The Woman Behind the Food Brands Taking Over the Middle East

Season 11 continues with a story shaped by culture, trade, and a woman who believes food can create understanding in ways politics never can.

Victoria Hassani grew up inside her family’s restaurant on the Jersey shore. Breakfast crowds, seafood dinners, a deli, an ice cream shop and a childhood built around menus, ingredients, cost control and hospitality. Her earliest memories were not hobbies or weekend activities. They were food memories.

She later studied music, moved to France, learned language and culture, and discovered how food reflects a place long before she learned it professionally. What she did not expect was that this curiosity would eventually lead her across borders, governments and global industries.

Victoria built her career in international trade and marketing, working between the US and Canada before moving to Dubai in 2007. What started as a temporary opportunity became the foundation of a company that now supports agriculture boards, global brands and regional retailers across the Middle East.

Today she runs GMA Marketing Management between New Jersey and Dubai. Her work connects farmers to markets, governments to businesses, chefs to ingredients and consumers to better understanding what they are buying. She has helped shape how products like US potatoes are positioned in the region, why education matters and how food can be used as a bridge between cultures.

Her story is honest, ambitious and full of the lessons that come from building something from scratch in a region that changes every year.

This conversation opens up the world behind trade, marketing, agriculture and the people who make global food systems function.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

• Growing up in a family restaurant across breakfast, lunch and dinner
• How Russian heritage and French influence shaped her palate
• Moving to France at 18 and discovering food through culture
• Entering trade, marketing and cross-border business development
• How Canada and the US built strong food trade relationships
• Why she moved to Dubai and started her own company
• How GMA helps global brands enter the GCC market
• The education gap around potatoes and why it matters
• Understanding fresh, frozen and dehydrated potatoes
• How US agriculture boards work behind the scenes
• Why food and trade are powerful tools for peace
• How she works with governments, retailers and chefs
• Her mission to connect cultures through food
• Advice for young marketers and women entering the industry

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and welcome to the episode
04:00 Childhood inside a family restaurant
08:00 Lessons from chaos, hospitality and family business
12:00 Russian heritage and early food memories
18:00 Studying in France and discovering culture
23:00 Returning to the US and shifting into international relations
26:00 Entering global trade and marketing
33:00 Moving to Dubai and starting a new professional chapter
40:00 How the Potatoes USA partnership began
48:00 Educating chefs and the region about potatoes
55:00 Fresh, frozen and dehydrated potato insights
67:00 Trade shows, government meetings and culinary training
78:00 Why food diplomacy matters
87:00 Trade, peace and building cultural understanding
102:00 The future of GMA and Victoria’s advice to young talent
Proudly Brought to You by Potatoes USA

Potatoes USA represents America’s potato growers and inspires chefs, home cooks and food lovers everywhere. From nutrition to creativity, they show why the humble potato remains one of the most powerful ingredients in every kitchen.

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