Nawaf Salameh Family Office is about family values applied in business. Together we build sustainable enterprises, based on solid principles that were distilled in a life of entrepreneurship: produce, create, leave a mark on what you do!
Nawaf Salameh
About Nawaf Salameh
Family Business
Families are the foundation from which we grow, and the life lessons, values, and beliefs passed between generations are key to defining our path and success.
The Nawaf Salameh Family Office is about entrepreneurial spirit based on family values, developed over generations. Together we in the Family Office build sustainable enterprises, based on solid principles that were distilled in a life of entrepreneurship. We produce, create, and leave a mark and example for others!
Trust
Creating long-term value that grows the family business strengthens our ability to give back to society and support its enrichment and development in various areas. As the Family Office, we seek to create both an economic and social legacy. We invest in ways that create clear long-term, financial, social, cultural and indeed spiritual value. Our business, the activities developed through our Foundation, and indeed the entire Group, are united in this unifying principle and exhibit this ethos.
Strength
The Founder
Nawaf Salameh’s story began in Marmarita, Syria, a region known as the Valley of the Christians, where he was born and raised by a family with strong Christian faith and roots. His entrepreneurial mindset and spirit became obvious when he was still very young.
Barely 11, he earned his first pocket money by convincing his father to allow him to work in the family garden. Impressed by his entrepreneurial skills and determination, his father—an entrepreneur himself, who owned a pharmaceutical product distribution business—encouraged him to get involved in the family business. Young Nawaf Salameh quickly learned how to negotiate with suppliers and to make a profit, depositing the money he earns with the world’s safest bank—his mother.
As a teenager, Nawaf’s dream was to become a film director in the United States. However, in the 1980s, destiny took him to Romania, a communist country at the time, where he studied medicine. After graduation, he moved to Athens, Greece, where he continued his studies as a resident doctor. He wanted to become a plastic surgeon and open his own practice in Brazil, where he had relatives.
But while he was in Greece, he realized that his entrepreneurial spirit was stronger than his aspirations for a medical career. And so, he decided to embark on his first business venture: buying and selling chocolates to Bulgaria, a profitable experience that whetted his commercial appetite.
Greece is also the country where Nawaf met his next business partner a spirits producer from Crete who invited him to visit his small factory, which was only producing two drinks at the time: Alexandrion spirit and Kreskova vodka. Nawaf was somewhat disappointed with the size of the factory and the lack of technology but impressed with the character and personality of the owner, who was well known and loved on the island.
Nawaf recalled the experience. “A business is not only about brands and technology,” he said. “I liked the owner of that business and I felt that I could work with him very well, even if the financial situation of the business was not great. I saw the potential and thought about what I could build with that man, so I took the risk. From a business perspective the investment did not make any sense, but from a human perspective it made all the sense in the world. And time proved that I was right.”
A skilled and adapted player in the current business environment, Alexandrion Group currently has in its portfolio 10 brands of spirits and 25 still and sparkling wines. Since 2017, Alexandrion Group is the first and only single malt whisky producer in Romania. It also is the official supplier of the Royal House of Romania.
That trip to Crete marked the birth of the Alexandrion Group, which Nawaf has led for almost 30 years. Having turned the Group into the leader of Romania’s spirits and wine market, he then transformed it into a continuously expanding global player in the industry.
“I have learned from my mistakes and turned them into opportunities. However, being the spirits market leader in Romania does not exhaust the entire business array that Alexandrion Group is developing” he added.
Today, the entire spirits production in Romania is carried out at the Alexandrion Saber Distilleries 1789, in Pleasa (Bucov), where brands like Alexandrion, Brâncoveanu Vinars, Saber Elyzia, Kreskova, Kingsbury, Red Bowler, Suman and Cava D’Oro are being produced.
In 2006, Alexandrion Group launched a flagship brand that quickly became market leader in its category: Brâncoveanu Vinars. Inspired by Constantin Brâncoveanu, a remarkable Romania martyr ruler who brought 25 years of peace and prosperity in the Romanian country during his reign and significantly contribute to the evolution of culture and Christianity, Brancoveanu Vinars reflects the qualities of this historical figure, honouring his memory and heritage.
After years of repeated success on the spirits market, Nawaf Salameh decided to approach a new business segment, which would ideally complement the existing portfolio and take the whole business to a new level.
In 2018 Alexandrion Group expanded its expertise with the acquisition of a winery and vineyards in Romania, thus complementing its portfolio with a wide range of award-winning still and sparkling wines, under the corporate identity the Alexandrion Rhein 1892 Domains.
Rhein & Cie Azuga 1892 Cellar, Sparkling wine production and a popular destination for Wine Tourism, part of is considered the oldest location in the country where sparkling wine has been produced without interruption, through the traditional method.
The Alexandrion Rhein 1892 Domains is the official supplier of the Royal House of Romania for still wines and Rhein Extra sparkling wine and over the years has gained numerous awards in international prestigious competitions with iconic brands such as Hyperion, Rhein Extra, Colina Piatra Albă, Byzantium or Prahova Valley.
In 2017, Alexandrion Group announced an exciting innovative project, which put Romania on the map of the single malt whiskey producers. The production of the first Romanian single malt whiskey was launched on the initiative of Nawaf Salameh, who holds the prestigious title Keeper of the Quaich since 2016, attributed to those who have made an outstanding contribution to the Scotch whisky industry. Carpathian Single Malt is matured in wine casks and will be released in 2022, Alexandrion Group being thus one of the few companies in the world that uses barrels from its own wine production facilities to age single malt. The first Romanian single malt was launched through a global communication campaign in the USA, UK and Romania and will subsequently be launched to other countries as well.
A very skilled player, with the great ability to constantly adapt to the everchanging business environment, Alexandrion Group continues to develop its brand portfolio, launch new competitive products or turn existing brands into premium ones, in terms of both quality and design, setting market trends and continuing to lead both the spirits and wine markets in Romania.
Under the Alexandrion Group umbrella, multiple investments in various stages are developing and indeed thriving. In 2017, Alexandrion Group entered the hospitability market after acquiring the 4-star New Montana Hotel in Sinaia. The Montana is now going through an extensive refurbishment process, reflecting current international design and hospitality trends.
At the same time, the Nawaf Salameh Family Office has started the development of renewable energy exploitation projects, building wind farms in Dobrogea. The Office is putting a great deal of effort and attention into this project, viewing it as a long-term investment. Like all the Nawaf Salameh Family Office projects, this one was set-up in a region full of history and tradition, which allows it to connect with other business areas.
Throughout the years, Nawaf has created and developed businesses that demonstrate an abiding respect for the history, traditions and values of local communities, and seek opportunities and to contribute to society.
Alexandrion Group Website
But while he was in Greece, he realized that his entrepreneurial spirit was stronger than his aspirations for a medical career. And so, he decided to embark on his first business venture: buying and selling chocolates to Bulgaria, a profitable experience that whetted his commercial appetite.
Building a Global Business
Greece is also the country where Nawaf met his next business partner a spirits producer from Crete who invited him to visit his small factory, which was only producing two drinks at the time: Alexandrion spirit and Kreskova vodka. Nawaf was somewhat disappointed with the size of the factory and the lack of technology but impressed with the character and personality of the owner, who was well known and loved on the island.
Nawaf recalled the experience. “A business is not only about brands and technology,” he said. “I liked the owner of that business and I felt that I could work with him very well, even if the financial situation of the business was not great. I saw the potential and thought about what I could build with that man, so I took the risk. From a business perspective the investment did not make any sense, but from a human perspective it made all the sense in the world. And time proved that I was right.”
A skilled and adapted player in the current business environment, Alexandrion Group currently has in its portfolio 10 brands of spirits and 25 still and sparkling wines. Since 2017, Alexandrion Group is the first and only single malt whisky producer in Romania. It also is the official supplier of the Royal House of Romania.
That trip to Crete marked the birth of the Alexandrion Group, which Nawaf has led for almost 30 years. Having turned the Group into the leader of Romania’s spirits and wine market, he then transformed it into a continuously expanding global player in the industry.
“I have learned from my mistakes and turned them into opportunities. However, being the spirits market leader in Romania does not exhaust the entire business array that Alexandrion Group is developing” he added.
Today, the entire spirits production in Romania is carried out at the Alexandrion Saber Distilleries 1789, in Pleasa (Bucov), where brands like Alexandrion, Brâncoveanu Vinars, Saber Elyzia, Kreskova, Kingsbury, Red Bowler, Suman and Cava D’Oro are being produced.
In 2006, Alexandrion Group launched a flagship brand that quickly became market leader in its category: Brâncoveanu Vinars. Inspired by Constantin Brâncoveanu, a remarkable Romania martyr ruler who brought 25 years of peace and prosperity in the Romanian country during his reign and significantly contribute to the evolution of culture and Christianity, Brancoveanu Vinars reflects the qualities of this historical figure, honouring his memory and heritage.
After years of repeated success on the spirits market, Nawaf Salameh decided to approach a new business segment, which would ideally complement the existing portfolio and take the whole business to a new level.
In 2018 Alexandrion Group expanded its expertise with the acquisition of a winery and vineyards in Romania, thus complementing its portfolio with a wide range of award-winning still and sparkling wines, under the corporate identity the Alexandrion Rhein 1892 Domains.
Rhein & Cie Azuga 1892 Cellar, Sparkling wine production and a popular destination for Wine Tourism, part of is considered the oldest location in the country where sparkling wine has been produced without interruption, through the traditional method.
The Alexandrion Rhein 1892 Domains is the official supplier of the Royal House of Romania for still wines and Rhein Extra sparkling wine and over the years has gained numerous awards in international prestigious competitions with iconic brands such as Hyperion, Rhein Extra, Colina Piatra Albă, Byzantium or Prahova Valley.
In 2017, Alexandrion Group announced an exciting innovative project, which put Romania on the map of the single malt whiskey producers. The production of the first Romanian single malt whiskey was launched on the initiative of Nawaf Salameh, who holds the prestigious title Keeper of the Quaich since 2016, attributed to those who have made an outstanding contribution to the Scotch whisky industry. Carpathian Single Malt is matured in wine casks and will be released in 2022, Alexandrion Group being thus one of the few companies in the world that uses barrels from its own wine production facilities to age single malt. The first Romanian single malt was launched through a global communication campaign in the USA, UK and Romania and will subsequently be launched to other countries as well.
A very skilled player, with the great ability to constantly adapt to the everchanging business environment, Alexandrion Group continues to develop its brand portfolio, launch new competitive products or turn existing brands into premium ones, in terms of both quality and design, setting market trends and continuing to lead both the spirits and wine markets in Romania.
Under the Alexandrion Group umbrella, multiple investments in various stages are developing and indeed thriving. In 2017, Alexandrion Group entered the hospitability market after acquiring the 4-star New Montana Hotel in Sinaia. The Montana is now going through an extensive refurbishment process, reflecting current international design and hospitality trends.
At the same time, the Nawaf Salameh Family Office has started the development of renewable energy exploitation projects, building wind farms in Dobrogea. The Office is putting a great deal of effort and attention into this project, viewing it as a long-term investment. Like all the Nawaf Salameh Family Office projects, this one was set-up in a region full of history and tradition, which allows it to connect with other business areas.
Throughout the years, Nawaf has created and developed businesses that demonstrate an abiding respect for the history, traditions and values of local communities, and seek opportunities and to contribute to society.
Alexandrion Group Website
In 2003 Nawaf established the Alexandrion Foundation, to carry out numerous cultural and social responsibility projects. Since 2014, the Foundation has been actively supporting cultural excellence through its Constantin Brâncoveanu Awards, both locally and internationally. It has also recognized the development potential and exceptional accomplishments of younger generations in various fields of activity through the Matei Brâncoveanu Awards, and the performance of Romanian athletes through the Alexandrion Trophies.
KNOWLEDGE
As Nawaf explains, “I see the future very clearly. I sense opportunities where others fear crisis. I know our history and preserving it is very important, but, at the same time, I embrace change as a way to move forward. Today people travel between continents as easy as they travel between cities. What I’m building for the next generations is a living legacy, that they can develop in new directions expand it all over the world.”
Alexandrion Fundation Website