Albert Beniflah Llaouz, born in Montreal, Canada, is the CEO and maximum capital partner of Grupo MOSH since its creation. MOSH is not only a night world, in fact, its restaurant concept is quite balanced between day and night since we are not only talking about discotheques, but also restaurants and beach clubs with a clear daytime (and even family) component.
Two examples are Playa Padre and NIDO Estepona (their latest beach club designed by Chema de la Orden, from Archidom Estudio) in both places gastronomy is a fundamental part that is combined with music and some parties that follow a very particular theme.
Albert Beniflah, Socio Fundador & CEO GRUPO MOSH
Grupo MOSH, whose turnover at the end of 2022 is expected to reach 24 million euros, is in the midst of national and international expansion. Its brand, Playa Padre (which already has pop-up stores in Tulum and Arabia) will arrive in franchise format in Morocco, where it will open a permanent store during the summer season.
This expansion plan of the Grupo MOSH, at a national level, has made possible the opening of a new restaurant through the alliance established with the Hard Rock Hotel chain, recently inaugurated in Marbella (Palladium Hotel Group).
All this, its new concepts and the growth of the ones it already has, are giving a dimension to the Group for a value of more than 60M euros (they have already been made offers in this line). This result is thanks to the experience of Albert within the universe of public relations at international level, having important contacts in the music industry (producers, dj, singers) who have already worked in their premises (positioning Marbella within the Ibiza-Costa Azul-Greek Islands circuit).
In this sense, Albert Beniflah has also been able to evolve in this concept of leisure creating many differentiated brands with high quality standards to play to a very varied and dedicated to all that MOSH has to offer.
A clear example is Motel Particulier, a private club only for members with an aesthetic set in Paris in the 20’s whose location, in the middle of an industrial area, has not detracted one iota of interest to the VIPS of the Marbella scene that, during the winter, come to this place to be seen (without being seen).
Regarding Albert Beniflah‘s professional past, he was for 9 years the Communication Director of Olivia Valère, another of the most emblematic places of Marbella’s nightlife and what gave him experience and wings to follow his own path.
Albert Beniflah is one of those entrepreneurs who has a sixth sense to know what can create a trend and make it a success. What is his secret?
When you live with passion the world in which you plan and project your professional activity, the way in which you perceive opportunities is always something very natural. Both my partners and I love what we do because we do everything we love and that energy is what drives us every day to better understand the market in which we operate and anticipate the potential needs that this will have, or if necessary, be able to create them.
It is not an analytical vision, the opportunity, the trend, the change does not always have to be there, our vision is to be the architects of what does not exist. We do not like to wait for the wave to arrive, we swim out to sea to find it or to be able to invent.
With his extraordinary business intuition, you created Grupo Mosh. Tell us about its beginnings and how it has been expanding.
It all started as an adventure. We all had traveled around the World, we all had met hundreds of leisure projects that surprised us, and we all had imagined how all these storytelling (leisure, music, gastronomy, and fashion) could mix&mingle in a such as cosmopolitan destination as Marbella and the Costa del Sol, which had been our family and professional home in the past.
We bet on creating a differentiating venue, a concrete offer that would seduce the public from the moment they entered through the door that would be the anteroom to receive the rest of the night. Thus, was born in 2016 Mosh Fun Kitchen and the image of our sphynx, sphinx cat, as the isotype of what today is the entire Group. It’s my cat, as it has no hair people usually say it’s very ugly and that’s what mosh means in French. It is curious how from such an anecdote we have been able to create such a beautiful project.
After the opening and the success of our first restaurant, other opportunities came across and allowed us to grow in a step-by-step way. We did not want to “die due to success”, we wanted to manage success because that means more ways of expressing the initial vision, we all had. Thus, came Playa Padre in 2017, Momento in 2018, Motel Particulier in 2020, Nido Estepona in 2021 and NU Downtown in 2022.
