Cereal Investments Company (Cic)

CIC started as a traditional trading company buying FOB and selling CFR. Our strength was in rice, sugar, wheat, corn, soybean meal and fish meal. Our preferred trading destinations were Africa and the Middle East. Our Group also invested in rice mills in Spain, and roasting and packing plants for dried fruits and nuts in France. The major clients for both these operations were the major super market chains in Europe. In the mid 1990s, under pressure from the international organizations, most of the destination countries where we were selling started to liberalise the markets and government purchasing organizations were gradually replaced by private importers. We saw that there was a clear need in many of these markets for a financially strong company that could assure local wholesalers of on-time delivery with quality guarantee, and we decided to establish our own subsidiaries in the various destinations and act as importers. The decision was taken also because we believed that to become importers would better secure the future of our group. It was our opinion that international trade would become more and more difficult, with margins being reduced due to competition and from information becoming more readily available. Therefore we embarked on building a network of companies in Africa; in Cape Verde, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and Senegal. These companies were to act as local importers and distributors to the local wholesalers. We do not get involved in retail sales other than in Cape Verde where the market demands same. We have tried to strengthen our efforts in import and distribution by building, buying or taking over on long term leases for warehouses in each of the countries where our group companies operate. Our goal is to continue to expand our net work in West and East Africa and to continue to present to the markets a wider range of products, but always keeping in mind that our main line of business is foodstuff.