Ethiopian Plans to Serve Passengers with Local Products

 

The Ethiopian Airlines, the national carrier, announced that it has planned to substitute imported food and beverage products it serves for passengers with locally produced products.

Ethiopian has conducted consultations with food and beverages, as well as meat and dairy industry development institutes on ways of realizing this goal.

It imports 90 percent of the food and beverage it serves on board for passengers, costing the Airline 10 million USD annually, Akililu Habtamu, Supply Chain Manager said.

The Airline has set plan to engage in local purchases of food and beverage products in lieu of importing, he said.

The plan is to purchase 80 percent of the food and beverages from local suppliers, while to import 20 percent from abroad, he added.

State Minister of Industry, Dr. Mebrahatu Melese said that concerted efforts will be made to improve capabilities of local industries to produce quality products.

The planned development of integrated agro industrial parks across the country could help to improve local capability in this regard.

Food and beverage industries that engage in the consultations have vowed to provide quality products to meet the planned needs of the Airline.

They requested the government to support their efforts by addressing challenges regarding inputs and power requirements the industries need.

source ane