São Paulo – Taybeh Beer, the only enterprise to manufacture beer in the Palestinian territories, wants to expand its business and is seeking a partner in Brazil. The brewery is based in the city of Ramallah, in the West Bank, and has already outsourced part of its production in Germany and Belgium.
“Brazil is a big country and Brazilians like beer. I would like to find a partner in Brazil to manufacture Taybeh,” says Nadim Khoury, a partner of the brewery. Regarding the sales of the beverage, he claims that he has been contacted by Brazilian companies interested in importing his beer, but that he has not closed any deals in the country yet.
Taybeh was founded in 1994, after Khoury returned from the United States, where he studied Brewery Administration and Engineering. “I was in Boston and then I decided to come back and invest in my country,” says the businessman, who established the company in partnership with his father and brother.
Khoury explains that he developed the Taybeh formula himself. “It is a 100% natural beer. We don’t use conservatives or additives,” he reveals. The annual production at the Ramallah plant is 600,000 litres of beer. The beverage is sold in 330 ml and 650 ml bottles, and also in barrels. The brand comes in Golden, Dark and Light flavours.
The production started being outsourced in 1999, as Khoury licensed a factory in Germany to manufacture his beer. A few years later, he did the same to a factory in Belgium. The city of Boston, in the United States, should be the next to manufacture Taybeh.
In Germany and Belgium, in addition to being produced, the beer is sold in bars, restaurants and beverage shops. Taybeh is also sold in establishments in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Japan. To these countries, however, the beer is shipped directly from Palestine. “They insist on it coming from here,” says Khoury of the Japanese importer.
Manufacturing and selling beer out of the Palestinian territories, however, is not an easy task. “The political situation makes it difficult. Whenever you manufacture alcohol in a Muslim country, you only get to sell it in Christian areas,” reveals the entrepreneur. “We also suffer to export, because we have no ports or airports. We don’t have a country yet, but we already have our own beer,” quips Khoury about the situation between Palestine and Israel.
Regarding the company’s revenues, he does not mention any figures but reveals that 60% of the output is consumed in Palestine, 30% is sold in Israel and 10% is exported.
Contact
Taybeh Beer
E-mail: taybeh@palnet.com
Tel.: +972 2 2898868
Site: www.taybehbeer.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
