Alzahra Group of Companies, owners of the Annada brand of drinks, continue to export their fizzy drinks and juices to the UK.
Last Monday (11 November) the company announced that another two 40ft containers had arrived in the UK. This shipment is an excellent step towards strengthening our international partnerships and meeting the needs of our customers in the UK market, the company said.
Speaking exclusively to Libya Herald today, Alzahra Group of Companies chairman and head of the Libyan Business Council (LBC) and the Libya Industry Union (LIU), Rashid Swani, said his companies have been exporting for quite a few years now, including to Canada, Egypt, Germany, Malaysia, Turkey, Tunisia, as well as the UK.
He said on average about two containers are exported to the UK and Canada every 2-3 months. The exports are mainly fruit juices, soft drinks and fizzy drinks in glass bottles. The most famous of these are the Annada brand of bitter soda, followed by almond drink, grape juice and the Bienky range of soft drinks.
Swani explained that glass bottled drinks have a longer shelf life of just over a year whereas plastic bottled drinks have a shelf-life of only six months. He said the export process out of Libya for drinks to the rest of the world eats into the shelf-life period – so glass bottled drinks are the workable option for the export market.
Asked about impediments to exporting his group of companies’ products to the rest of the world, Swani said they varied from country to country and product by product, but he said, for example, it was not possible to transfer money from the UK to his company’s accounts in Libya.
Swani was humble about the volume of his companies’ exports, but said it was a start considering all the difficulties of exporting from Libya. ‘‘It’s a start to opening a considerable export market’’. He explained that demand for his products comes mainly from foreign, Arab, Indian and off course the Libyan diaspora in the UK.
He said the Libyan diaspora already know the Annada range of brands from back home – especially the iconic bitter soda which is a very popular cold summer companion drink with all the famous traditional Libyan dishes.
