Rising international shipping costs push Wadi Food to focus on nearby export markets

Wadi Food Vice President for Business Excellence Khalil Nasrallah:

Exports account for the largest share of total sales during the past year

The high prices of energy, shipping and raw materials are the main challenges facing the sector

Gulfood Dubai is one of the most important exhibitions in the sector and contributes to attracting importers from all over the world

Khalil Nasrallah, Vice President of Business Excellence, and shareholder in Wadi Food Company for Food Industries, said that the company has tended to focus on nearby markets for ease of export and low costs, in addition to paying attention to meeting the needs of the local market, which witnessed a great demand during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Nasrallah added, in an interview with Commodity Market, that the nearby markets have good purchasing power and great opportunities, especially in African countries, which prompted the company to move towards targeting those countries such as Ghana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Libya, Kenya and Sudan.

He explained that the most prominent products of the company that are exported to the markets of the brown continent are all kinds of olives, virgin, and extra virgin olive oil.

Nasrallah pointed out that the Coronavirus pandemic had negatively affected all industries, noting that Wadi Food's exports had fallen to 50% of production, although the demand for the company's products was not affected, the closure of borders and the disruption of land and sea freight, as well as air, all caused difficulties to exports.

Nasrallah said that Gulfood is one of the most important exhibitions in the food industry, as it brings together different markets and manufacturers from different countries of the world, and the company is keen to participate in the exhibition because of the positive effects, as well as providing opportunities for cooperation with other companies.

He added that Wadi Food aims during the next year to create diversity and provide the best types of different products that are in line with the company's vision of supplying healthy food items for the Egyptian market and the world.

He added that the company exports the finest types of olives in different and new packages, in addition to exporting high-quality Wadi Food olive oil, which has won several international awards.

He explained that the company's export share amounted to 70% at the end of 2021, compared to 2020, and Wadi Food aims to increase that share during 2022.

He pointed out that the Wadi Food Group will work to increase exports in various sectors of the company, as the group includes 10 different companies, including Katkoot Al Wadi, Enmaa, Hi-Tech, Wadi Food, Rula Farms, Al Wadi Feed, LAF, Tabreed, NSSC, and Al Haditha.

Tabreed leads the largest share in the Middle East with 70%, as it exports cooling panels to about 25 countries around the world, including Spain, Hungary, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, and others.

In a related context, Nasrallah stressed that the industrial and export sectors were negatively affected; because of the outbreak of the Coronavirus, and that the measures taken by the Egyptian government had a positive, strong, and effective return in revitalizing the market and facing the crisis.

He explained that companies are waiting for more government support, which will enable manufacturers to recover and avoid the negative effects of the pandemic.

He pointed out that the increase in the prices of raw materials and packaging is one of the most important challenges facing companies operating in the food industries, in addition to the prices of energy and shipping, which, collectively, hinder the manufacturing process and affects the price of the product.

He said that the price increases can be tackled by constantly searching for alternative solutions or working to provide the raw materials needed for self-sufficiency.

Nasrallah revealed that Wadi Food's plan includes providing new products and opening new promising markets, as it aims to achieve significant growth in the group's various industries through large investments aiming to boost the local and export volumes.

On the company's experience in exporting to the Brazilian market, Nasrallah explained that the Brazilian market is very large, but most of its requirements lie in bulk quantities, not packaged, so when there is a surplus of local production, Wadi Food pumps the products into the Brazilian market to meet its needs of the bulk products.