Day 6 - Qatar - Colin Nicholl and Tim O Meehan.

We had a sleep in today .......only left hotel at 6am !    Another flight ....thankfully only 40 minutes to Doha airport. 

On the agenda today was meetings with Qatar Flour Mills and Hassad Food.  Both companies were located in Doha.  

Qatar is a relatively small country with  population of 1.9million.   

Key Observations Qatar Flour Mills

- QFM keen to build long last term relationships. 

- As a flour miller they seek consistency of quality and supply.  Acknowledged this is one of the qualities of Australian grain. 

-  Food Security is a consideration and they also hold 6 months of stocks for Qatar Government. 

- The 2022 World Cup means they will move location and in doing so build a much larger port, mill and storage.   Current site is to be used for football stadiums for the Wolrd Cup. 

- the 

-  They lead the market in Qatar and surrounding countries with high quality flours. 

- The Qatar market is made up of subsidised and non subsidised flour.   They procure for both segments on behalf of the Qatar Government. As it is a government tender it means they are bound by the lowest price that meets the minimum tender specification ie cannot pay a dollar more for a better quality.  Believes they could do even better if they were allowed to make the procurment decision solely.  

Key Observations Hassad Foods

-  expanded very quickly in 5 years 

- represent the Qatar Govt. Sovereign Wealth Fund.  

- interested in long term commercial ties with Australia farmers.  

- prefer grain whole not pelletised. 

- strong supporters of CBH 

- preference was to use grain grown in WA thru the CBH system. 

- they are involved in the development and building of the new port.

- as part of their risk management and food security strategy they will have access to the 300,000mt storage been built at the new port.  

- preference is for lighter colour barley which Australlia provides .  This is linked to their end users / Bedouin farmers who buys based on colour.  The lighter the better for their animals. 

The West Australian Trade Office, Dubai is a valuable asset for CBH and the grain growers of Western  Australia. It was evident through Pankaj's contacts, relationships and the support for our visit.  Thank you.