Country Notebook We will be producing camel milk chocolates to sell in the UAE market.

We locate our factory in the Jebel Ali free zone in Dubai. The establishment of a chocolate factory requires a great amount of investment in order to cover all the expenses such as fees for required equipment and machines, raw materials, staffing and administration, distribution expenses, etc. Since we are introducing a completely new brand and our product is somehow different from what is offered till now we need a good marketing plan. To provide the capital, we have decided to partner with a Swiss company. It will be joint venture between our company and a Swiss chocolate company. The Swiss company will bring their technology and machinery to build the chocolates as well as the know-how of creating world class chocolates. We are also planning to make agreements with series of hotels such as Hilton, Sheraton, and Grand Hyatt as well as private Airlines such as Emirates airlines and Etihad airways to sell our products.

II. Brief discussion of the countrys relevant history

Back to 1500 years ago people in this region were living in tribes under the tough natural condition and pearl fishing was the widespread among them. After the Islam come to this region community and family structure deeply rooted in the history and culture of people. In the 18th and 19th century, with increase in the trading, the area became known as the Pirate coast which lead the individual emirates to sign a series of agreements with the British known as Trucial States. According to these agreements they agreed to only deal and trade with United Kingdome (UK) and in return the British promised to coastal protection from all violence by sea and to assist in case of land attack. In 1971, British government announced that they no longer could afford to govern the coast so they end their treaty relationship with the trial sheikhdoms. Right after that Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Sheikh Rashed al Makotum form a union between their two emirates and later ask five other emirates to join them as well, finally on 2nd December 1971; seven emirates join and form a union called United Arab Emirates.

III. Geographical setting

A. Location United Arab Emirates is in the Southwest Asia, having borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia. Having access to the ocean through Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf giving and advantage to the country in order to be the heart of the trade routes between the east and the west.

B. Climate The United Arab Emirates has a subtropical climate. During the summer (May through October) it has a hot and humid weather with temperatures varies between 4045C and humidity of 90 percent. During this period we can see that works are slow down and many people travelling in order to avoid the heat. In winter time (November through April) the temperatures range between 20 to 35C.

Rainfall is low and disordered. Usually falling an average of fine inch per year and when it rains, it is not for a long or heavily. However, mountain areas experience higher amount of rainfall.

C. Topography

IV. Social Institution

A. Family 1) Family type In the past more people used to live in an extended families; parents, childrens, grandparents, mostly living in the same house, as the time passing the country starts to grow and move to very developed modern nation which cause the change in family structure and make them toward nuclear family of parents and their children. Although modernization brings lots of change in the way people living but still we can consider the Emiratis as a family oriented people which family has a high value in their culture.

2) Dynamics of the family Before discovery of oil, arrangement marriage was the only accepted pattern of marriage between the emirates and mostly will be done between two people from the same tribe. After the discovery of the oil in 1958, this pattern changes and nowadays individuals have greater choice although many of them still like the arrange marriage.

3) Female/ Male Roles United Arab Emirates has a macular culture, more before and less in present days. Sex differentiation is clear in social life. Men are working out of home while the task of women is to stay at home and taking care of children, in the past all the education that the girl could acquire was from her mother about how to cook, manage a house and respect her husband accordingly a boy would learn how to take care of his family. Eventually, the role of women changing in

society, large portion of Emirati girls going for higher education and acquiring more chances to enter work- force, easier accessibility to position their self into the society all together giving them the opportunities to be more independent.

B. Education Soon after the establishment of the federation, UAE government start to make more educational opportunities while only small amount of urban population had access to formal education. Nowadays the UAE government presenting wide education for both sexual students from kinder garden to university, by providing free education for the UAE citizens at all levels. Beside that there is lots of private education sectors. UAE government assigns 25 percent of total federal government spending to education. All these effort brought overall literacy rate of ninety one percent for the country.

