Great sales success for the agricultural cooperatives involved in ICU project during the initiative “Creatives of Lebanon”, Beirut, Lebanon

12/07/2016 ICU has implemented a project under the Celep III program to support the Lebanese rural communities in the context of the Syrian regional crisis, program realized by UNIDO and funded by the Italian Government.

The project focused mainly on support for Agricultural Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises to improve the marketing of their products.

The project analyzed the beneficiaries value chain detecting systematic problems and taking action to improve the parameters deemed deficient through the purchase of machinery for the packaging of products and technical training of personnel to allow them offer the market a more competitive product in terms of quality and price.

In addition, to boost the marketing of production, this has been exposed to sale in the boutique designed by the initiative “Creatives of Lebanon”, in collaboration with the Lebanese Ministry of Industry, the EU Delegation in Lebanon, the Italian Embassy, ​​UNIDO and Rural Delight.

The initiative was inaugurated on July 12^th in Gemmayzeh, a main street in Beirut very popular among locals and tourists for its many pubs and small restaurants. In the boutique, the tasting and sale of typical Lebanese products, promotional events and conferences of public and private interest take place.

Proceeds from sales go to the producing cooperatives.

As part of this initiative, olive oil, made from the target cooperatives of ICU project, has been particularly successful due both to its quality and the use of blown glass artisan bottles of particular form realized by Lebanese masters.

A really appreciated item was the oil mixed with small gold particles, which make this product a gift item coveted, since gold is an antioxidant product and therefore excellent for storing oil but also for its gastronomic usage (a famous Italian risotto is made with this product). The sales demands were so high that in a few days all programmed stocks have been exhausted.

The inauguration was attended by the UNIDO delegation, the EU delegation, the Ambassador of Italy in Lebanon, the Director of the Italian Cooperation UTL in Lebanon, the Minister and the Director General of the Ministry of Industry.

The news was also reported by several newspapers and television networks. Here, the article published in the Daily Star.