Inspired by her son’s needs, Citron founder and CEO Sarah Chemmer embarked on a mission to create safe, functional, and sustainable products. Driven by customer feedback and innovation, Citron strives to improve family life while expanding globally.
What inspired you to start Citron and what is the brand’s vision for the family lifestyle market?
I was inspired by my struggle to find products that met my son’s dietary needs. My ultimate vision was to create a brand that improves the daily lives of every family involved by developing unique lifestyle products that are safe, functional, and durable.
Can you describe the process of developing innovative Meal Time products? How do you ensure they are functional and appealing to children?
Product development is a big part of Citron’s job and one of my favorite things to do. It all starts with the inspiration we get from talking to our customers and families about what they need. After further research on key trends, ideas are submitted to a product development committee to gather feedback and narrow down production options. The product development phase then begins, where engineers create the concept from scratch and the design is shared with the factory. Once we are confident in the functionality, another design phase occurs before the file is finalized. Then you will receive a sample for testing. Testing is done by committees and end users to gather important feedback and allow necessary adjustments to be made. This process can be long, taking 18-24 months, but it’s worth every step to ensure only the best products come to market.
How do you identify and understand the needs of families and children in your product design and marketing strategy?
As well as being inspired by my own children, I also spend a lot of time with mothers talking about the challenges they face and what is missing that could help. I also attend many industry trade shows and do extensive online research to ensure I understand where the gaps in the market are. When it comes to our marketing strategies, we plan based on analyzed trends, different algorithms and optimal platform requirements.
In what ways does Citron prioritize sustainability in its products and operations, and how important is this aspect to customers?
Sustainability has always been one of the most important goals for me in building Citron. It is at the forefront of our product development process and central to every new design. So far, we have been successful in reducing the amount of bioplastics used in our products and packaging. We want to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability by investing more in functional, environmentally friendly and recyclable products.
Do you think current trends in the family and children’s lifestyle market will impact your product offering in the near future?
Parents today want safe and healthy options for their children, especially when it comes to food and nutrition. This is one of the driving forces behind our content creation strategy, where we provide parents with lots of healthy recipes for kids that are loaded with veggies and include a variety of sugar-free treats that kids will love. We aim to do so.
What challenges did you face in building Citron as a brand, especially in a competitive market like Dubai?
You always face so many challenges when building a brand, and many of them are quite surprising. When Citron started, influencer marketing was very new, but we quickly realized that as a small brand our budget wasn’t far behind in this space. I also wanted to create a community of moms who could talk about the quality of the brand. Of course, this took many years, but the loyalty of moms is truly priceless. A challenge I didn’t see coming was the issue of replicas. Every year there are more and more scammers trying to copy what we do, including some major retailers, and as they say, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” is proof that you are on the right path. Ultimately, we remain focused on innovating new products to offer our customers and stay ahead of our competitors.
How do you collect customer feedback and how does that influence your product development and business strategy?
Brands that want to grow need to take feedback very seriously. We implemented a series of tools to collect consumer feedback and held monthly meetings with our customer service team to collate and allocate information to relevant departments or products. When a customer tells us there is room for improvement, we can take action and continue to deliver on our promises.
What are your plans to expand Citron’s product range and market reach in the coming years?
What started as a dream in 2018 has now become an innovative lifestyle product with a presence in several countries around the world. We can therefore say that we are always planning for the future and in 2025 we will be launching new products that will expand our feeding range and enhance our value proposition. In 2026, we will be launching a new full collection with items for hydration, lunch and back to school. All of which will definitely be a nice surprise. We are also investing heavily in our direct-to-consumer business and hope to launch new stores outside the UAE over the next three years.
What role has technology played in your product design, marketing, or overall business strategy?
The role technology has played in our business operations cannot be underestimated. From off-the-shelf platforms to marketing products that improve your customer service experience. We are currently testing a new AI platform to help us better understand consumer trends across multiple locations.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to break into the lifestyle and children’s products market?
First and foremost, trust your intuition. Second, even if you fail, you have to commit to doing things perfectly or not at all in order to fail quickly and get back up and learn what it takes to do better. Don’t expect to make money in the first (or second) year. Being an entrepreneur is tough. Finally, see if you can enjoy it. When you enjoy what you do, your passion shines through and you make a real difference.