Our venues are different from each other, share the same spirit, but with a different facet of each of us. They all offer a comprehensive overview of the lifestyle that defines us, they connect the day and the night, they compose the soundtrack to the fun, they all want to be the perfect place, the indelible memory, the impeccable plan, and the authentic experience.
Which is more profitable, the world of nightlife and clubs or the daytime restaurant business?
Both concepts have magic as, in a place like Marbella, nobody wants to stop «living and having fun» a single second, why give up that? Our experience proposal, in each of our locations, makes our customers live, from the entrance, an immersive experience that guides them through the hours from the beginning of the day or night until the end. Our proposal connects the public, we like that the people who start the day eating, sharing, and relaxing under the sun will be the same people who vibrate with the electronic music of our nightclubs under the stars.
There are many entrepreneurs who also tried but failed. What are the ingredients to succeed and remain?
Taking care of the service, something that starts by having well integrated staff, close, who enjoy their work and feel part of the project; inspiring through music, a central element for us in our life and in our work; betting on gastronomy, unpretentiously, but with the ambition to surprise our customers on each visit and, finally, surprising through the conceptualization of our premises, its interior design, its location, the costumes of the staff, everything makes up a postcard that transmits and impacts before anything else.
Grupo Mosh had a great turnover last year and has already jumped to the international level. What were the reasons for choosing the opening destinations in Tulum and Arabia?
The Tulum and Arabia projects were such a rewarding pop-up experiences. We all learned a lot from them, it led us to test ourselves out of our comfort zone and pushed us to test if our DNA, which on the other hand was internationally inspired, also had a place in a market outside our boundaries.
These experiences also allowed some of Mosh‘s staff to spend some time outside of Spain and got the perspective that comes from working outside of a familiar environment. We all learned a lot and it certainly won’t be the last time we plan to take Grupo MOSH away from home.
Nu Downtown recently reopened and I had the pleasure of being among the guests. What happened with the previous stage and what differentiates the new venture from the first one?
When NU Downtown restaurant opened its doors in 2022 at Hard Rock Marbella Hotel, it did so at a very early stage to accompany hotel’s opening. However, the project still had some changes to complete and that was the reason why its closure and reopening in 2023. Taking advantage of this, the menu was also redefined under the leadership of our executive chef Franco Frasceschini. The concept has changed, we share similar time slots, but the menu proposal and our musical inspiration have evolved.
Albert, do you consider yourself a magician with the formula you use in your company?
No, not at all. I feel myself just as one more of the guest who visit us every day and night. What makes the difference between me and them is that, in my case, and in the case of my partners, we once dreamed of creating inspiring experiences for the audience to enjoy and receive positive impacts that make their day and night a moment of great happiness. If there is any magic in all this, it is undoubtedly in what we have achieved together with all the crew and clients who have accompanied us.
What is it that you have not yet done and would like to achieve?
During all these past years I have learned to live according as things came along, the good ones, and the not so good ones too. Grupo MOSH was the result of a dream and that’s why I keep dreaming, of course there are many projects that are still to come. I am sure they will come, but I like to focus on the energy that is created with what really exists. This is what pushes us to keep moving forward in the right direction.
And your new projects include a more international projection, or do you prefer to consolidate in our country?
Our next steps will allow us to expand nationally, but as I mentioned before, our vision has always been to go abroad too.
After a few years innovating, betting, and taking risks, we believe that we have acquired enough knowhow to take a step in the direction of «sharing» our vision and mission with other teams to continue learning from. The short-term future of MOSH is being written in this way, but in our head, ideas keep ‘cooking’.
How do you see the future of the world of catering and leisure?
I think the top for a project like ours is big, but there is indeed a top. The future of leisure and gastronomy must be written through experience, and experience has a finite quota of originality and innovation. How can we expand it? The key is to surprise audiences with proposals that manage to connect very qualitative, but diverse worlds. What if Mosh were Mosh but through the eyes of a great Michelin Star chef? What if Mosh were Mosh but in a location with a very recognizable brand essence? When you introduce new elements into the formula, the possibilities expand. That’s our route to the future.