1) Primary & secondary education Primary and secondary education is universal and compulsory for all UAE citizens up to grade nine. It is a 14 years process:

Kindergarten Age level from: 4 to: 5 years old Primary Length of programme in years: 6Age level from: 6 to: 12 Preparatory Length of programme in years: 3 Age level from: 12 to: 15 Secondary Length of programme in years: 3Age level from: 15 to: 18 Certificate/diploma awarded: Secondary School Leaving Certificate

 Technical Secondary School Length of programme in years: 6Age level from: 12 to: 18 Certificate/diploma awarded: Technical Secondary Diploma

2) Higher Education Over short period UAE established a great higher education systems. There is institute free of charges for the nationals along with many private institutions. . Ninety-five per cent of all females and 80 per cent of all males who are in the last year of the schools are applying for higher education for either inside or outside institution.

C. Political system United Arab Emirates is a federation consists of seven organs: the president and his deputy, the supreme council, the cabinet, the Federal National Council, and an independent judiciary with a federal supreme court. The supreme council involves legislative, executive powers and the ruler of the seven emirates. The cabinet is form by the ministers mainly from the ruling families of the emirates. Each emirate is ruled by traditional tribal system of government with similar political principles. Each emirate has its own local government system under the guardianship of the federal system. Most of the political executives hold by the members of the ruling families. The UAE has traditional majlis where people have access to their leaders. UAE does not have any mandatory income tax lows for general business. There is only an income tax order in the foreign banks and to oil companies. Personal incomes are not subjected to any tax in any of the emirates. D. Legal systems To keep the harmony, emirates have the option to join the federal judicial system or to have their own system. Dubai and Ras Al Kheimah are the only two emirates, which keep their own judicial systems whereas the five other emirates have joined the Federal judicial system. The Federal UAE courts have two main divisions civil and criminal and also divided into three levels of litigation, appeal and the Federal Supreme court. The third division known as Shariah courts are extended in certain emirates likes Abu Dhabi for serious criminal situation, labor and other commercial matters. The cases with security status are directed to special courts.

E. Social organization UAE society divided into two groups of people: nationals and expatriates. We can classified the nationals into four group 1) Ruling sheikh family, who has the highest political position and power and wealth 2) The merchant class, who traditionally trading pearl but now sell international consumer products 3) The new middle class 4) The low income groups, newly settled Bedouin We can also put the expatriate into groups of:

1) Professionals which has highest salaries 2) Middle range professionals such as teachers, company salesman, etc. 3) Low paid consist of workers. By 1999 there were 103 associations of public benefit, in order to serve the interest of many groups known to protect the heritage, immigrant association, professional society, culture, religion, sport, women, with the aim of enhancing the governmental institutions.

F. Business customs and practices We have to know that UAE has a well-educated society, people in business environment are aware of business method and how to do business worldwide. However, there are some points that we should take care of them while we are conducting business in UAE. Business is carrying out on the basis of the personal relationships and mutual trust. Be on time for the meeting although you may be waiting before or during meeting. Do not directly go to the point, take time, chat have coffee, tea or anything been offer by the host. Direct approach is not welcome.

Religion and aesthetics: Loyalty in the United Arabic to Islam and Arabic tradition is very deep and its very important role in the development of Arabic and Islamic solidarity in the international arena .

