LuLu Group seeks to expand footprint in Australia

LuLu Group is looking to export to Qatar a wide range of Australian products bearing its brand name as the hypermarket chain seeks to expand its footprint in Australia, a top official has said.Dr Mohamed Althaf, director of LuLu Group International, said LuLu started with a very limited number of perishable items from Australia; but in the past four years, there has been an increase in Australian products to include a wide range of food and non-food goods.In co-operation with Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), the commercial division of the Australian embassy, LuLu Group now has a small presence in Melbourne, he said."Very soon, we will start shipping some of the best products out of Australia. LuLu will buy products from Australia and we will go through all the needed processes, such as halal certification and traceability and quality testing,” Althaf said.According to Althaf, LuLu’s export operations and footprint expansion in Australia will play an increasing role in Qatar’s food security. Historically, GCC markets depended very heavily on Australia for their supply of protein, perishables, and other products, he noted.Althaf pointed out that Australia has a long history of working with companies and governments from the Middle East, as well as a long history of producing high-quality halal products."So, LuLu is going to take the benefits of all of these now,” Althaf noted, adding that he is scheduled to visit Australia this month and meet with the government to officially start the group’s operations there.He said, "Because Australia is such as vast continent, LuLu will be working with existing logistics providers there, and over a period of time we would be able to determine the best area to locate. But we will start exporting; we are now putting up our facility for halal certifications and other types of testing, so once that is completed, we will start shipping directly."LuLu will also approach small-scale but high-quality abattoirs and start shipping on our own. And we also want to move up the value chain by introducing high-quality Wagyu and speciality meat from Australia. We are moving away from commodity meat and will start introducing far more premium meat to Qatar.”Althaf also said LuLu will also include other export goods from Australia, such as fish, perishables, fruits and vegetables, and other organic ranges, noting that Australia also has a high potential for healthy beverages, which LuLu intends to introduce more on its shelves."This partnership with Australia will not only be on imports and exports; Australia is also well known for food technology, and we are already in discussion with some food innovation centres in Australia, so we will try to work with them more closely to create healthy food range for the region,” Althaf added.