Live from Gulfood Manufacturing 2014
Philibert Savours to upgrade its commercial department
Speaking to FoodProductionDaily.com at Gulfood Manufacturing 2014, in Dubai,Pascal Philibert, CEO, Philibert Savours, said the company had many ideas but the sales department was not as good as it could be and was not well organized.
Soft bread flavours
“I want to upgrade the organisation and go further,” said Philibert.
“We have headhunted someone to head up our global sales for all our products and that person will start in the New Year.
“I concentrate mainly on R&D. Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses, the factory, manufacturing and research part of our business is perfect, but we need a sales boost. It's impossible otherwise to have a future in this industry.”
It is the first time the company has exhibited at Gulfood Manufacturing and it was there to promote its wheat and curry bread; The Currum and tomato-Tandorri flavours of soft bread, partnering with Mecatherm to make them on site at the show.
“I like the economy here in the Middle East and the way this country spends its money. Based on its strategy it wants to be a key country for so many different activities,” added Philibert.
“it’s a good place to open a headquarters here as it has so many advantages. The UAE wants to become the window for other countries. It already organizes big trade fairs and they are becoming bigger every year.
“With a French company like ours you have to be in this market, and even though we only have a small stand today at the show it’s a big step for us because its important for the future of the company to be here.
Russia & South America
The same with Russia and south America. The future for us is not in France – it’s outside of that.”
Philibert said one of the objects now for the company is to better nderstand the Middle East market, to open a subsidiary office in the region and to find a sponsor with whom they can operate on a regional level.
“We know without a sponsor nothing is possible here. There is no future without this type of organisation but first we have to feel the market and understand it step by step,” he added.
“Here, they want more sweet products in their dry fruits like orange, strawberries, raspberries, manufactures use these in cake mixtures using caster sugar and dry fruits.”
Philibert said the trend nowadays was to decrease the amount of butter in its products according to consumer demand.
Consistency and taste
“All over the world people are troubled by weight issues and healthy eating. We all enjoy a butter croissant for example, but it’s possible to make these products with the same consistency and taste, without the same amount of butter or margarine,” he added.
“If you eat one of these products it can have the same pleasure in eating it with less butter, and it costs less for the industry. There is a huge market awaiting on this topic especially as the price of butter is going up all the time, but it’s not easy.”