Could you give a brief historical background of your company SAPLED?
TI: SAPLED was incorporated in 1985 with a start -up capital of CFA F 220 million. The company was taken over by new shareholders in 1992. In 1997, we carried out an increase of capital operation to the tune of CFA F 375 million. Today, the shareholding is homogeneous; the major shareholder being Mr SIFAOUI . The turnover for the last three (3) years are as follows:
In 1996:1.7 billion, in 1997: 3.4 billion, in 1998: 5.4 billion and in 1999 our projected turnover is CFA F 8 billion. In 1985, SAPLED's activities were mainly based on butter and margarine manufacturing. Successive investments widened the range of products while remaining in the dairy industry. For example, in 1998, we bought over GELTI, a dairy company and in 1999 we bought over La Laitière Ivoirienne in order to benefit from customer know-how and portfolio. Aboveall, the year 1998 was a year during which yoghurt, ice cream and juice progressed significantly in terms of market share. This increase in turnover was mainly linked to the broadening of overall logistics associated with distribution. One can estimate market share held as follows:
Butter 80%, Juice 50%, Ice cream 45%, Yoghurt 30%.
Could you indicate the major thrusts of your strategy and tell us in what direction your company growth would be in the future?
AS: Presently, our objective in terms of growth is based on promoting the sale of yoghurt, milk curds, ice cream and juice. On the other hand, we are working on a new project namely: the manufacturing of concentrared milk which offers enormous potentialities.
We have penetrated the big markets of food and dairy products in Côte d'Ivoire. Meanwhile this sector is still not adequately developed because of an omnipresent parallel market supplied by small-scale production. This is where our attention should be directed so as to replace this informal market.
We put in place an efficient marketing policy for proposing highly competitive prices. This is why for the last three years we noticed a significant increase in sales bringing us closer to the sales figures of our competitors. However, it is rather the ability to take care of the traditional market share which strike me as the most important thing. This method of domestic manufacturing does not allow for the mastery of health standards as well as manufacturing costs. Our objective is to increase our market share thanks to the sale of high quality products at affordable prices to the largest number of people.
You are present on the Ivorian market but how do you go about the distribution of your products?
TI: Our first concern is to supply customers in our immediate vicinity that is, customers in the capital and later those in the interior of the country. We are organized neigborhood by neighorhood, block by block. We divided the city into zones either in Abidjan or in the countries covered by our team of salesmen. At the same time we do not neglect the disribution structure of supermarkets which is particularly developed in Abidjan. However, the major outlets are not in supermarkets because they have a specific and limited customer base. In fact, our ambition is to reach the entire population through traditional shops. We cannot say that our products are luxurious products. They are products suitable to the purchasing power of Ivorians.
Q4: Côte d'Ivoire is a hub in West Africa and also in the subregion. Are you interested in exporting your products?
AS: Already, we export to countries in the sub region such as Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali but find it difficult to export beyond this zone. The volume of our exports to these countries represent in itself about 60% of our sales.
TI: Our exports are primarily directly at neighoring countries and aboveall countries in the francs zone.Our objective is to increase these exports. Our action is to search for reliable clients and distributors equipped with appropriate logistics and structure because one must not forget that it is essentially a fresh food sector and that there is the need for a reception centre for this type of products.
Q5: What are the strenghts of SAPLED compared to your competitors and what is your competitive edge?
AS: Every company has its policy and specialty. Concerning SAPLED, the major sector of activity today is yoghurt. | In this sector, our competitors are EUROLAIT and SAPROLAIT while in the butter sector they are COSMIVOIRE and BLOHORN. In the juice or ice cream sectors there are other competing companies. In my opinion, the market is big enough for us all since sales strategies vary from one company to another. Our proximity policy in terms of distribution as well as pricing guarantee us a niche on the market.
TI: Every company has its specialtyand I think that individaully we do not have the same range of products and apparently not the same customer base. Ofcourse there are interference zones with common customers but every company has its specific range of products. However, we believe we are the most comprehensive dairy producer.
Q6: Our readers are constantly in search of new investment and partnership opportunities. In what sector of your activities would you need partners?
AS: We are interested in all kinds of partnership in the dairy industry. Unfortunately the presence of American investors in all sectors of activity is inadequate in my opinion. Traditionally, Côte d'Ivoire seemed to be out of bounds. Take the case of the dairy industry, since this is our sector of activity: apart from supermarkets, very few dairy products come from France.
Today, we trade more often with England than France in terms of raw materials imports. We would be interested in establishing links with American professionals in this field as well as in the area of industrial equipments or better still in the area of dairy products. Africa and ofcourse Côte d'Ivoire as the soul of West Africa can evidently offer wonderful opportunities to American businessmen.
TI: We are in an investment program and as such there is no rationale not to work with American investors. This could even be an avenue for fantastic business opportunities. Very often, investors or exporters tend to focalise too much their decision on the potential risks inherent to investments in developing countries. Risk statistics are calculated based on financial statements, financial institutions and these indicators render foreign investors overcautious. The resulting misunderstanding of realities in a particular country tend to marginalise this country.
Today, Côte d'Ivoire offers a highly attractive potential market and a springboard for any foreign investor. In fact, concerning a wide range of our supplies, we deal regularly with European supplies since they can offer us some sort of flexibility and fast reaction capacity on one hand, and on the other hand ensure regular consignment or loading possibilities.
Are you in contact with American companies?
More specifically, we are in fact in contact with an American company. As a result of the buy-out operation of GELTI in 98, we bought over the licence of TAMPICO brand which was awarded by MARBO Inc, a Chicago-based company. We manufacture and distribute their products that is, a range of citrus-based juice.
Also, in the framework of broadening contacts with American companies, one of our representatives will attend the WORLDWIDE FOOD EXPO '99 of Chicago by October ending.
What was your greatest personal satisfaction in view of current favorable performance ?
AS: The advantage of this activity is that it allows us to progress every 6 months in the new sectors linked to the dairy industry. The latter is still vast and offer great possibilities. We hope to take advantage of this powerful development potential.
What is your final message to our American readers ?
TI: I would advise them to invest in West Africa especially in Côte d'Ivoire. They should seek to establish contacts with reputable and reliable companies in order to actively participate in the development of Africa's industrial fabric. The opportunities and potential to do good business are here. We have faith in this country, that is why we invest here. |
Société Africaine de Produits Laitiers et Dérivés 