Absolutely Scrumptious

WITH its high glass windows, red-lit lettering, a Roman numeral clock and the image of a foil-wrapped teacake, the Tunnock's factory looms above the quiet Scottish village of Uddingston. But many of the sweet snacks that are produced here-such as caramel wafers, caramel logs, and chocolate teacakes-will not be served in a traditional British afternoon tea.

They're more likely headed for a pantry in the Middle East; half of the company's total annual exports are shipped to the region. The company's annual sales amount to approximately ￡34 million (US$52.2 million), of which 10% represents Tunnock's market share in the Middle East. Not bad for an old-fashioned, family-owned company, known for its distinctive red and gold wrappers and a blue-eyed, rosy-cheeked boy from the mid-1900s as its mascot.

The Middle East has proven to be a lucrative market for the snack industry. Euromonitor International, a strategy research firm in consumer markets, reported the industry grew 10% last year in Saudi Arabia, and forecasted sweet biscuit sales this year worth US$437.5 million. In the United Arab Emirates, the biscuit industry, including sweet and savoury snacks, Euromonitor predicts 7.6% growth this year, valued at US$133.1 million.

Interestingly enough, economic declines in the Middle East actually help snack sales in the Middle East. According to a report from Euromonitor, "The key trend since the financial crisis struck the UAE is the emergence of comfort eating. At times of economic slowdown when consumers dial back on luxuries and focus on necessities, food is the last thing on which they compromise."

Containers of Sweets

Saudi Arabia is the biggest importer of Tunnock's, purchasing around US$3.1 million worth of cookies annually. Kuwait is the next largest customer base, whilst the UAE, Jordan and Qatar are also buyers. Surprisingly, Bahrain and Yemen have put in orders recently, in spite of the Arab Spring protests. In fact, Yemen has doubled their order from a 20-foot shipping container of biscuits in November 2011 to a 40-foot container to be shipped out in February.

It's not the only one. Every 10 days to two weeks, a container, which holds about three-quarters of a million cookies in it, leaves Scotland for its two-week journey across the seas to the Gulf countries.

The Arab Spring's effect on sales isn't apparent, the company notes. "That's what we would like to know but we haven't seen any," says Alan Burnett, Tunnock's company's export manager. "We think it's because Saudi is our biggest market and they haven't been affected very much." Burnett is an affable, ginger-haired Scot who can read a spattering of Arabic from his years of selling teacakes, and before that, carpets to the Middle East.

Whilst the annual run up to Christmas boosts profits in Britain, Ramadan also brings a healthy sales peak for Tunnock's. "I always know when it's Ramadan," Mr Burnett says. After the daily fasting ends at dusk, Tunnock's cookies wrapped in its distinctive gold and red foil can often be found on tables as welcome, scrumptious rewards for iftaar."

Ramadan obviously doesn't only explain Tunnock's popularity in the Middle East. Nancy Childs, professor of food marketing at Saint Joseph's University in Pennsylvania, explaOff White X Vapormax Flair