SEKEM‘s Journal for Economy, Culture, and Society in EgyptInsight

Nr. 101 - January 2011

SEKEM Insight | January 2011 | Page 1

Those who knows SEKEM well are aware that in the past 34 years of its existence there have been major milestones in its develop-ment that are easy to spot. At first and for many years after its launch in 1977 SEKEM remained a very local initiative. This was also true for its radius of impact. However, from the beginning there plenty of contacts with foreign support-ers, many of them German. New professional staff slowly moved to Egypt primarily from Europe.

In 2003 SEKEM won the „Alterna-tive Nobel Prize” and the “Schwab Foundation Award for Outstand-ing Entrepreneurship”. The new awareness, which was associated with SEKEM’s transformation into an international initiative, drew more, especially young people to Cairo.

But it has been only in recent years that this interest began to reach a „critical mass”. Today, a team of half a dozen young people from European countries works in SEKEM, many in business devel-opment and sustainability. The SEED initiative strives to prepare them and their colleagues for the developmental challenges that lie ahead. We cover SEED’s latest event in this issue.

O n 17 December morning the par-ticipants of the SEED Working

Group (SEKEM Development Program for Entrepreneurship) made their way from the SEKEM farm to the desert just West of Cairo. Their destination was a new SEKEM farm located in the oasis Wahat el Bahareya approx-imately 350 km outside of the capi-tal, where since mid-2008 about 1000 hectares of desert land are being pre-pared for organic farmed. A major part of this work involves the reclamation

of the sandy grounds for use as arable land suitable to organic farming proce-dures. At the end of 2010 about 150 ha of soil in Bahareya were already being cultivated with mint, palm trees, agro-forestry, liquorice, clover, alfalfa, and geranium.

In the busy environment of the sprawling desert village the young SEKEM co-workers aimed to get their chance at better understanding the motivation behind and the benefits

SEED Initiative Strengthens Education for Sustainability

Editorial

Dear Readers,

Your Team of Editors

The SEED Initiative introduces SEKEM’s young generation of co-workers to issues of sustainability within their own fields of work.

Young SEKEMSEED Meeting at Bahareya Oasis

Islam SeminarPopular seminar is held again

New ProductsNew spreads and premium dates

The members of the SEED Initiative and co-workers of SEKEM during their visit to the Bahareya Oasis, home to a new farm of the SEKEM Group of companies.

SEKEM Insight | January 2011 | Page 2

of a sustainable use of natural agri-cultural resources and its impact on their own work environments. Many of them currently work the field of sus-tainability and business development at SEKEM. SEED intends, however, to introduce young co-workers from all fields of activity to the issue of sus-tainability in daily business practice.

Regular meetings

The group first familiarised them-selves with the state of development of the new farm and its importance to SEKEM’s future challenges. Talks with young and experienced members of its staff and specially invited experts offered additional insights into the potential of and opportunities associ-ated with the adoption of biodynamic methods in large-scale agricultural production. The reports were aimed at highlighting the importance of agri-culture for a sustainable and equitable global food security and the opportu-nities it holds for environmental pro-tection and the fight against climate change.

These issues had already been introduced at meetings the previous year. This time the group expressed the desire to dedicate an entire week-end, both practically and theoreti-cally, to the issue. Since agriculture is the basis of SEKEM companies’ daily work, SEED participants looked to broaden their knowledge about the natural foundations of it on SEKEM’s own farms. As Magdalena Kloibhofer, a participant, said: the SEED meet-ing successfully „showed the extent of the synergies between the some-times seemingly vastly different types of work at SEKEM“.

Hard work and more of it

Upon arrival Angela Hofmann, responsible for animal husbandry and biodynamic agriculture at SEKEM, led the participants through the facility. The tour of the farm gave everyone a vivid impression of the sheer size of the area and the diligence of the employ-ees reclaiming every metre of precious ground. A discussion developed on the

Economy

question of what is practically needed to establish a farm of such a size in an arid area as the Western Desert. All of the participants came to better under-stand what it takes to turn the inhos-pitable environment into fertile land ready for large-scale food production - a challenge only growing in dimension in times of climate change.

Encounters with nature

After having set up the tents for spending the night in the desert some participants presented issues from their own fields of work in the form of short “fireplace presentations”: soil management, compost produc-tion, biodynamic preparations, agro-forestry, and global agriculture and its impact on climate change.

The contributions were not only highly instructive for co-workers not directly involved in the fields but nev-ertheless working towards the same goals. They also served as a starting point for lively discussions until late into the night. The natural seclusion of the nightly bivouac only served to strengthen the special bond of all par-ticipants with nature - in an intellec-tual and in an intuitive sense.

Trees for the climate

The next morning the guests together with staff from the farm set out to plant 250 new Casuarina trees on the new premises as windbreaks for the fragile, newly planted fields of herbs. Casuarina trees are a fast-growing coniferous tree species well-suited for breaking the ground as it requires little water and nutrients. Within a short time the trees reared in the nursery of the main SEKEM farm will thus create a strong natural and highly effective barrier for the desert’s fierce sand storms.

The SEED initiative will continue to carry out events such as this one to encourage the young generation of SEKEM employees to meet and address the natural basis and the con-ditions of their work.

Sarah Abouleish, Bijan Kafi

Although the three Abrahamic reli-gions have the same origin and are derived from common written and oral sources of religious devotion a perpet-ual peace among them still seems far out of reach. In this year’s iteration of the popular Islam seminar, which will take place 21-24 April 2011 in SEKEM and which will again be facilitated by Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish participants will have the unique opportunity of bet-ter understanding the esoteric core of Islamic teachings and their practical implications for life and work in Egypt and at SEKEM.

Dr. Abouleish founded the SEKEM project in Egypt as a “comprehensive development project”. His initiative for sustainable economic, social, and cultural human development in Egypt and other countries in the Middle East and abroad is regarded as a success-ful model for a winning combination of respectful treatment of the envi-ronment, high humanitarian and eth-ical standards, and strong economic success.

As a place of cultural and religious encounters SEKEM is an example of sustainable development also in the social sense. In addition to seminars with Dr. Abouleish and artistic exer-cises (Arabic calligraphy, Quran reci-tation, Arabic songs, Eurythmics) the upcoming Islam seminar will feature a day trip to the Islamic quarter of Cairo with multiple visits to selected Islamic mosques in the vicinity.

For registration and more informa-tion please contact: SEKEM travel, Dieter Kreuer, Managing Director, Tel info@sekem-reisen.de, 0049 (0) 7551-6003724, Fax 0049 (0) 7551-6003726, mobile 0049 (0) 1520-9884487, www.sekem-reisen.de.

Source: SEKEM Travel

Impulses of Renewal in Islamic Societies

More information:http://www.sekem-reisen.de!

SEKEM Insight | January 2011 | Page 3

Economy

The Business Development of the SEKEM Group in the Year 2010

The positive business development of SEKEM compa-nies has continued in 2010. In future SEKEM Insight will publish a brief consolidated report on the current quarterly development.

The following information summarize the developments of the year 2010. Sales and operating income figures have been compiled from all companies within the SEKEM Group. The turnover of the companies created through inter-company sales have not been included (consolidated).

Sales (consolidated)

The turnover of the SEKEM Group in the year 2010 increased to 230 million Egyptian Pounds (EGP) compared to a turnover of 193 million EGP over the same period in 2009. This repre-sents an increase of 20%.

Operating income (consolidated)

The SEKEM Group has generated an operating profit of 120 million (EGP) in 2010 increasing from 101 million EGP in 2009, an increase of 20% over the same period.

Shares of operations in sales mix

The total sales overview of the SEKEM Group in 2010 dis-tributed across the individual business units reveals that FMCG (consumer goods such as food) make up more than half of it. This is the largest share of turnover followed by the textile sector, the pharmaceutical industry, and agriculture.

Sales (domestic vs. foreign markets)

In 2010 73% of the sales of the SEKEM group were gen-erated on the Egyptian market. This compares to a share of 27% generated on international markets. The development of 2010 represents a shift in favour of the local market of 7% over the same period in 2009.

Financial flows to the SDF

The SEKEM Group of companies in 2010 financially sup-ported the SEKEM Development Foundation (SDF) with 1,7 million EGP in support payments. With these and its own funds acquired from private and public funders and the inter-national SEKEM support association the SDF has carried out a number of social and cultural projects in the past year.

Turnover (consolidated)

Operating Income (consolidated)‘

*Turnover minus raw materials and direct costs of production.

Sales (local vs. foreign markets)

Local Export

Sales Mix (by business unit)

Agriculture Pharma Textiles FMCG

SEKEM Insight | January 2011 | Page 4

T wo new types of breakfast spreads - SEKEM Fruits of the

Sun Pomegranate and Fruits of the Sun Fig - are now available to com-plement the already hugely popular varieties of mango, guava, dates, and bitter oranges. The four known fla-vours are already available in organic food stores.

Pomegranate - the fruit of life

The pomegranate, also known as „fruit of life“, is enjoying growing pop-ularity due to its exotic, fresh, slightly sour taste, and its numerous posi-tive health effects. Its high content of antioxidants is particularly effective against free radicals and can positively influence physical aging processes exacerbated by stress, ultraviolet light, or smoking. It is also thought to protect against cell damage through its high polyphenol content. No won-der the bright red fruit with its many seeds appears in many myths and leg-ends as a symbol of fertility.

In SEKEM’s Fruits of the Sun break-fast spread the juice of demeter-pomegranates is gently processed to preserve the pure flavour of the fresh, sweet-sour taste of the exotic ingredient.

The fig is best known in Germany as a dry fruit. However, the fresh, pear-shaped fruits are becoming more and more popular. Their mineral content is excellent: figs contain large quantities

New Breakfast Spreads for Organic Specialty Retailers

Economy

of calcium and phosphorus. They also provide the body with iron and are rich in vitamin B1. For SEKEM Fruits of the Sun a typical Egyptian variety is used, which is characterized by its fruity and mild taste. The fruits are carefully sorted and processed immediately after their harvest to preserve their valuable naturally active ingredients.

The two new varieties, each avail-able in the attractive, easy to dis-tinguish 220gr hexagonal glasses, completes the assortment of unique fruit spreads available from SEKEM via its European distributor SEKEM Europe. The SEKEM team launches the new varieties of Fruits of the Sun at its booth in hall 7, 111 (at the combined demeter booth) and invites visitors to come and give them a try.

The full range of products as well as other Middle Eastern specialities from SEKEM will of course also be avail-able at the booth. In addition to the popular sesame bars and the afore-mentioned dates the SEKEM team will also launch a new selection of oriental spices developed and offered in col-laboration with SEKEM’s German part-ner Lebensbaum.

Christina Boecker

ISIS Dates Now Available as a Premium Product

In January, the sales team at ISIS began with the introduction of a new and very special product on the local Egyptian market. The new product will be familiar to customers but still represents an unusual release from SEKEM. Its packaging pleases the eye while its contents appeals to the taste of any discerning Egyptian customer. SEKEM’s organic dates bearing the popular brand of ISIS are now begin-ning to be offered in a new and elegant premium packaging.

ISIS dates of the highest quality, dipped in honey and filled with exqui-site nuts, will thus be available in five different varieties: with almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pistachios, and a selection that combines all these in one convenient sampling package.

The sale of the new product through supermarkets was launched in early January. It is being offered on shelves next to chocolates and other high-quality confectionery. In addition, the ISIS-marketing team is presently engaged in talks with duty-free shops at Egyptian airports, specialty con-fectionary stores, pastry shops, and major hotels.

Lamyaa Farouk, junior marketing manager at ISIS, is looking forward to the first sales reports and reactions from the market because the develop-

ment of the entirely new sales chan-nels has been a great

challenge for the sales team.

Christina Boecker

The leading organic food fair BioFach will take place in Nuremberg, 16-19 February. SEKEM will present two new specialty products.

SEKEM Insight | January 2011 | Page 5

Impressions from SEKEM

I t is an almost trivial fact that more people have drowned in the Sahara than have died of thirst. Egypt may not be the Sahara yet, but it consists of at least 96% of desert, a place that is by no means always hot and dry, as our picture of the SEKEM farm shows. In the early morning hours and especially during

the winter months a dense fog slowly lifts from the fields of the main farm. It dissolves quickly with the first rays of the sun. Until then, however, it dips the entire farm grounds in a ghostly light that recalls memories of the famous moors of the northern hemisphere. From October to March the temperatures that stay just above zero degrees Celsius during the night rise to only about twelve degrees during the day. Many visitors to the farm are surprised by the humidity on the ground and the moisture in the air in the morning hours, a phenom-enon to be explained by the proximity to the Ismaylia canal, constant field irrigation, and the lack of cloud cover and therefore lower surface temperatures during the night.

