Chocolate, Pastry Exports Grow Substantially

EghtesadOnline: Close to 314,000 tons of chocolate and pastry worth about $440 million were exported from Iran during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Nov. 21, 2017), registering a 92.5% and 25.7% growth respectively compared with the similar period of last year.

News ID: ۷۸۱۶۵۸

06 February 2018

The main export destinations for these products over the period were Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ivory Coast and Azerbaijan, ISNA reported.

Iran exports chocolate and pastry to some 40 countries.

According to Chairman of Iran’s Biscuit, Confectionery and Chocolate Industries Association Jamshid Maghazei, sweets and chocolates account for 30-40% of Iran’s total food exports, Financial Tribune reported.

Close to 50% of Iran’s biscuits and chocolates are produced in the city of Tabriz located in East Azarbaijan Province.

There are over 850 production units in Tabriz, exporting to more than 50 countries.

Iran’s biggest confectionery company, Shirin Asal, which is also one of the biggest in the Middle East, has recently entered Qatar’s retail market.

“We have already done a market study in Qatar and fortunately there is demand for Iranian products. People in Qatar are willing to buy products produced in Iran,” Hossein Mahfouzi, Middle East export executive of Shirin Asal, told Qatar’s daily newspaper The Peninsula in October.

“Our future plan is to have a small factory for Qatar market as soon as we get the right feedback [about which product has more demand] from the market.”

Iran is also negotiating with the Eurasian Economic Union for the duty-free export of biscuits and chocolates to EEU member states.