“Don’t copy the world. Adapt it to Ethiopia.” — Kiffle Yohannes Abebe, CEO & Co-Founder of Komari Beverage, the company behind Arada Hard Seltzer. From nearly two decades at Toyota and Diageo to building one of Ethiopia’s fastest-growing beverage manufacturers, Kiffle brings a global manufacturing perspective shaped by local realities. In this conversation, we explore manufacturing, entrepreneurship, leadership, and innovation. Kiffle shares lessons from Toyota’s discipline and continuous improvement, the journey of creating Ethiopia’s first hard seltzer, and why building in Ethiopia requires adapting global best practices rather than simply copying them. Abyssinia Remit: https://mcnpkmnf81rz7s-0mxl8ql8p6yz8.pub.sfmc-content.com/wvki4fcnklo?src=Meri&cmp=rmt Amibara Properties: You can reach their sales and corporate consulting teams via the following contact lines:- Line 1: +251 901 69 69 69; Line 2: +251 969 36 36 36 To advertise on Meri: https://meri.et/advertise +251974255555 info@meri.et Chapters 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:03:30 - Life at Toyota 00:23:33 - Return to Ethiopia 00:31:13 - Building Komari 00:50:22 - Marketing Arada 01:06:13 - Becoming CEO 01:21:48 - Future Plans 01:46:52 - Final Advice Social Links https://t.me/MERI_PODCAST https://twitter.com/MERI_Podcast https://www.instagram.com/meripodcast/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzKNuQ80qNSpt2x-7dsazJg https://youtube.com/@Meriwoch?si=yIpJ3byprnVNwKi1 https://youtube.com/@mericlipset?si=wwa0KeQ_Nv2aPy9l https://www.tiktok.com/@meripodcast https://www.linkedin.com/company/meriethiopian/ Copyright Notice for Meri Podcast: All rights reserved. The content featured in this podcast is protected by copyright laws. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or modification of any portion of this podcast is strictly prohibited. For permission to use our content, please contact us at info@meri.et Thank you for respecting our copyright.