THE JOURNEY
& ORIGINS
The chronological milestones of Nazim Puthan — from Kerala to the Gulf, restaurant floors in France, Bordeaux, and building CFC Group into a vertically integrated enterprise.
Where It Started
“Nobody was going to hand him a way out. He had to go find one.”
Nazim grew up in Kerala, a region with centuries of maritime trading history behind it, though none of that history handed him anything directly. At eighteen, with no capital and no connections, he left for France because it was the starting point of an ambition built completely from scratch.
Cleaning Floors
“Not a stepping stone anyone plans for. Just the job that paid.”
His first work was cleaning floors. It's not the kind of detail that usually makes it onto a founder's website, but it's the honest starting point, and it's part of why he built CFC Group to own its operations end to end rather than manage things from a distance.
Restaurant Floors and Kitchens
“He learned this business from the other side of the counter, not a textbook.”
Nazim arrived in France without speaking the language and without any safety net. For the better part of a decade, he worked restaurant kitchens and floors, learning hospitality the only way that actually teaches it: badly at first, then well. Every operational instinct behind CFOCO today came from these years.
Building His Own, Finally
“He stopped working other people's restaurants and started building one of his own.”
Nazim settled in Bordeaux and founded CFOCO in 2013 on Cours de la Marne, the group's restaurant division and the first business he actually owned. It's also the unit he talks about most directly: he wants it built to scale the way global chains scale, not stay a small regional operator.
Five Units, One Operator
“One operator who's worked every rung of the ladder before he ever owned it.”
Today, as Founder of CFC Group, Nazim runs five business units: Danax, Danax Lab, Art-Tech, CFOCO, and C-Mart, spanning sourcing, manufacturing, real estate, restaurant operations, and distribution across France. CFOCO remains the flagship ambition: built to go head to head with global fast-food giants, not sit quietly beside them.
From One Restaurant Floor to Five Business Units
See how CFC Group turned two decades of hands-on work into a vertically integrated company built to compete at scale.