally us Pakistanis um have not been trained well on professionalism from the start of our lives.
  36. He says unfortunate circumstances followed, including COVID-19. Phir kuch unfortunate se halaat ho gaye the. Covid aa gaya tha.
  37. Mauqa Online was shut down, and its staff found other jobs. after we shut down Mauqa and after jab hamare tamam staff jo tha unko naukriyan mil gayi
  38. He worked with Airlift for two months. Airlift ke saath maine kaam kiya, do mahine unke saath kaam kiya.
  39. At Airlift he learned about fresh produce, and he had earlier wanted to get into this supply chain. udhar kuch Airlift mein seekha about fresh produce and all, kuch pehle se shauk tha is supply chain mein ghusne ka.
  40. Mustafa is one of four co-founders of EasyFresh. how many people are there in EasyFresh in terms of the found founders? We four co-founders.
  41. All four co-founders of EasyFresh work on it full time. All four. All four. So this is their full time.
  42. EasyFresh's chief technology officer studied with Mustafa at university. So Asim uh who is our CTO, um Asim and I went to university together GIK.
  43. EasyFresh's chief technology officer was two or three years senior to Mustafa. Asim mujhse do teen saal senior thay
  44. When they started, his wife was his co-founder. jab humne shuru kiya toh Sunny and I, my wife, she was the co-founder with me on this
  45. EasyFresh has been operating for about one year. One year. Exactly a year now.
  46. EasyFresh says more than a thousand farmers have transacted with it. The the thousand plus farmers who have transacted with us, they trust us, they love us.
  47. Mustafa says there are millions of farmers, and thousands of tons of produce change hands every day. But there are millions of farmers. Um and there's thousands of tons of produce that's being transacted every day.
  48. He describes the aarti as a commission agent and middleman in the mandi. Aarti is a commission agent, ek middleman hota hai.
  49. He says the aarti role dates from the British era. Yeh ek British era ka ek role hai jo bana tha.
  50. He says aartis provide financing to farmers. Bilkul kar rahe hain aarti yahi karte hain. Woh financing de rahe hain.
  51. He says aartis also act as a social safety net for farmers. Aarti social net bhi deta hai.
  52. He says EasyFresh once criticised aartis but now sees them as a necessary evil. Initially toh hum bhi usko bura bhala kehte thay lekin ab hum usko na ek necessary evil aap keh dein.
  53. He describes the produce chain as farmers, aartis and mandis. So farmers ke baad aa jate hain aapke aarti aa jate hain, aapki mandiyan aa jati hain.
  54. He says post-harvest losses in Pakistan's agriculture are upwards of 35%. So post harvest losses in agriculture in our country are upwards of 35%.
  55. He calls the wastage from an inefficient supply chain criminal. For a country our economic standing to lose 35% apne agriculture output ko aap waste kar dete hain just because your supply chain is inefficient is criminal.
  56. EasyFresh describes itself as a tech-led solution for farmers worldwide. ke hum log na ek tech led um tech led solution hai for farmers across the world.
  57. EasyFresh wants to become a marketplace connecting farmers with retailers and businesses. And then we want uh to be the marketplace jahan pe baaki jitne bhi retailers hain, businesses hain
  58. EasyFresh has sold its own branded mangoes. So our branded, EasyFresh branded mangoes humne beche hain.
  59. EasyFresh has partnerships with some farmers. Phir hum chahte, hum apne kuch farmers ke saath partnerships kar rahe hain.
  60. EasyFresh exports broccoli to Saudi Arabia. yeh tum jo harvest karoge na broccoli, isko hum bhej rahe hain, export kar rahe hain Saudi Arabia.
  61. EasyFresh operates warehouses in Islamabad and Karachi. We do. We we operate in Islamabad and Karachi. So we've got warehouses in both cities.
  62. EasyFresh's warehouses act as sorting centers where produce is graded. These are actually sorting centers.
  63. EasyFresh sells its better bananas separately. Hum for example, it's bananas. So jo achhe bane na bananas hote hain, unko alag se bechte hain.
  64. The farmer arranges the truck from the farm gate, and EasyFresh pays for it. the farmer arranges for the truck. We pay for it, uh but arranges for the truck at his uh farm gate.
  65. He says EasyFresh asks farmers to harvest close to sunset and not before. Sunset ke kareeb karna, usse pehle nahi karna.
  66. EasyFresh dispatches produce to retailers from about 4 am. Hum subah 4 baje usko nikal lete hain retailers tak, shipment shuru kar dete hain.
  67. He says the older chain can take over 48 hours, sometimes close to 72, to get produce to buyers. So it can be over 48 hours, um yeah, closer to 72 hours, itna bhi ho jaata hai.
  68. He says Farmdar gets access to farmers through EasyFresh, and EasyFresh gets access to the right farmers. So Farmdar gets access to farmers through us, we get access to the right farmer.
  69. EasyFresh is a partner of Farmdar and uses its satellite imagery to source produce. we're partners with Farmdar. Achha you are. We use their satellite imagery um to source the right produce.
  70. Truck It In has provided EasyFresh with great service on its last mile. TruckItIn has been providing us great service um on our last mile.
  71. He says many farm villages are not on the main roads, which makes large vehicles difficult for agriculture startups. Bade vehicles mein a lot of these um uh startups find it difficult to do agriculture. Uski wajah yeh hai jo yeh gaon hain na, they're not on your main GT roads wagera, aise nahi hain.
  72. He says refrigerated transport would reduce waste, but customers are not yet willing to pay the premium. because wastage kam ho jayegi. But the customer is not willing to pay that premium, not right now.
