Khartoum: Abdel-Wahhab Goma’a
By the end of the year 2014, the Arab Gulf markets were on date with natural products that surprised everyone, from a country that has long been branded “the basket of world food”. Despite these products are among various products from variety of other countries, but the creativity of its owner relying on natural materials in its industry, gave them a strong competitive advantage, which on turns stimulated the purchasing power towards them to increase day after day.
The story goes back to the beginning of the year 2014, when these products were presented in the food products market in Sudan. They were different varieties of sweets, dependent in their manufacture on natural products, by “Themar Biladi Natural Products” company, in a short time the product hustled with the major companies operating in the field, producing a sounding echo in the regional markets including the Gulf markets. It is evident that its owner exerted a perfect care to his product.
In a country where forests cover more than 10% of a total area estimated at “200 million acres” suitable for agriculture, Sudanese entrepreneur Yassin Mohamed Ali wanted to create for his pioneering project another competitive dimension drawn from that horizon that extends from the womb of nature, as a platform for global competitiveness among the major food companies.
A place .. amongst food giants
Yassin told afroshongir that spreading the culture of consuming natural products and introducing the Sudanese natural products to the outside world was a dream that he had been dreaming for years until his dream became true in the beginning of 2014, when he founded his project “The fruits of my country”, with the idea ofmaking products attractive to the Sudanese consumer and then find a way to export, noting that by the end of the year 2014 they were able to offer high quality products of natural sweets made from forest products, and in response he found acceptance from consumers. However his product soon found its way to the Arab Gulf markets.
Towards global competitiveness
The pioneer of the sweets industry from the Sudanese forests’ products said that the company’s products started to reach the Gulf countries through gifts from relatives, which formed a gateway to a promising market. Yassin added, “We now export commercial quantities to the Gulf markets in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”
He was able to convert forest crops into food products. which have the reputation that they are extracted directly from the natural products of Sudan forests’ wealth. He indicates that his project contributed to enhancing the competitiveness of the local products and opening job opportunities from the stages of agriculture, harvesting and transport to processing, manufacturing and exporting, and added, “Forest products can assist in bridging the Sudanese economy gap and contribute to achieving revenue and increase the value of Sudanese products. ”
Yassin said that the second stage of the factory started in early January 2020 by adding new packages, pointing to the arrival of new equipment that contributed to increasing productivity.
Introducing the world to local products
Yassin’s old dream to develop a natural product packaging industry finally fulfills, he says” The objectives of the “Themar Biladi Natural Products” company are to spread the culture of consuming natural products, manufacture these products naturally without any additions, and work to develop the industry of packaging and packaging natural products, and create job opportunities For local labor”. He adds “ the most important goal is to familiarize the outside world with Sudanese natural products”.
A future reading of the business statistics indicate that the market is promising ,accordingly the company will enter with the beginning of the year 2020 two new varieties, which are “hibiscus” and “aradaib” sweets, to be added to their previous production list consisting of “fruits of dum” and “tabaldi” known as “baobab” and ” Buckthorn “known as (Sidr).
A friend of the environment
Yassin as an entrepreneur believes that the reasons for the success of the company “Thimar Baladi Natural Products” relate to its dependence on forest raw agricultural materials available throughout the year besides that the company contributes to encouraging small farmers to continue production and they were struggling to find a market for them and indicates that the company is environmentally friendly and maintains sustainability of the Forests.
Yassin said that the world’s orientation towards natural products made their products find acceptance beside the great demand for them to the degree that they are sometimes unable to meet the demands.
He indicated that their company’s products achieve two advantages for customers; the first is price advantage and the second is products of nutritional value without any preservative additives, pointing out that
Sudan imports sugar-tasting products with high prices and low nutritional value.
A sustainable fingerprint of the Sudanese resource
The young man who put a fingerprint in the forest industry said that the field of forest products needs the state to establish research centers for the forest products that Sudan is rich in, noting that many forest products are known inside Sudan that they treat chronic diseases, adding, “But we need research that enhances that.”
Yassin relies on the self-financing of his startup, as he is relying in conducting his business on a limited capital and adds, “Our market is promising, but financing is a stumbling block to expansion.” Noting that they have many orders from abroad.