Despite the different cultures of the people are living in the Arabian Peninsula, the United Arab Emirates has united its residents through common religion, the Islam. 96% of Muslims in the UAE are Sunni and Shia. Islam is the official religion of all the seven constituent emirates of the nation, which is being practiced with utmost respect. In the UAE, religious values are widely respected , So, commit sacrilege and blasphemy against any religion is considered deeply offensive. Muslims are deeply forbidden from converting to other religions, but non-Muslims, to Muslims, are accepted, and also any type of religious activity - Islamic or not - is prohibited without a licence from the relevant authorities. Aesthetics: In 1995,in UK ,aesthetics launched and became one of the largest independent talent in Europe . The Middle East office in Dubai was established in March 2010, to provide a higher level of service to an ever growing industries and media events in the region. Aesthetic provide fashion mannequins and models, hosts and hostesses for events and exhibitions, Artists for all types of events and maintain a database of talented actors for film, television, commercials and music videos throughout the UAE. Living condition: In the UAE, Dubai and, to a lesser extent, Abu Dhabi offers a wide variety of food from many of the main dishes in the world, and due to the large immigrant population, Pakistani, Hindi, Mexican, Japanese and Iranian restaurants abound, offering affordable options and choices. In addition International fast food chain, serving the standard fare of hamburgers, chips, pizzas (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC, ) are located in the big cities. The people's favorite, grilled chicken is available in many open-air roadside cafeterias which can be served with other accompaniments like Khubz (Arabic Bread), hummus, and the most popular rice dish is Biryani, with grilled chicken or fish or lamb. Muslims are prohibited from eating pork, so it is forbidden in Arabic menus, and alcohol is generally only served in restaurants, hotels and bars.

Housing: There are three main styles of housing in the UAE:

Apartments which generally dont have a garden, and may have a balcony Townhouses which are duplex or triplex and have a small garden,and Villas which free-standing and have a garden Housing boom six clusters of tall apartment blocks overlooking the Gulf Arabic. Tower over the ocean front promenade called a "walk" with retail outlets, restaurants, bars and hotels lined made. UAE residents Arabic-installed across the country are reaching breaking point Rentals. In an effort to reduce the costs people are tend to cheaper home or change the life style. 70% of those who rent said they thought the left, compared with 43 percent of home owners. Rental rates can vary greatly from one position to another in the UAE, but on average, between 15 and 30 percent of UAE residents spend their income to pay for their homes. Clothing: In the UAE, traditional clothes for males are: The Kandura, or dishdash, long white cloak that male UAE Nationals wear , Guthra the guthra is the headscarf sported by the males, and the Egal is the black rope that fixes the headscarf in place. For female: Abaya is the long flowing black gown which worn by the UAE National Females , Shela is the piece of material used to loosely cover their head. This is sometimes black, especially those wanted to cover the face, Gishwa is the thin black veil that covers the face of the women. It is always better to be conservative about clothing in the UAE, For men, this means getting suited up, although in some office environments a shirt and trousers will suffice, women should make an effort not to wear too figure hugging clothes and they should cover their bodies. A shirt and trousers or long skirt would be fine, and acceptable for workplace. Outside work, like in the malls, many wear jeans and t-shirts or the like, and clubbing gear is as you would expect. Some Emirates are more conservative, for example in Sharjah even men are not allowed to wear shorts. Recreation, sports and other leisure activities: In the UAE you will never be bored because of many various types of entertainment that you can indulge in, from sightseeing to shopping, paragliding to rock climbing, art exhibitions, rock concerts, classical music festivals, and gourmet food extravaganzas. There is a huge range of sporting activities like football, golf, horse riding, ice skating, and also including adventurous exploration of mountain and desert.

Social security: Unlike a lot of European countries, in the UAE there is no social security system because they dont need it and no unemployment insurance for those who are outside the United Arabic Emirates, as unemployment leads to the loss of your residence permit. Health care: Health services in the UAE are internationally recognized and are of standards are high, compared with other developed countries. Hospitals, which boast modern facilities, strategically placed to ensure availability. In the UAE, regardless of residence or nationality medical care is provided. Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS), provides free (or very low cost) medical services for UAE residents and also foreign workers may either obtain their own health insurance by DOHM. Language: National language in the UAE is Arabic, but English is widely spoken and different regional languages are also often used, and also other languages like, Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, Bengali and Tagalog are widely spoken.

