LAHORE – Stakeholders have stressed the need to introduce regulatory reforms and stronger policy support for enhancing the export of Pakistan’s food products.
Pakistan’s food export sector continues to face hardships in expanding globally due to regulatory, quality, logistics, and cost challenges.
Stakeholders suggested regulatory reforms, financial incentives, infrastructure improvements, and greater trade facilitation to reduce inefficiencies and support the food industry in increasing exports.
“Exporters must navigate varying requirements across markets, from language on primary packs to nutritional labelling and certifications such as SFDA and FDA, which cause delays and complexity”, said National Foods’ officials while talking to journalists during their visit to the Faisalabad plant.
Meeting global quality standards, including IPM-grade raw materials, significantly raises costs and adds SKU complexity, while natural contaminants in raw materials risk making products non-compliant in certain markets.
Moreover, logistics disruptions linked to geopolitical factors further complicate operations, driving up freight costs and making on-time, in-full (OTIF) service levels difficult to achieve. At the same time, exporters face competitive pressures such as shelf availability, customisation demands, and higher distributor margins. Elevated packaging and utility costs compared to global benchmarks make Pakistani products less competitive.
Exporters continue to face challenges such as cost inefficiencies and financial constraints, limited access to finance, inadequate infrastructure, and complex regulatory procedures. Addressing these challenges is critical to enable the sector to become more competitive, diversify its export base, and substantially increase food exports, ultimately contributing to economic growth and poverty alleviation.
With a footprint in over 40 countries, National Foods Limited uses its Faisalabad facility as a global hub for producing sauces tailored to diverse market tastes. Rising demand from younger consumers has fueled growth, supported by targeted awareness and trial campaigns across ethnic channels in North America, the UK, the UAE, and KSA.
National Foods Limited, offering over 250 products across 12 categories, continues to deliver strong results with 17% growth in net sales, reaching over Rs. 74 billion and a net profit of approximately Rs. 3.6 billion after tax in the first nine months of the last fiscal year.
