UAE-based Barakat Quality Plus has been enjoying double-digit annual growth over the past five years amid increasing domestic consumption of fresh juices and pre-cut fruits and vegetables.
The company, a unit of importer and wholesaler Barakat Vegetables and Fruits, has been posting an average sales growth of about 15 per cent every year – fueled mainly by an uptick in demand from the UAE’s hospitality and food sectors, according to an executive.
Speaking on the sidelines of an industry exhibition in Dubai, Vijay Kewalramani,
Barakat Quality Plus’ sales and marketing manager-Retail, says their company is considered an “extended kitchen” by the hospitality sector.
Barakat currently supplies prepared fresh-cut produce to some of the country’s largest hotel chains, as well as restaurants and cafes. Aside from the UAE, the company also has presence in other GCC states such as Oman and Qatar.
A brainchild of the company’s managing director Michael Wunsch, who has over 30 years of experience as a professional chef, Barakat’s business model has proven to be popular among UAE hotels looking to outsource the preparation of fruits and vegetables without sacrificing food quality and safety.
Huge potential in relatively infant market
As fresh-cut fruits and vegetables remain a niche market segment in the UAE, Kewalramani says the sector offers a lot of room for expansion. At the moment, only a handful of producers including Barakat and global brand
Del Monte provide local consumers with fresh-cut product options.
Retail currently represents a measly part of Barakat’s business, but the company has been upbeat in promoting their products such as fresh fruit juices to local consumers.
“Because we offer products that are considered unique to this market, the biggest challenge that we have faced so far is convincing consumers that our products are indeed 100-per-cent fresh,” he says.
Barakat’s production facility in Dubai, which employs a workforce of about 350 staff, makes fresh juice from 30 tonnes of oranges every day, says Kewalramani. The plant also has the capacity to handle over 10 million kilograms of fruits and 3m kgs of vegetables annually, according to the company’s website.
Demand on the rise in Europe, US
Convenience has been spurring sales growth in the pre-cut, pre-packed vegetables and fruits market in the United States and most parts of Europe in recent years despite a sluggish global economy, according to international reports.
In a report published in January 2011, the Chicago-based consulting firm
Perishables Group mentioned that fresh-cuts sales in the United States have been posting dramatic growth annually since 2005 until 2010. The global financial crisis, however, slightly dampened the segment’s growth for the first time in 2009.
According to the independent consulting firm, prepared vegetables have grown by about 35 per cent and fresh-cut fruits by about 23 per cent since 2005. Sales recovered by a significant 12 per cent for pre-packed vegetables and five per cent for fruits in 2010 from the 2009 figures.
The European Union fresh-cut fruits and vegetables sector is expected to register growth albeit minimal at four per cent in 2011, slightly higher than the three-per-cent growth in 2010, according to agri-business firm
Syngenta.
Demand for convenient and healthy products remained steady in most parts of the EU despite the financial slowdown. Syngenta attributes this to aggressive promotional campaign by producers of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables.
Likewise, “streamlining of supply chain, better planning, improved logistics and reduction of waste” have helped manufacturers maximise their profits, the company said on its website.
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