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 Culture

Local producers shine at food industry event

Toothpicked foie gras flew off the stands, mixed with complimentary swigs of wine and miniature fruit tarts. Lebanon’s top food industry professionals – from hotel management firms to cake design companies and more – have set up their booths in the massive Biel complex on the Beirut seaside for the delicious Horeca 2014 hospitality mega-event. But speckled among the grandiose stages are modest stands manned by members of Lebanon’s small farming cooperatives. From the Chouf, the Beqaa, Tyre, Tripoli, and other Lebanese regions, these farming cooperatives have displayed the best of their organic products to network with potential exporters and compete with the big brands.

And compete they did. After taste tests by eight international judges, the Dar Bechtar Cooperative from al-Koura in Lebanon’s north took the prize for the nation’s best extra virgin olive oil, beating out 50 national competitors.

Despite being surrounded by major hospitality corporations and established food industry companies, none of the cooperatives’ members seemed the least bit intimidated. “We do feel there’s a difference between us,” says Wafaa Jamal, a member of the Najmet Al Sobeh Cooperative in Mhaidseh, in Lebanon’s Beqaa. Surrounded by crunchy roasted nuts and crimson raisins, Jamal told NOW that the cooperatives have less of a focus on financial gain than the larger companies present at Horeca. “We make money too, but not the way they do.”

Daad Ismail, originally from Ras al-Ain outside of Tyre, told NOW she’d rather work with a small cooperative than a large company. “We hope the big companies are successful, too. At the same time, we want our co-op to stay like a creative, cooperative group of women,” she said. “The work that we do is innovation. We don’t want to be a big company.”

Ismail is a member of the Tyros Local Action Group, a collective of over 12 different cooperatives based around the southern city of Tyre. She said she’s proud of the jams, honeys, and various fruit preserves that she and her colleagues produce because of their nutritional value. “We take this all from the earth, and that’s what we work with,” she said. “Even before we provide the society with these products, we’re feeding our families – and we’re happy we can give our families something clean, healthy, and probably cheaper.” According to Ismail, Ras al-Ain even has a miniature testing lab, used by locals to identify nutritional values and acidity levels in the organic snacks.

Next to Ismail’s tasty treats were small mountains of organically-made and beautifully scented soap squares. Khodr Salhan, also from the Tyros Local Action Group, was adamant that his soap products were far better than any beauty product available at superstores. “We’ve added natural olive oil, milk, and honey – you can use these soaps instead of beauty products,” he told NOW.

Organic products from local cooperatives have replaced the usual processed snacks in many communities. In Jamal’s village of Mhaidseh, children opt for the dried seeds, preserved fruit, and sweet jams over packaged potato chips. Jamal says mothers are happy because the options are healthier, and that kids are drawn in by the local products’ cheap prices. Packages of thyme, sumac, or raisins can be as inexpensive as 1,500LL.

Most of the local cooperatives represented at Horeca were supported by the Lebanon Industry Value Chain Development Project (LIVCD), a USAID program designed to support small businesses in rural areas in Lebanon. According to Charbel Daher, one of the program’s production specialists, LIVCD works with Lebanese farmers and cooperatives to identify exporting opportunities, improve marketing strategies, and encourage rural tourism throughout Lebanon’s farming areas. Both the Dar Bechtar Cooperative from Koura and Jamal’s Najmet Al Sobeh Cooperative received support from LIVCD, which helped groups develop their pitches for potential exporters. “We’re here to network,” Jamal told NOW. “We’re happy to have this opportunity because it’s hard for us to get here.”

But for many of the rural women represented at Horeca, working in local cooperatives is about so much more than healthy snacks and networking opportunities. According to Jamal, getting involved in local cooperatives “changes the role of women in society.” Instead of being confined to the household and receiving spending money from husbands or brothers, women are becoming increasingly financially independent. They are now able to purchase medicine, pay school tuitions for their children, and be a contributing member of the family. Their personalities are even becoming stronger, Ismail said.

“I can contribute to buying things for my household,” Jamal proudly told NOW. “Even if it’s a really modest income, now we feel like we’re columns of support for our families.”

“The women have challenged society, we’ve challenged the men – but in a positive way,” Jamal said. “We’re sending a message. With our work and our convictions, we’re bringing something to the women in the area. We have a lot of pride in what we’re doing.”

 

Source: Lebanon Now

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 Culture, Lifestyle

Natural choice: Lebanese design honored

BEIRUT: Lebanese designer Nathalie Trad wore a giant stone to the 2014 Grazia Style Awards. But the gem wasn’t on one of her fingers; it was clutched in her hands.

Creations such as that bag, which looked like a piece of volcanic rock sitting on the designer’s lap, won her and her small team one of the most sought-after awards in Dubai’s blossoming design world. Grazia Magazine named Trad “2014’s Best Regional Accessories Designer.”

Shortlisted for the award with two established brands, Poupee Couture and Baraboux, Trad told The Daily Star several days later that her win was unexpected: “It was definitely a surprise.”

Born in Beirut but raised in Dubai, Trad, 27, opened her self-titled accessories brand one year ago exactly, launching a collection modeled after the minutia found in nature. The designs on her bag that night, for example, drew inspiration from the black spots that cover the wings of a Polygonia butterfly.

The Grazia Style award wrapped up the designer’s inaugural year on a high note after a whirlwind of success these past 12 months.

Last April, the brand debuted a collection encompassing leather goods, statement necklaces and solid, abstract clutch purses. It was the latter, part of her “Shell” line and made from unusual materials like resin, mother of pearl and stainless steel, that caught the attention of regional boutique curators such as Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, co-founder and director of D’NA boutique and magazine.

Today, Trad sells her clutches throughout the Middle East and in shops from the United States to India.

“Success is not really about the awards, it’s about being able to sell in New York, in London, in Riyadh, in Tunis, in India, in Beirut,” she said. “It’s because people like Dina from D’NA just believed in me … people like that, who believe in you for your designs and not for who you are or how long you’ve been in the business.”

Trad’s overnight success, so to speak, is unusual, particularly in this region, where support for young designers still leaves a lot to be desired. Her story is an indication that the market may be opening up to local talent, especially in places like Dubai, which is pushing to promote itself as a destination for design.

“Dubai is super central. In terms of business, it’s easy to work here, it feels like an international playground.”

“It’s going to give us a playground to be able to play and work together – that’s what’s missing in the Middle East. We don’t interact with each other, push each other, give each other feedback,” Trad said.

Before moving back to Dubai, Trad studied fashion and business, first at ESMOD Paris and then at Parsons the New School for Design in New York City, where she also worked with then-rising designer Proenza Schouler.

Trad got hands-on experience in accessory design at Proenza. “It was in a loft, where everyone worked. There were three, then I was the fourth so it was extremely hands-on. It was very enriching, from understanding what goes into the research, which materials to use and what not to use.”

It was also in New York that Trad came upon her personal design credo: deconstructing forms from nature into avant garde accessories.

“I was at Strand. It’s a bookstore with three floors of used books and books that are out of print. I was looking for something that would spark something in me. At the time, I wasn’t 100 percent sure if I was going to start my own line. I found this book of drawings from the 1800s of insects and nature. I remember opening up the book, and that’s sort of where it started.”

That inspiration provided the basis for the asymmetry, texture and geometry of her off-beat purses. Do her Lebanese roots inspire her work also? “I’m 100 percent Lebanese, so I’m sure it does. It’s in my DNA.”

 

By Beckie Strum

The Daily Star

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