Economic Analysis The United Arab Emirates is located in Southwest Asia between and Oman and Saudi Arabia. There are seven emirates in UAE namely Abu Dhabi,Dubai,Sharjah,Umm Al Qaywayn,Ajman,Fujaryah,Ras Al Khaymah.The largest emirate, Abu Dhabi constitutes 85% of the total area of UAE.The capital of UAE is Abu Dhabi. The UAE estimates the total area of the country as 83,600 square kilometers. According to the official census it is estimated that 5,314,317 is the total population of Dubai in which majority of the population are expatriates. The percentages of population of non-nationals are increasing than national population. The majority of the people are living in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The overall growth rate of population is calculated as 3.055%.The birthrate of UAE is 15.76 per thousand populations. The distribution of population in various parts of the country on the basis of age structure. The people in the age group from 0 to 14 age group are estimated as 20.4%. Of these 537,925 are males and 513,572 are females. The majority of the population is between the age group of 15 to 64 years and is projected as 78.7% which constitute 2,968,958 males and 1,080,717 females. The population above the age of 65 is calculated to be 0.9% with 30,946 males and 17,046 females. The majority residents are in the age group of 15-64 and are non-nationals. The largest emirate, Abu Dhabi has a population of 666,000.Then the net migration rate includes persons coming into

the country and the persons departing from the country. The net migration rate of UAE is estimated as 16.82 migrants per 1000 population. The people of UAE that is, Emiratis represent 20% of the total population. The other Arabs and Iranians constitute 23% of the population. About 50% of the populations are South Asians and the other 8% includes Westerners and East Asians. The official language of UAE is Arabic. English, Hindi, Persian, Urdu are the other languages spoken all over the country. The Gross Domestic Product is calculated as per purchasing power parity is calculated as 262.1 billion dollars. The real growth rate of GDP is estimated to be as 4.9% and the GDP per capita is calculated as 48,800 dollars. Abu Dhabi and Dubai controls about 83% of the countrys GDP because of oil production and commercial base. The main source of income came from its production of oil and natural resources. The oil production of the country is 2.813 million barrel per day and oil exports is estimated as 2.395 million barrel per day. The Natural gas production is calculated as 48.84 billion cubic meters and export is approximated as 7.01 billion cubic meters. The various modes of transportation available in UAE are roadways, Heliports, Airports and merchant marine. The most used mode of transportation inside the country is roadway which extends to 4,080 kilometers, which includes 253 kilometers of expressways. There are a total number of 5 heliports inside the country and 42 airports. The communication systems available in UAE are Telephones which includes landlines and mobile users.1.48 million landline connections and 10.926 million connections are mobile connections. The various broadcasting Medias are also available in Dubai media free Zone and most of the Medias are government controlled. Extensive use of satellite dishes where international broadcasts are available. The various radio broadcast media are also prevalent in UAE. There are 3.499 million internet users in the country which shows widespread use of internet media. Majority of the government jobs are owned by UAE nationals. But in the private sector most jobs are controlled by expatriates and the employees are restricted to form unions, bargaining and going for strike. There is no minimum pay. The UAE government is giving much importance to maintain health and safety standards of workers. Child labor and forced labor is illegal. They have to work 8 hours a day and 6 days in a week. Special considerations are available for workers during summer because summers are hot in UAE and they are not allowed. Principal Industries The major industries in the UAE were oil and gas. However, due to successful economic diversification and development of infrastructure in the economy, the oil and gas sector now accounts for only 25% of the GDP. The service sector now has become very prominent accounting for 74% of the total GDP. This includes retail, tourism, IT, and telecommunications

industries. Other industries in the UAE include petroleum and petrochemicals, aluminum, and textiles. Foreign Investment Opportunities The UAE has attracted a lot of foreign direct investment due to its open economy, good infrastructure, and economic and political stability. The amount of investment into the country was around US$10 billion (Dh36.73bn) in 2011. The emirate of Dubai has gained a lot of prominence due to its availability of world class infrastructure and its position as the regional and business hub of the region. The FDI during the first half of 2012 was Dh16.5 billion in Dubai. The industries that are attracting a high amount of investment include financial and business services, health care, communications, leisure and entertainment, food, and chemicals.

