Gabon provides niche market for value-added foods

AgExporter, Dec, 1992

Developing markets may well exist for a variety of value-added U.S. food products in the West African republic of Gabon. Jonathan Gressel, the U.S. agricultural attache in Lagos, Nigeria, recently visited Gabon to survey the potential for increased U.S. food sales there.

According to Gressel, Gabonese importers like the quality of U.S. consumer products and believe they are competitive with European items, which dominate the local market. Products in demand include fruit juices, canned vegetables and fruits, nuts, vegetable oils, flour, cake mixes, breakfast cereals, rice, snack foods, canned meat and fish, soft drinks, beer and wine. Gabon also imports a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables.

U.S. products often have an advantage in quality, packaging and price over many of the European brands that are available on the local market.

A middle-income, oil-exporting country, Gabon has an annual per capita income of about $4,000 and a population of 1.2 million. Gabon has the highest per capita income in Sub-Saharan Africa.

With a sizable middle and upper class and large numbers of expatriates, there is a significant market for high-value consumer products. Domestic agriculture is not able to supply the needs of this market which is dominated by France, the former colonial power. The French presence is still strongly felt in all areas of business, industry, government and the military.

Gabon's food and beverage imports totaled $111 million in 1990. Imports from the United States, mainly flour and chicken parts, were about $3 million. While France is the main supplier, South Africa is rapidly developing a market for processed fruits and vegetables, including fruit juices.

A Gabon Success Story

In 1990, a medium-sized Gabonese importer opened the American store in Port-Gentil, the center of the petroleum industry. The American Store is a small grocery that sells only U.S. products. A new store, which opened recently in Libreville, the capital and largest city, appears to be popular with both the expatriate and local population.

The company's store in Port-Gentil imports $60,000 worth of U.S. products per month, of which about $44,000 worth are food and beverages. The Libreville store is expected to do a similar level of business and the company plans to open more stores in the Congo and in Senegal.

The American Store sees a demand for frozen turkeys and a significant market for mayonnaise and dry milk powder. The latter has a good market niche both as a consumer-ready product and as an ingredient in yogurt production. The American store importer also hopes to become a wholesale supplier of U.S. high-value products as these products develop a following in the local market.

The USDA recently announced a GSM102 export credit guarantee for Gabon. This program is directed toward private sector importers and includes credit lines of $1 million for dairy products and $500,000 for chilled and frozen meats. In 1990, Gabon imported $19 million worth of meats and $10 million worth of dairy products.

Retail Marketing Trends

Gabonese consumers appear ready to try new products and are quality conscious, factors which aided the success of the American Stores. A French-owned hypermarket in Libreville basically stocks French and South African packaged goods. It is interested in carrying a line of U.S. speciality foods, for example, a TexMex line of products.

The other main outlet for high-value products is through small stores located near main markets. These stores are where most lower- and middle-income Gabonese shop. They stock a moderate range of canned and packaged goods supplied mainly by importers. Often a store owner will act as an importer for a specific product and then sell to other store owners.

Although all vegetable oil imports are officially banned, AGROGABON (a state-run company that is Gabon's only palm oil producer) has the right to import non-palm oils. It will import 500 metric tons per year of soybean oil, peanut oil, sunflowerseed oil to satisfy local demand.

It also is interested in bids for supplying these four vegetable oils in one-liter plastic bottles with the AGROGABON label.

Most commerce in Gabon is controlled by foreigners, especially the French and others from Asia and the Middle East. However, some people in government are interested in promoting the development of local merchants.

Women traders traditionally play an important role in local and regional commerce in Africa. By establishing importer relationships with non-traditional suppliers, local women merchants may be able to become competitive with their rivals.

Most importers require only several containers per month of a variety of products or one or two containers every few months of a single product.

Shipping can be a problem because there is little direct ocean freight service from the United States. U.S. exporters must often overcome importers' established relationships with third-country competitors who sometimes offer 90- to 180-day payment terms.

For further information and a list of potential buyers in Gabon, contact: