Sourcing and contracting
We contract directly with farms, mills and manufacturers in more than ten countries. A direct relationship means a price with no middleman in it, and early knowledge of what next season will hold and what it will not.
How we started
About the group
An Egyptian group that began with two books
About the group
Ofuq began in Cairo in 2004 with one office and two lines: food and industrial products. The goods have nothing in common, but the work plainly does. Both are bought against a specification, shipped in full cargoes, financed by letter of credit, and delivered to a mill or a plant that cannot afford to stop its line.
Why we became a group
Trading is volatile by nature. A strong season is followed by a thin one, and working capital is needed in both. We added agriculture to own the first link in the chain rather than chase it through the market; we added property to give the balance sheet a steady end; and we added contracting because the party that knows the material knows how it is used.
How the holding works
Ofuq does not run its companies for them. Each one runs its own business and answers for its own results, with its own board and its own decisions. What the holding provides is what no single company can provide for itself: a balance sheet that absorbs a thin season, one standard of quality that applies to all of them, and banking relationships that open a credit when the book needs one.
What has not changed
The words on the logo from the beginning: food and industrial products. That is still the largest thing we do, and the standard is still the same one — goods to specification, and a shipment that arrives when it was promised.
21
years in trade
Since 2004
4
companies in the group
22
markets we trade with
Across three continents
40 +
lines in the catalogue
Food and industrial
Our mission
That a buyer gets exactly what was agreed, exactly when it was agreed — and that this becomes boring through repetition.
Our vision
That Ofuq is the first call in the region when the line is difficult and the date is tight.
What we hold to
01
The specification is written
Before signing, not after. What was not written was not agreed.
02
The survey is independent
A surveyor both sides accept, and a certificate inside the payment documents.
03
The date is a promise
We do not contract to a date we cannot see our way to.
04
Bad news travels early
A delay reported today is a problem. One discovered on arrival is a disaster.
Our sectors
Four sectors held under one roof: the trade in food and industrial goods that started us, and the agriculture, investment and construction businesses that grew from it.
01
Trade and distribution
Food and industrial inputs, from the source to the factory floor.
1 companies
02
Agriculture and livestock
Owning the first link in the chain, not only buying from it.
1 companies
03
Investment and development
Trading profit put into assets that stay put.
1 companies
04
Industry and construction
What we supply to others, we use ourselves first.
1 companies
What we do
Sourcing, quality, logistics and finance — the four things a trading group has to be good at before anything else works.
Inspection and conformity
The specification is agreed in writing before the contract, and the goods are inspected at loading by an independent surveyor. A quality dispute after arrival is expensive for both sides; preventing one costs less than settling it.
Shipping and clearance
We book the space, prepare the documents, and see customs clearance and inland haulage through. The buyer deals with one party from contract to delivery rather than a chain of them, each pointing at the next.
Trade finance
We work with letters of credit and documentary collection, and extend considered terms to customers we know. Working capital is what separates a deal that completes from one that stays on paper.
Our journey
Milestones that shaped the group
2004
Ofuk Trading begins in Cairo
One office and two books: food and industrial products — the two lines that still carry the company's name.
2008
The first export shipment
A move from importing alone to selling outside Egypt, and the beginning of the Gulf relationship.
2012
Into agriculture
Owning the first link in the chain rather than buying from it: land, livestock, and production whose conditions we know.
2016
The operations desk at Alexandria
Inspection, clearance and inland haulage under one responsibility, a short walk from the discharge berth.
2020
The season that proved the point
Global supply disruption made a direct relationship with the producer a real difference rather than a claim on paper.
2024
Ofuq Holding
The four companies are brought under a single holding, with each one still answering for its own results.