Major Exports Exports of UAE in the year 2011 were $281.6 billion.

Major Imports Imports of UAE in the year 2011 were $ 202.1 billion.

Balance of Payment Situation

The UAEs current account balance showed a surplus of $30.7 billion (Dhs. 112.7 billion) which is an increase from $11.2 billion from the year 2010. The increase is due to high amounts of exports (Khaleej Times).

Exchange Rate The UAE has a single exchange rate. The exchange rate of UAE is AED 3.67 for $1. The rate stays the same as it is pegged to the US dollar. Trade Restrictions

The following are some of the trade restrictions in the UAE. The UAE imposes a five percent customs duty for most goods. The import of alcohol is subjected to 50% duty while cigarettes have 100% duty imposed. Basic food items and pharmaceuticals are exempted from duties. Foreign companies are required to have a local sponsor, agent or a distributor in order to business in the UAE. The typical ownership distribution is 51% owned by a local and 49% owned by a foreign owner. Firms that are located in the free zone are exempted from this rule. Importers are required to have an appropriate trade license in order to sell in the UAE. There are shelf-life requirements for processed food items. The production and expirary date must be written on the label and the shelf-life must be at least one and a half years before expiration.

N. Labor force 1. The size of the labor force in the UAE is 4,111,000 people. 2. The employment rate is 4.6 %.

O. Inflation Rate UAEs inflation rate is 1.05% (Sept 2012).

IV. Development in Science and Technology UAEs total IT spending in 2011 was $5.89 billion (Dh21.6 billion). Also, the UAE government has invested in infrastructure and improved means of communication in order to make UAE a center for higher technology. An example of a technology project in the UAE is setting up of fiber optic technology networks in order to have a faster communication system.

Furthermore, UAE has Internet City which houses major regional and international IT companies from various sectors. Examples of companies located here include Google, Microsoft, and Intel. This environment helps to boosts innovation in the country. V. Channels of distribution (marco analysis) A. Retailers 1. Number of retailers Emirate attracted 53.8% of retail brands surveyed, number of shops in Dubai is over 5000. Categories are as follow, Clothing and footwear specialist retailers Convenience stores Direct selling Discounters DIY, home improvement and garden centres Electronics and appliance specialist retailers Forecourt retailers Furniture and furnishings stores Grocery retailers Health and beauty specialist retailers Homeshopping Hypermarkets Internet retailing Leisure and personal goods specialist retailers Mixed retailers Non-grocery retailers Non-store retailing Supermarkets Vending 2. Typical size of retail outlets The Dubai Mall has 1,200 retail outlets

3. Customary markup for various classes of goods After the realestate crisist in 2009, there was a marked shift from buying to window shopping, as many consumers sought to save rather than spend. This trend constrained overall growth for retailing in 2011.

Grocery retailers gain considerably stronger current value performance in comparison to nongrocery retailers over the previous year.

4. Methods of operation (cash / credit) Both cash and credit methods are used for operation.

5. Scale of operation (large / small) The scale of operation in retailing include a number of local franchisees operating international brands and domestic grocery retailers.

6. Role of chain stores, department stores, and specialty shops The leading players is a number of chain stores operating international brands and domestic grocery retailers. These players benefit from offering strong brands, with many consumers regarding international brands as offering a higher level of quality. Due to the high temperature in U.A.E, the department stores are the shopping Paradise for shoppers, it plays the most important role on retail chain. Shopping festival in department stores is expected to boosting the revenue of Dubai tourism industry and the retail sectors. Specialty shops are important parts and parcels of department stores.

B. Wholesale middlemen 1. Number and size There are six large companies dominate the food wholesale distribution market.

2. Customary markup for various classes of goods Same as the retail customary markup, the customary markup for various classes of goods on wholesale is going a little down due to the financial crisis, but entrepot trade is keeping the stable markup.

