Mondelez Egypt Foods reached sales worth $1.4bn during the first nine months of 2016. The company's regional director for Egypt and North Africa, Bilal Sharbatly, said that Mondelez acquired more than 40% of the market volume, which amounts to EGP 3.5bn. He told Daily News Egypt that the sales volume reaches about EGP 1.4bn, up to the companies launch date of Cadbury Oreo in September. He pointed out that chocolate and snacks market is growing rapidly in Egypt. Sharbatly explained that the company targets to reach 50% of the market share of chocolate products in Egypt, after launching Cadbury Oreo on the market last month. He said that the obstacles that face the industry are just short-term problems. Investments in the food industries in Egypt, especially chocolate and snacks, have great opportunities for growth. He added that one of the problems that face the manufacturing is high sugar prices, which is a basic raw material. This contributes to rising production costs; however, the company has not raised the prices yet. Sharbatly explained that the company is conducting studies on prices due to new factors that have occurred in production costs, such as high exchange rates of the US dollar and the value-added tax (VAT), as taxes imposed on the company rose from 10% to 13%. Mondelez exports its products to 23 countries in the Gulf and North Africa. The company is targeting to expand to central and southern Africa in the coming period and ia taking advantage of the agreements signed between Egypt and African countries, Sharbatly said. He pointed out that Mondelez Egypt is targeting to expand the number of countries to 40, especially after entering the African market. The continent could prove useful as the company's exports to Germany and France are low. He added that the company is facing difficulties in importing some raw materials and some of the products that the company import to distribute in Egypt, such as Toblerone, and Milka chocolate. These products amount to about 4% of the company's sales. The company achieved a growth of 10% in 2015 and it has continued plans to introduce new products to enhance its market share, Sharbatly explained. Mondelez Egypt Foods owns three plants for the production of chocolate, biscuits, and chewing gum in 10th of Ramadan City and in Alexandria.
