Breadwinners: Pain d’Or’s golden touch

Pain d’Or, the Lebanese bread, pastry, and confectionery manufacturers are investing $20 million into a new Saudi Arabian operation, which the company hopes will eventually lead to a multinational status. The new company, which will open in a year, will incorporate Pain d’Or’s full production, sales points and delivery network concept as Pain d’Or’s whole Lebanon range of products will be on offer in the Kingdom. “Saudi Arabia is the biggest economy in the Middle East. That is why we started our expansion there,” said manager Hachem el Koussa. “We will probably open in [the Saudi capital] Riyadh,” said Koussa. “It is central. The government is based there and the buying power is strongest there. But we plan to gradually cover the whole of the Kingdom.” In parallel to the international ventures, Pain d’Or is continuing to expand nationally, in particular into regions of the country in which it does