3. Methods of operation (cash / credit) Both cash and credit are used on operation of wholesale

C. Import/export agents Around 250 import and export agents are on yellow page.

D. Warehousing There are seven Emirates countries to rent warehouses in U.A.E, comparing to the price and convenance of location, Jebal Ali free zone warehouse is the best choice.

E. Penetration of urban and rural markets In United Arab Emirates, urban consumers accounted for 89.3% of the total dried food include camel milk chocolateconsumption. Another 10.7% is from rural market.

VI. Media A. Availability of media List of famous medias in U.A.E AG= News Agency MG= Magazine IN= Internet Only TT= Teletext xx= language according to ISO-639 W= Weekly M = Monthly, etc = Acrobat PDF = On-line Audio = On-line Video

NP= Newspaper RD= Radio TV= Television

NP7Days (Dubai) NPAkhbar Al-Arab

en ar ar ar ar

TVAl-Arabiya (Dubai)

NPAl-Bayan (Abu Dhabi) NPAl-Ittihad (Abu Dhabi) NPAl-Khaleej ar

INAME Info (Dubai)

en ar

NPArabianbusiness.com (Dubai) en NPCNBC Arabiya (Dubai) ar en

MGGulf Marketing Review (Dubai) NPGulf News (Dubai) NPGulf Today, The en en en

NPKhaleej Times (Dubai) INStrategiy (Dubai) en

AGWAM - Emirates News Agency (Abu Dhabi) NPZawya (Dubai) en

ar en

B. Costs 1. Television The most expensive one. Most ads on TV are about brands cars, food. The ads are charge on seconds.

2. Radio Radio ads are cheaper then TV ads, most about upcoming activities like shopping festival.

3. Print

A couple of high-profile closures in 2010 are indicative of how deep recession hit for this sector last year, and although still the leading sector, its share of ad spend is slipping.

4. Other media (cinema, outdoor, etc.) The cinema and outdoor ads can be used on promotions, The cost of outdoor advertising in Dubai has rocketed by more than 500 per cent since 2003 due to shortage of outdoor advertising space.

C. Agent assistance Although agent are working on all types of ads, it mostly contributing on printing ads.

D. Coverage of various media Etisalat and du are two telecom companies owned by government, they provide TV service which can cover all over the country. Famous news paper like Gulf News and Al Khaleej News also cover nearly all the urban and rural people.

E. Percentage of population reached by each media

III. Market Audit and Competitive Analysis I. Introduction This section of the report will analyze the chocolate industry and the competitors products. The product 1. Relative Advantage: The camel milk chocolate is a better choice than milk chocolate from cows milk because of it is healthier. It contains more iron and vitamin C content than cows milk. 2. Compatibility: This product is compatible with the values of the existing consumers since only the milk used in the chocolate is from a different source. The product has the nutrient value a chocolate provides. Moreover, camel milk is accepted by the UAE market. 3. Trialability: limited quantities of chocolate can be produced for experimental and trial basis.

II.

B. Compare and contrast your product and the competitions product(s) 1. Competitors product(s) a. Brand name Al Nassma First and Finest Camel Milk Chocolate b. Features It is the first and finest camel milk chocolate in the world. As we know camel milk itself is very good for health, rich in minerals,vitamins C, better than cow milk over and above a healthy product.They finally made the chocolate with camel milk from one of the finest camel dairy farm

in the world.the other ingredients are also of high quality, specially the cocoa. It is a very high class product and a very limited quantity of each flavor is produced as the demand is very high. c. Package There are four types of packages, boxes, papers, wooden casket gift package and original way of package.Its spare and elegant. A simple deep brown and metallic gold wrapper. The heavy paper over wrap is even printed on the inside with little camel line drawings. The same camel and palm tree logo is embossed on the stiff gold foil wrapper underneath.

