SEKEM: most environmentally aware firm in Middle East

The World Economic Forum's: The New Sustainability Champions, showcases 16 emerging market companies, which provide inspiring examples on how to tackle challenges of performance, innovation, sustainability and growth. The mindset, practices and business models of these Champions offer critical insights for emerging market businesses, established multinationals and governments. They also serve as a starting point for redefining the future of growth: a robust growth that efficiently binds all elements of sustainability together – economic, environmental, and social. Of the 1,000 companies studied and analyzed in the developing world, only one of the 16 companies selected, is from the Middle East and the Arab world: SEKEM.

Located North-East of Cairo, is this unique, exceptional organization. Egypt, with the desert fast expanding, its many environmental problems, with its water problems and its agriculture being constrained by the Nile - needed some thing, an organization to come up with a solution. Egypt came up with the ingenious way of creating forests in its deserts by using waste water.  In the same sustainable, environmentally friendly and protective way, Egyptians created with: SEKEM. And now the firm is the first organic producer in the region and can be considered a pioneer in Egypt and the surrounding areas. Products range from health foods and natural medicine to dairy products, honey, fruits and vegetables, as well as organic cotton and textiles. While two-thirds of these products are sold locally, they are also exported to health food shops and supermarkets across Europe. Global success has been achieved for some product lines: the company commands a large percentage of the international herbal tea market, competing with global brands.

+ More about SEKEM from WEF