By Taziz Hasairi.
Tripoli, 22 April 2014:
A new Libyan food production company which launched last month is rapidly becoming a success story . . .[restrict]in the world of savoury snacks, showing how local businesses could reduce reliance on imported foodstuffs.
Aljawhara Company, which makes and sells crisps locally, had a stall at Tripoli International Fair which was constantly surrounded by interested potential customers, sampling different flavours of crisps.
“The idea of creating a local factory, based near Tripoli, came from a team working in importing food products,” company board member, Ahmed Bashir told the Libya Herald. “Collectively, we had plenty of experience in this area so we decided to start making our own products.”
Although just one month old, the company has seen sales grow at a far greater rate than expected. “We started off with 20 staff but we are already employing more people,” he said. He added that founders of the company were delighted by the results so far.
“We are currently selling to shops in Misrata, and towns in the Jebel Nafusa, as well as stores across Tripoli,” Bashir said. “Shops stocking our products are upping their orders, since feedback on both the taste and price of our crisps has been was very good and positive.”
Aljawhara currently makes eight different sorts of crisps but this small company is already thinking big. “Our goal is to compete with other brands on the market that are mainly imported from other countries,” he said, pointing out that locally-produced crisps could be sold at much more competitive prices.
“Hopefully people will support and encourage this type of local production, because it is a step towards being more independent and reducing reliance on imports,” Bashir said. [/restrict]
