KARACHI: Shan Foods (Private) Limited, one of Pakistan’s largest producers of packaged spice mixes, says Saudi Arabia and the Middle East are a “key focus area” for expansion, a top official at the company said this week, adding that it had already captured 65 percent of the market in the United Arab Emirates.
Shan Foods has a presence in more than 75 countries currently. It was founded in 1981 by Sikander Sultan who along with his wife started making spice mixes at home. The spices became popular and formed a loyal fan-base both at home and with Pakistanis who had moved to Arab countries, Europe, US and Canada.
“So, it [Middle East] is one of our key focus areas, it’s a key focus market for us because there is a huge South Asian population that lives in Saudi Arabia and then the Arab consumers are also familiar with our food and the kind of food that we eat,” Sammer Sultan, the co-chairperson of Shan Foods, said in an interview to Arab News. 
“They’re very exposed to it. So, it’s definitely one of the core areas of focus for us, and we want to grow our business there. UAE specifically is one of our biggest regions already in terms of our sales values.”

When asked about the size of Shan Foods in the Middle Eastern market, she replied:
“It would be difficult for me to give you a number like that, but we’ve had exponential growth. If I were to compare from 20 years ago, it’s probably 100x by now. So, what we were selling maybe 20 years ago, we’re selling 100 times that now. So it’s been phenomenal.”
PARTNERSHIP WITH SYMRISE
Shan Foods last year partnered with Symrise AG, a German manufacturer of food flavorings, to establish Symrise’s first-ever production facility in Pakistan, aiming to localize Shan’s supply chain and strengthen its position within the local and global food industries. 
Since 2005, Symrise has seen double-digit growth year on year with its partners across the Middle East and Pakistan region.
Sultan said the joint venture would not only facilitate Shan Foods and Symrise but also benefit businesses and consumers within the larger framework.
“The whole objective of import substitution is that you are trying to bring in something that is locally available instead of trying to import it to the country,” she said, pointing out that many of Shan Foods’ raw materials were currently sourced from abroad.

“We are not fully local in the sense that a lot of our inputs are coming in from abroad and that’s the process that we are working collaboratively with Symrise to figure out, how do we localize all our supply to Pakistan,” Sultan added. 
“That is something that ties in with Shaan’s sustainability goals as well because we also want to localize the top 10 raw materials that we’re using in our spices because, you see, logistics, wars, there’s so many factors that come into play when the global supply chain gets affected.”
Also, with rising inflation and cost pressures on businesses, localizing key raw materials decreased prices and benefited consumers, Sultan said.
“They get to pay a lower price,” she explained, “or at least every year the price doesn’t go up as much because we are localizing the raw materials and input.”