After yesterday’s excitement I thought I would provide my take on the impending Aujan/Coca-Cola marriage. The big question in the industry of course is – so what does this mean for us? So, let me give you my view on the matter. Firstly and foremostly I strongly believe that Aujan will continue to be run as a separate enterprise for the foreseeable future. It will after all be an acquisition of a 50% stake, not … Read More
Weathering the Storm – a Very Omani Dilemma
No, not cyclone Gonu. Thankfully that is behind one of the worst natural disasters that befell Oman in recent times. What I’m talking about is a rather interesting beginning to 2011 as the country has witnessed, for the first time, otherwise unseen protests by Omani citizens calling for economic reforms and an improvement in labour conditions. In a quick and early response to quell the protests, the government has implemented an increase in the minimum … Read More
Anticipating Net Population Outflow in Libya
The situation in Libya is of course of huge concern on a humanitarian level – but there will most probably also be a lasting impact on dairy and beverage consumption for 2011. One of the main reasons is our own assessment of the Libyan population structure to date. Official statistics on Libya have always suggested a relatively tiny level of overall population, hovering in the region of 6 to 7 million. Working with those figures … Read More
Changing Saudi Arabia MoA Dairy Exporting Rules
Official details are a little difficult to come by, as always in Saudi government circles. However, there is now some evidence that the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture is close to firming up plans on how to restrict usage of scarce water resources by the domestic dairy industry. You may recall a press scare in 2010 – soon quashed by other branches of the Saudi government – that all dairy exports from the Kingdom were to … Read More
IMES Research @ Gulfood 2011
Gulfood 2011 appears to have been a massive success, given the rather politically charged environment in the MENA region currently. The trade fair was bigger than ever, with regional dairies, beverage companies and raw material/packaging suppliers coming out in force, both as exhibitors and fair visitors. The buzzwords were new product launches, and of course recovery from the economic crisis that caused rather a lot of firefighting on the part of regional suppliers over the last couple of … Read More