A Scottish sweet manufacturer sees its fudge and toffee sales surge in Iraq. What’s feeding that developing recognition? In northern Iraq, stores are speeding to fill their cabinets with candies. The Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, or Festival of the Sacrifice, is drawing close – and it’s a crucial part of the year for confectionery businesses.
Like other places in Iraqi Kurdistan, the four-day pageant, which starts on Sunday, is a time for partying and feasting—and goodies are very much on the menu. That’s good news for Sulaymaniyah-based businessman Farhad Haseeb, who sells confectionery to upmarket stores in Erbil and Dohuk, in addition to different towns and cities in the region.
“In our subculture, absolutely everyone buys very candy matters to provide to their visitors while traveling their houses,” he says.
“Toffee is a very famous choice for Kurdish people, mainly at Ramadan and Eid.”
Families throughout Iraqi Kurdistan will be tucking into sweets made two thousand six hundred miles away in Scotland.
Greenock-based total confectioner Golden Casket, which is well-known in the UK for its Millions emblem, is one of Mr. Haseb’s principal international suppliers.
Several years ago, he first linked up with the Scottish enterprise at a confectionery exchange display. He ordered increasing amounts of its Halal-certified fudge, chocolate eclairs, and diverse toffees every 12 months.
Iraq is now Golden Casket’s third-largest export market after America and Ireland.
The family-owned firm produces about 70 tonnes of toffees, boilings, fudges, sweets, and chews weekly.
So far this year, it has sent more than 60 tonnes of its Buchanan’s emblem chocolates to the area.
So, what’s behind the achievement of Scottish toffee in Iraqi Kurdistan?
“In our culture, eclairs and butter toffees are very famous,” says Mr. Haseb.
“We purchase them from Belgium and Poland, but Scottish toffee is pleasant – it’s miles chewier. We are promoting increasingly more each year.”
Mr. Haseb, whose business enterprise Arak Garden imports more than 200 tonnes of toffee and chocolate in 12 months, expects extra orders with Golden Casket this year.
The Scottish agency, likewise recognized in the UK for its “One Pounder” bags, has modified to cater to the developing Iraqi market.
It is currently hooked on equipment to reinforce its chocolate eclair production potential.
The business enterprise has additionally been paying close attention to packaging merchandise for the Iraqi market.
Sales supervisor Stuart Rae explains: “Each jar of toffee or fudge was given to be gold-wrapped—gold being a signal of greatness—and it has to be made inside the UK.
“That’s the excessive-end stuff for the Kurdish market in Iraq.”
Golden Casket’s dealing with director Crawford Rae, additionally chairman of Greenock Morton Football Club, sees Iraq and the surrounding region as a “brilliant possibility.”
He says, “We exhibited in Dubai for the first time in November—this is a rising marketplace and one that we need to enter, and export is virtually a boom capacity for us.”
The Kurdish link is welcome for Golden Casket, particularly as the UK’s overall confectionery marketplace remains flat in the interim.