  73. He says the cost of refrigerated transport does not yet justify the savings. But the cost overrun does not justify the potential savings.
  74. EasyFresh handles about 100 tons of produce a day. we do about 100 tons a day, yaar.
  75. EasyFresh delivers to retailers every day. Aur yeh aap basically retailer ko khud se deliver karwa rahe hain daily? Yeah, everyday.
  76. He says EasyFresh's model is very similar to Retailo's, applied to fresh produce. Retailo is dry goods, um FMCG goods and so on. We're fresh produce. So model is very same.
  77. EasyFresh focuses mainly on vegetables. Par abhi hum primarily focus kar rahe hain on vegetables.
  78. Street vendors are a large part of EasyFresh's buyers, especially in Karachi. Karachi toh bhara hua hai thele walon se. Um aur thele wale bahut lete hain.
  79. He says EasyFresh's customers want deliveries seven times a week. Hamare customers ko saat dafa chahiye hafte mein.
  80. EasyFresh's north star metric is the number of farmers it transacts with each day. Hamara north star metric is actually farmer led. So hum kehte hain hum kitne farmers ke saath transact kar rahe hain on a day on a daily basis.
  81. EasyFresh has sold to bigger clients, including Airlift. We do sell to bigger clients. We do sell to um when Airlift was there we used to sell to Airlift and others.
  82. EasyFresh sets its daily prices by benchmarking against the mandi. So we benchmark against the mandi. So har roz hamari prices hum mandi se hi uthate hain.
  83. EasyFresh covers delivery costs for its customers. For free or is there a charge for? Delivery is on us.
  84. He says EasyFresh is a couple of months away from full profitability. So we're literally a couple of months away from full profitability.
  85. He says EasyFresh has been unit-economics positive from day one. We've been unit economic positive from day one.
  86. EasyFresh has about 50 office and tech staff in Karachi and Islamabad. We're about 50 odd people in Karachi and Islamabad mila ke.
  87. About 60 to 70 more blue-collar workers manage EasyFresh's warehouses. Phir blue collared workers hote hain jo warehouse manage kar rahe hote hain. That will be about another uh 60 70 people.
  88. He names Deosai among EasyFresh's partners, along with other partners and angel investors. Um our partners include Seana Capital, Deosai, MAGM, lots of fine folks, a lot of angels as well.
  89. He says this is not a good time to raise funding. Yeah, the general environment is ke there this is no time to raise.
  90. EasyFresh wants to raise another round. Then we want to get into the market and raise another round.
  91. He calls fundraising a vanity metric. Because really fundraising it's just a vanity metric.
  92. He says he is optimistic about agriculture because it is the backbone of the country. Yaar, really optimistic. Why? Because agriculture is the backbone of this country.
  93. He says agriculture is the sector that has had the least intervention. It's also the one sector that has had the least intervention.
  94. He says educated people are entering farming in Sindh and leasing land. down in Sindh particularly, bahut pade likhe log ismein aa rahe hain. Farming mein aa rahe hain. Um woh apni zameenein lease kar rahe hain.
  95. He says farmers increasingly understand that the old way of farming cannot continue. They also understand ke is tarah kaam nahi chal sakta jis tarah hum pichle generations se chala rahe hain.
  96. He describes Pakistan as a resilient nation that has been progressing. the truth of the matter is, as a nation, we are very resilient. We move on. We've been progressing.
  97. He says more entrepreneurs are opening businesses, farms and trucking companies in Pakistan. Ab aa rahe hain entrepreneurs aa rahe hain, businesses khul rahe hain, log farming mein ja rahe hain, log trucking ki companies khul rahe hain.
  98. He says Pakistan has a young population and good technology adoption. Young population, achi khasi tech adoption hai hamari, uh, padhe likhe hain jo bachay aa rahe hain.
  99. EasyFresh obtained its own export license. We got an export license because hum jab yeh karne lage toh humne kaha yaar yeh we're leaving money on the table.
  100. EasyFresh has exported produce to Dubai and Sri Lanka. We do exports. Haan, we've exported to Dubai, to Sri Lanka.
  101. EasyFresh sold produce from its own container in Dubai's wholesale market. Phir hum khud apna container bana ke wahan Dubai mein baith ke mandiyon mein Dubai ki mandi mein becha hai.
  102. He rates EasyFresh's produce quality as one of the best. Haari quality kaisi hai? One of the best.
  103. He says excess fertiliser on potatoes leaves dots on the crop. Potato pe agar zyada fertilizer lag jaye toh uske upar dots aa jaate hain.
  104. EasyFresh offers farmers a better rate for their whole crop if they control fertiliser inputs. Tum apne fertilizer ke input ko control karo. Uh tum and if you are able to do that, we'll buy the entire produce from you at a better rate and ship it out from your farm all the way to uh Dubai.
  105. He says EasyFresh has not yet crossed the tipping point with farmers. Hum log I would say ke abhi humne cross nahi kiya woh tipping point.
  106. He says EasyFresh has had more luck dealing with farmers directly than with landowners. We've had more luck with the farmer himself.
  107. He says farmers do not currently use specialised technology. Is waqt farmer koi khaas technology use nahi kar raha.
  108. Mustafa is introduced as the co-founder and CEO of EasyFresh. Mohammad Mustafa is the co-founder and the CEO of Easy Fresh.
  109. Muhammad Mustafa is the CEO of EasyFresh. Fixing The Broken Agriculture Supply Chain Ft. CEO EasyFresh | 277 | TBT