MME successfully promotes the sale of local fruits and vegetables
28/02/21
Qatar has seen a significant increase in the volume and value of locally produced fruit and vegetable sales in the recent past with over 23,565 tons of local produce sold in 2020 and over 3,752 tons in January 2021.
This success story is partly due to the introduction of the “Premium Qatari Vegetable” marketing campaign. The initiative was launched by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) in January 2017.
Initially, 16 farms participated and local produce was exclusively sold in Al Meera supermarkets . It led to more consumer awareness for local produce and in turn an increase in the demand. In the meantime, the number of participants increased to 150 farms with other supermarkets (including LuLu Hypermarket, Carrefour and Family Food Centre) joining the programme.
In 2018, the “Qatar Farms” marketing campaign was introduced by the MME in cooperation with the MoCI.
As part of the drive for more self-sufficiency, the MME has been targeting more investment in the agricultural sector by providing opportunities and possibilities with a guaranteed commercial market for local farmers and other incentives such as enabling local farmers to supply their produce directly to commercial outlets leading to lower costs.
Additionally, Mahaseel (a subsidiary of Hassad Food) successfully marketed over 3.5 million tons of locally produced fruits and vegetables in the market in January 2021. It is triple the amount marketed at the same time last year.
Currently, 350 farms are registered with Mahaseel to benefit from the services. Mahaseel markets more than 30 different types of vegetables and fruits across 95 hypermarkets in the country.
Please click on the link and reach out to learn more about the opportunities and possibilities related to agriculture in the State of Qatar as well as Business Start Up Qatar.
