Born to Succeed

"The Wadi El Taym women's co-op was born to succeed," Mrs. Lina Bahmad of the the Wadi El Taym women’s cooperative tells visitors to her business. She adds, “Where there is a will there is always a way.”

The Wadi El Taym women’s specialty food cooperative was founded in 2004 by a group of women in a beautiful rural area of Lebanon called Rachaya El Wadi. Before forming the cooperative, the women were selling homemade products or specialty food items individually, and their profits were limited by the high cost of raw materials, inefficiency in production, poor packaging, short shelf life, and lack of technical know-how and financial facilities. These enterprising women soon recognized the need for organization to achieve economies of scale, and professional assistance to survive and grow. They got the assistance they needed from ACDI/VOCA's USAID-funded project Action for Sustainable Agro-Industry in Lebanon (ASAIL) and other international organizations.

ACDI/VOCA began working with Wadi El Taym in early 2006, offering a multitude of services ranging from technical, packaging, marketing and improving access to finance. ACDI/VOCA helped Wadi El Taym recognize the need for product differentiation and innovative presentation to give its members an edge over other producers in the market. The cooperative wisely introduced three ready-to-eat gourmet items: moussaka, green beans in olive oil, and makdous in glass jars. ASAIL has enabled Wadi El Taym to market these products for broader export and attract more interest from buyers by improving knowledge about packaging, shelf life, labels, color, taste and product differentiation. Under the label "Campagnia" the cooperative was able to get a foothold in the high-end niche Lebanese products and begin selling at Souk El Tayeb, a weekly farmers market in the heart of Beirut.

Considered one of the purest and least polluted areas in the region, Rachaya el Wadi is a tourist destination and known for its organic agriculture, particularly figs, grapes, olives, cherries and grains. Wadi El Taym capitalized on this advantage and obtained organic certification. With support from ACDI/VOCA, the cooperative developed three new organic items, which were exported to the U.K. However, problems in formulation, packaging and shelf life caused sales to begin to plummet. Product samples were scientifically analyzed at the Zahle pilot-product development plant that ACDI/VOCA helped launch, and recommendations were made to solve problems related to leaking, formulation, shelf life, taste, texture, color, smell and visual appeal.

Wadi El Taym has also benefited from ACDI/VOCA’s training and guidance on ISO 22000 certification, costing, pricing, cooperative work, labeling, P.O.S. materials, online marketing, and participation in domestic and international food shows. Members expect to get ISO 22000 certification soon. To date, Wadi El Taym has participated in important trade and food exhibitions including SIAL in Paris, HORECA & Garden Show in Beirut, and most recently the Fancy Food Show in New York City. Sales leads were obtained, initiating a continual follow-up. Sales have risen from a modest $7,000 in 2005 to $17,000 in 2006, and an expected $29,000 in 2007. The enterprising women of the Wadi El Taym cooperative, paired with ACDI/VOCA’s assistance, have created a model success story for small business cooperatives in rural Lebanon.

Click here for more information about ACDI/VOCA's Action for Sustainable Agro-Industry in Lebanon (ASAIL) project.