2. Competitors prices $12.00 each 3.5 ounces

3. Competitors promotion and advertising methods Al Nassma gives special deal on shop on line, like price-pack deal: The packaging offers a consumer a certain percentage more of the product for the same price (for example, 25 percent extra). On the other hand, there is 10 percent discount offer in a packaging of 100 pieces. Advertising methods: publish the news on famous website, newspapers, radios, TV and outdoor advertising. 4. Competitors distribution channels

With 3,000 camels on its Dubai farm, the company sells chocolates through its farm-attached store as well as in luxury hotels and private airlines. It plans to launch an online shopping facility shortly. Martin Van Almsick who is the general manager aim it to be the Godiva of the Middle East," he said it is a luxury product, it will never be in supermarkets. The plan is to be in one mall in each UAE city. Estimated chocolate industry sales for the planning year in uae The UAE retail chocolate market is evaluated to be worth about Dhs 546 million and according to industry experts, growing at a rate of 14 per cent in terms of volume and 27 per cent in terms of value of sales. In the last three years in the UAE, premium chocolate retail business has been booming , and according to a Dubai-based chocolatier the current economic downturn has slowed growth. Premium chocolate sales are highly dependant on consumer mood rather than on consumer pockets," said Assem Hamzeh, Managing Director, It's all about confidence, a key human characteristic that dictates happiness levels and the propensity of humans to celebrate a special occasion or simply allow a personal indulgence. According to the global audit firm KPMG, retail chocolate sales in the Middle East and North Africa are set to grow by 61% to reach $5.8bn in 2016, The National has reported. "Although the global market is still dominated by Western Europe and North America, emerging markets clearly represent the future," a KPMG report said. By AC Nielson, another report, has predicted the UAE market to be worth around Dhs546m and rising at a rate of 27% in terms of value of sales, and 14% in terms of volume. The Middle East with a high per capita using chocolate is identified as one of the top ten markets for confectionery products in the world. In UAE chocolate gifts are common. And while sales remain reasonably steady throughout the year, there are a few times, other than holidays, when volumes tend to switch and also, when school is in session, sales will rising and then typically reduce when during the summer wealthy emigrants leave the region . Saudi Arabia represents the largest confectionery market in the Arabian Gulf with a population of 25 million (17 million locals and 8 million expatriate laborers).Over $4.2 billion is the annual chocolate sales average in the Middle East. In 2007, in Saudi Arabia, chocolate retail sales added up to $348 million, accounting for over 15% of the regions using chocolate. Besides, the value of chocolate sales per unit is increasing and also, at the premium end of the market, wealthy expatriates are also supporting sales . The Doha-based Gulf Organization for Industrial Consultancy (GOIC) s report proves this point. Per capita spending on chocolate in this market

ranked as one of the highest in the region at $11 per year according to the GOIC study. Similarly, in the UAE, demand for chocolate is increasing where the wealthy emigrant population is considerable and residents enjoy high incomes per capita. AC Nielson data evaluates the UAE chocolate market at $148.7 million and growth of 27% by value and 14% by volume is predicted.