Impressions

SEKEM Insight | January 2011 | Page 6

The year 2011 began with good news for the companies of the SEKEM group. TÜV South, the technical inspection authority of Germany, after several on-site visits to Egypt eventually con-firmed in December that all companies would again receive recertification in 2010 in all major international quality standards: ISO 9001 for general qual-ity management, ISO 22000 for the management of food safety (includ-ing HACCP), ISO 14001 for environmen-tal management, and OHSAS 18001 for the system for the management of work safety.

For the first time SEKEM’s lat-est addition to its group of compa-nies, Lotus Upper Egypt, which dries organic herbs and processes onions in the area of the town of Minya in Upper Egypt was certified according to the new standards.

The preparation for the TÜV’s mul-tiple missions presented the staff of the central quality management teams and their colleagues, the offic-ers in charge of quality control in each of the companies, with new challeng-ing tasks. They had to ensure that all standards were known to and fully implemented by all employees in their daily routine - no easy task for a work-force in the hundreds in multiple loca-tions such as that of SEKEM.

Thus, the inspection was also taken as a welcome opportunity to reexam-ine the routine implementation of all the quality assurance systems with the aim to determine not only if they are being implemented with little effort and friction, but also to further opti-mise workflows and procedures and to ensure that all staff accept and comply with the many rules and requirements of the demanding regulations.

Christina Boecker

SEKEM Companies Receive Recertification

In an original idea to celebrate the 150th anni-versary of the birth of the philosopher, writer, scientist and founder of anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner, the “Rudolf Steiner Express” is ready to take to the rails in a journey which will take it through four coun-tries and 20 cities of central Europe.

The five day journey from 24 to 28 February – from Cologne to Vienna and back via Steiner’s birth place in Kraljevec in what is now Croatia but was then still part of Austria-Hungary - comprises a comprehensive pro-gramme of events both on the train and in the stations visited by the train, including a special cultural programme in the Rheingold club car.

Among the events along the trip, 150 white peace doves will be released during a celebration to open the anni-versary year in Donji Kraljevec and a brass band will play during a stop in Prien in Bavaria, to name but two. In Vienna, passengers can learn about “Rudolf Steiner and Kinetism” or “Rudolf Steiner in the Coffee House”. Or they can attend a varied programme in the “House of Anthroposophy”.

The highlight of the trip will be the festive ceremony to open the anniver-sary year of the philosopher, writer and scientist – founder of anthropos-ophy and associated movements such as Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture or anthroposophic medi-cine - in the Austrian National Library in Vienna under the patronage of the Austrian president, Dr. Heinz Fischer.

150 of the 200 seats are already booked. Those still intending to join are asked to book immediately via the website below.

Source: Rudolf Steiner Archive

News in Brief

Masthead: The editors of SEKEM Insight wish to thank all contributors to this issue.

Editors:Christina BoeckerBijan Kafi

Contact:SEKEM-Insightc/o SEKEM HoldingP.O.Box 2834, El Horreya, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt insight@SEKEM.com

Pictures: 1,4: SEKEM; 5: Bijan Kafi

No republication without writ-ten consent by the publisher.

The Foundation World Future Council works as a voice of future gen-erations and their right to inherit an ecologically and socially intact world. Five new Council Members from four continents now strengthen the Council of international personalities:

Alexander Likhotal, political scien-tist and historian, advisor to Mikhail Gorbachev and President of Green Cross International.

Dipal Chandra Barua, economist from Bangladesh and co-founder of the Grameen Bank.

Dr. Sándor Fülöp, environmen-tal lawyer and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations in Hungary since 2008.

Alyn Ware, educator and advisor for nuclear disarmament of the govern-ment of New Zealand and of the UN.

Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, UN advisor and since 2009 National Chief to the Assembly of First Nations uniting 644 Canadian indigenous tribes.

WFC Founder Jakob von Uexküll: “With their experience, contacts and their enthusiasm they will make it pos-sible for us to intensify our work for the rights of future generations.”

Source: World Future Council

Rudolf-Steiner-Express Picking Up Speed

International Lobby for Future Generations

More information:http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/certification/index_de.htm

! More information:http://www.rudolf-steiner-2011.com!