CAIRO: “For us, the proof of the pudding of our success here in the Egyptian market and around the world in general, is conversion from consumption of loose milk to packaged ambient milk. People drink a lot of milk and if people stop drinking from the street, we expect our sales to grow,” said Elisa Nistri, International Category Director of Tetra Pak, the global packaging company. Nistri spoke with Daily News Egypt Thursday during a visit to Cairo on the occasion of the company's annual Innovation Day, where they show off the latest technology and innovations in packaging systems, processes and products to current and prospective clients. Official figures put annual production in Egypt at 4 billion liters of milk and dairy products, 80 percent of which are sold through unofficial channels. Nistri started by explaining the differences in the way milk is packaged and the necessity of the “conversion” of consumption. “Loose milk is what you buy from the street,” explained Nistri, giving India as an example where milk is usually home-delivered in bottles or plastic satchels and must be boiled in a certain way and consumed immediately to prevent health risks. “Chilled milk and dairy products have a short shelf [life] of 1- 2 weeks before going bad and have to be kept in the refrigerated chain at all times.” Nistri explained that with these types of milk, there are health risks if they are not boiled long enough or refrigerated properly, whereas their ambient packaged products are safe and void of preservatives. “Our ambient packaged milk doesn't need any refrigeration and you can keep it on the shelf or any where you like for much longer, without health risk. The shelf life can be up to between 3 and 6 months in different countries depending on regulations,” said Nistri. Nistri pointed out that many people think that since the shelf life is long there must be preservatives in their products. She explained that the company uses an ultra pasteurization treatment (UHT), a process known to kill bacteria maintaining taste and nutritional value. In addition, the company's packaging material — with all its layers of plastic, paper and aluminum —keeps out the outside oxygen and the light completely, preserving the product, she continued. Nistri said she thought that this year's innovation day was successful as participants were “very engaged and attentive during the presentations of the company's products and services. And customers also gave feedback from their side, explaining what they do already and how they want to [expand] their businesses.” Nistri said that there is big potential in Egypt because it has a large domestic market and an expanding export market. “Some of the producers present asked about our packaging for exporting to the rest of the Middle East and abroad.” “There is a very open minded market here in the region, so producers are seeing the potential of our packaging, and are eager to use it,” said Nistri, talking about the Egyptian Market. According to Nistri, the company's results in Egypt are “incredibly over target, and is mainly due to the fact that this is a very young market for Tetra Pak with still very few main clients, but there are many more that are interested in getting started in different activities.” Local Tetra Pak customers include Beyti, Juhayna and Faragallah. “We measure in billion packs; so this year our target was 1.56 billion, more or less, and it is going to be more than 1.6 billion packs already. We think it is going to be more than 2 billion within five years; so it is really growing a lot especially if we managed to drive conversion”. Part of Tetra Pak's strategy to increase this conversion is a targeted packaging of products to compete with the cheaper loose milk. “Basically in China, we started thinking of less expensive products that would be more attractive to the d-class customers. We found that the normal tetra pack rectangular brick shaped packaging is very easy to handle for retailers, but too expensive for lower income consumers,” Nistri said. “As an alternative to plastic satchels normally used in China, which have health risks and give the milk a plastic taste, we designed a carton satchel made from Tetra Pak materials which was very successful as it was much cheaper,” she added. According to Nistri there are similar products here in Egypt which have been showcased on Innovation Day providing safer, better-packaged milk and dairy products. To encourage the shift to packaged products, the company signed an MOU with the Ministry of Health to spread awareness about safe milk and dairy products. The second phase of the government's three-year awareness campaign began last month continuing a series of TV advertisements and seminars about the health benefits of packaged milk across Egypt.
