Producer of Primola invests 3m euros in biscuits

The maker of the Primola chocolate, the Lebanese-owned Supreme Group, is about to complete a 3 million-euro investment, whereby it will enter the biscuits market early next year. "We made the decision to enter the biscuit market precisely because of the potential of this market and the rising demand for biscuits. Also, supply is rather low, despite there being a lot of producers out there," said Jihad Jabra, the company's general manager. He went on to explain that the purpose of the investment was to consolidate their current position on the sweets market such that Supreme "will become a major player." "Our chocolate brands are well-known and the distribution network is good. We want to launch a brand for biscuits only," Jabra said. Sup reme estimates it has an approximate 27% share of the chocolate tablet market, with competition coming mainly from Kraft Foods, Excelent-Kandia and Heidi. Companies on the biscuit market recently began a wave of investments to upgrade or build new production facilities. ZF