Blog

KARACHI: Pakistan’s ITT Foods, known for its sauces and confectionery under the Dipitt brand, is planning to set up a production hub in Saudi Arabia as part of its strategy to expand its footprint across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the company’s chief executive said, with negotiations also underway on a major collaboration in the UAE.

The Karachi-based food company is already a supplier to leading Saudi retailers and food chains. Now, it is eyeing local production facilities to cut logistics costs, localize key ingredients, and serve regional markets faster.

“Saudi Arabia has been a potential hub for us and more so with every day passing,” Syed Zeeshan Haider, CEO of ITT Foods, told Arab News in an interview.

He said the company was in advanced talks to take over a tomato manufacturing facility in Jeddah Industrial Zone 2 that was shut down in 2023 by a Saudi steel company diversifying into food production.

“There is already a tomato manufacturing facility over there which was closed in 2023,” Haider said. “It’s a joint venture that we are exploring over there with the Saudi partners … I think by next year, by 2026, it will be done.”

ITT Foods has worked with Saudi retailer Hyper Panda since 2019 and also supplies sauces to Herfy, one of the Kingdom’s biggest food chains. The company is in talks with other large retailers to broaden its Saudi base.

“We have been working with one of the biggest Saudi retail chain which is called Hyper Panda. They have about 20 plus percent market share,” Haider said. “Similarly, Tamimi is there. Al Othaim is there. So, we are talking to them on various channels.”

Haider said ITT Foods was also engaging with e-commerce platforms in Saudi Arabia to boost retail penetration, while developing new products tailored to local demand.

Beyond Saudi Arabia, ITT Foods is negotiating a deal in the UAE with the country’s largest bottled water company.

“We are working with another partner in UAE which is one of the biggest water brand in UAE. I cannot disclose their name right now, but I am sure you guys will hear it in a few months’ time,” Haider said.

“They want to launch their sauces, so we will be the one manufacturing for them.”

In retail, ITT Foods supplies sauces to Nesto and other major UAE supermarket chains, while also expanding into Qatar and Lebanon.

GCC GROWTH STARTEGY

Haider said Dipitt operates in about 32 countries globally, with GCC markets accounting for some of its strongest revenues. Exports currently make up about 40 percent of the company’s sales.

The Dipitt market is already about $600 million, Haider said, referring to the GCC sauces segment. “That would be around 10 percent that we aim for in the next 5 years. That’s what our objective is.”

Haider said ITT Foods was also exploring joint ventures with Gulf partners to speed up market access, provide fresher products, and reduce delays in project launches.

“So, that’s one way that we are looking at right now because there is lot of markets that we are unable to export from Pakistan,” he said. “So, we are exploring those options also to increase our export markets and also to service them at a much faster pace.”

Looking ahead, Haider said ITT Foods aimed to turn Saudi Arabia into its GCC hub, while also expanding further into Europe and North America:

“I think our first step is to see on the production facility on how we can start moving our products to one of the GCC regions and start serving that region from that specific area and then see what we can do further. That’s pretty much the goal in the first 5 years or 10 years from now on.”

Haider said ITT Foods was actively innovating to match Gulf food trends, particularly in the sauces category.

“In GCC what we are doing now is that we are developing a specific range of Arabic sauces,” he said. “For example, dates. Date syrups are very much used in GCC. So, we are working on those. We are working on new flavors for the GCC market specifically.”

He added that rising tourism in Saudi Arabia, along with increased numbers of pilgrims for Hajj and Umrah, was also boosting demand while recent regulatory reforms in Saudi Arabia had also made it easier to do business.

“For example, Saudi Food and Drug Authority which is SFDA is all online. So, we can access it from anywhere,” he said.

He acknowledged that sugar taxes on ketchup, syrups and mayonnaise remained a challenge but said ITT Foods was adapting like other exporters.

“The food trend is also changing a lot in GCC with each day passing,” Haider said. “So, we are trying to work on those and innovate and bring those things.”

LAHORE: The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISEs) Lahore and Multan announced the results of the Intermediate Annual Examination, 2025 Part-II on Thursday.

Task Force Committee for Boards Chairman Mazhar Mahmood, and Higher Education Boards Additional Secretary Noman Jamil announced the results. Lahore Board Secretary Rizwan Nazir and Controller of Examinations Tauseefur Rehman were also present.

A total of 180,329 candidates appeared in the annual examination 2025 part-II, out of which 109,714 were declared successful. The pass rate for the intermediate annual examination 2025 part-II was 60.86pc.

A ceremony was held to honour the position-holders, in which the candidate who secured the first position was awarded a laptop, a certificate, and cash prizes.

The candidates who secured the second and third positions will be given certificates along with cash prizes.

In Multan, 7,142 male students and 16,085 female students appeared in the Pre-Medical group this year, while 2,588 male and 1,356 female students participated in the Pre-Engineering group. Across all groups, including General Science, Commerce, Home Economics, and Humanities, a total of 33,928 male and 41,394 female students took the exams. A total of 180 examination centers were established across the division, and CCTV cameras were installed at all centers to ensure transparency. During the examinations, 26 cases of cheating were registered, on which immediate action was taken.

Chairman of the Board of Intermediate Education, Multan and Commissioner Amir Karim Khan congratulated the position-holder students and their parents and teachers on their success.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2025

The United States, United Kingdom, and France blocked a joint Pakistan-China bid to sanction the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Majeed Brigade at the UN, over a month after Washington declared both groups as Foreign Terrorist Organisations.

In blocking the joint bid to sanction the BLA and its suicide wing, the Majeed Brigade, under the UN 1267 regime, the US and allies noted that there was insufficient evidence linking the groups to Al Qaeda or ISIL.

The UN 1267 regime refers to UN Security Council Resolution 1267 of 1999, which imposes sanctions—including travel bans, asset freezes, and arms embargoes—on individuals or entities linked to Al-Qaida, the Taliban, and ISIL.

Earlier, Pakistan and China had submitted a joint bid to sanction the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its Majeed Brigade at the UN Security Council. On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, noted that terrorist groups—including ISIL-K, Al-Qaeda, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the BLA, and its Majeed Brigade—were operating and launching cross-border attacks from Afghanistan.

Ahmed further stated that terrorism emanating from Afghanistan remains Pakistan’s primary national security threat and urged the Taliban-led Afghan government to fulfill its international counter-terrorism commitments.

“Pakistan and China have jointly submitted to the 1267 Sanctions Committee a request to designate the BLA and Majeed Brigade. We hope the Council will act swiftly on this listing to curb their terrorist activities,” Ahmed said at the UN Security Council.

Last month, BLA and its alias, the Majeed Brigade, were declared as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation by the US. The BLA has been under US scrutiny for years. It was first designated as an Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in 2019 after being linked to a series of terrorist incidents. Since then, the group has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks, including suicide bombings and high-profile assaults carried out by the Majeed Brigade.

– Ends