The Market Plan 1. The Marketing Plan A. Marketing Objectives 1. Target Market: Our target market is people from high middle income and high income. According to the age structure, we will target the age group of 15- 65. In the UAE, the percentage of people in this category is 78.5 %. 2. Expected Sales Year: Two to three months after production starts 3. Profit expectations: 2-3 years after production starts 4. Market penetration and coverage: We will look for targeting 4-5% of our target market initially. We will decide to increase the percentage after the success of our product. B. Product Adaptation or modification 1. Core Component: Our core component is the camel milk chocolate. We will source the camel milk from local farms in the UAE and we will import the other ingredients like cocoa from the places which have highest quality. We will adapt our product according to the tastes and preferences of the consumers. Dubai has a multicultural environment so will cater to the tastes of the different cultural groups such as the local Arabic culture, Asian culture, and western culture. We will offer many different flavors of chocolates to cater to all these groups. Some flavors include milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and chocolate with dates. Today consumers demand chocolate with more chocolate content and less sugar and the dark chocolate variety. We will consider this while creating our products. Also, the consumers are very particular about quality so we will try to make sure our quality is very high. Furthermore, the consumers are very conscious about their health. To cater to this group of people, we will highlight the nutritional value of camel milk. The camel milk has five times more vitamins c than cows milk and is rich in minerals. We will also offer sugar-free variety if there is a demand for it. 2. Packaging component: For the packaging, the chocolate will be packed with foil to protect it from hot and cold temperatures. We are also planning to give our consumers an option to customize their packaging for the chocolates. The can select different styles of packaging according to their preferences.

Distribution: Port selection The importing of raw material for camel milk chocolate will range from GCC countries to Dubai, Emirates, the factory which will produce the product will be in Dubai, the best port for importing from GCC countries is Jebel Ali Port, Dubai.

Packing a. Marking and labeling regulations The camel milk chocolate is a product which need protection against heat and humidity, according to U.A.E. Marking and labeling regulations, the product should be packed to provide protection against extreme heat and humidity, storage in the open and possible unloading into lighters. Although the product is not in the category of pharmaceutical, but imports still need to be carried under temperature-controlled conditions of 25 degrees Centigrade.

Because the wharf laborers from Jebel Ali Port can not read English, the consigneess mark and the port mark are needed for outer containers.

Labels of imported goods/food need to have the following standard information and should be in English and Arabic:

* product and brand * ingredients, in descending order of proportion * additives using their 'E' numbers (group names are also accepted) * the origin of all animal fats * net contents in metric units * production and expiry date * country of origin

* manufacturer's name and address * special storage and preparation instructions, if any

Channel s of distribution A. Retailers a. Type and number of retail stores At the beginning of approaching market, we will choose retail stores which are in well-known malls; they are Dubai Mall, Deira City Center, Mirdif City Center, Mall of Emirates, IBN mall, Marina Mall. Retail markups for products in each type of retail store. We will also sell our product to luxury hotels and private airlines first and business class. b. Methods of operation for each type Operation is from the head office. Since there is only one type of retail selling, operation will be easy to handle. c. Scale of operation for each type (cash / credit) Both cash and credit payment are acceptable. B. Wholesale middlemen Initially we will hire our own sales staff who would sell to the luxury hotels and private airlines. C. Import/ export agent We will hire a clearing agent who would help us clear the import of raw materials such as cocoa for our chocolates.

D. Warehousing We plan to build special warehouse for chocolates near the factory to avoid wasting delivery time. We will choose Dubai Jebel Ali free zone.

II. Pro forma financial statements and budgets

A. Marketing budget 1. Selling expense Selling cost for the company include all the direct and indirect cost and all general and administrative expenses of a company. For example, staff salary, rent, communication cost of sales department, etc. Our assumption for 2013 will be around 6 million dollars, approximately. 2. Advertisement/ promotion expense Company advertisement cost for 2013 will be between 30 to 35 percent of the total cost since we requiring many type advertisement to introduce our brand and product. 3. Distribution expense Base on our estimation the distribution expense will be approximately will be 5 to 10 percent of the total cost; the project cost will be 1 million dollars roughly. 4. Product cost Product cost for our company is mainly consisting of cost of raw materials, fixed cost and variable cost. After comparison between similar brands we find out that it can vary from 25 to 30 million dollars base on the material companies using and type of equipment a company using. B. Pro forma annual profit and loss statement (first year and fifth year) As mention earlier, establishment of such factory costing a huge amount of money so we are believing that there would be no profit during the first three years since we need to cover all the expenses but we are expecting to the grow for the Pro forma annual profit at a rate of 15% to 20% by end of fifth year.