Blumberg in the News

BloombergBusiness wrote an article this week titled Pigeons Grow Fat in Egypt as Poor Storage Means Wasted Wheat, exploring the inefficiencies bedeviling food systems in the Middle East and North Africa. and featuring an interview with Blumberg Grain's David Blumberg. An excerpt follows:

As much as half of the wheat the state buys from its farmers is lost each year to pigeons, rodents and thieves scavenging national stockpiles that are often just stacked in rough jute bags open to the elements, said David Blumberg, whose U.S. company is working with the government to modernize and build the Middle East's largest grain-storage network.

"If you ever passed by a landfill and saw all the birds circling above, that's kind of the situation," said Blumberg, chief executive officer of Blumberg Grain, Middle East & Africa, referring to the facilities he's working on replacing. "There is no protective covering."

Wasted grain is a big problem for Egypt, where rising food prices intensified unrest that led to the overthrow of the government during Arab Spring protests in 2011. The country is the world's biggest wheat importer and spends billions of dollars on grain each year for a subsidized bread program to ensure its people can afford food.

The government buys about 40 percent of the country's wheat production each year, but waste isn't limited to the domestic crop. Poor infrastructure, port backlogs and aging storage sites mean a third of imported supply is also lost, said Gilles Mettetal, director of agribusiness at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Blumberg in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in an article in The Tribune in India this week as Sanjeev Sharma interviewed David Blumberg CEO, Blumberg Grain. An excerpt from the article follows:

Q: What are your plans for Punjab?
A: Senior representatives of the company are visiting Punjab as well as several other states in the country, to explore propositions for establishing the manufacturing plant and export hub for Asia. The company intends to select a location for the manufacturing hub by the end of summer. We are also in discussion with potential distribution partners and customers in the state.

Q: What are the initiatives for making India an export hub?
A: We are looking forward to making India our hub for Asia to enhance food security infrastructure in both the grain and perishable value chains throughout the region. We are looking to establish a manufacturing plant and export hub in India. The Blumberg Grain Hub in India will manufacture components for scientific warehouses. Blumberg Grain will export its systems, made in India, throughout Asia.

Q: How does it synchronise with Make in India?
A: Blumberg Grain aims to make India a home country in the greater region — that is the vision of our chairman, Philip Blumberg. The Blumberg Grain manufacturing facility alone would generate over 1,000 local jobs and an estimated economic impact of $1 billion in the first year of operation in the state in which it is set up. In addition, we will source raw materials from India and help create a knowledge base and supply chain that will have a multiplier effect on local economies.

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Blumberg in the News

David Blumberg, Chief Executive Officer of Blumberg Grain – West Africa, was interviewed this month in Business Today Egypt in an article titled Blumberg Grain Provides Solutions to Egypt's Grain Spoiling Problem. An excerpt follows:

Egypt has a major issue with grain spoiling. Some 40% of grain spoils every year, why?
Egypt regularly faces post-harvest wheat losses of approximately 40% due to spoilage occurring in the traditional, open-air storage facilities currently being used, commonly known as Shouna. This loss is due to depletion by pests, pilferage, rot and inclement weather.

What is the solution that Blumberg Grain provide to this problem? And how much can it reduce the percentage of spoiled grain?
The Shouna Development Project is a unique collaboration between the Ministry of Supply, Ministry of Defense and Blumberg Grain. The first phase of the project will revamp 93 Shouna (of 164 total planned) located across the country with modernized food security warehouses, known as Blumberg Grain Aggregation Centers.

This first phase of the project will enable primary processing of 3. 7 million metric tons of wheat per year across a platform of 3.6 million square feet of storage space.

The project will create one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated integrated food security systems for grain storage.

The Blumberg Grain Aggregation Centers, when properly implemented, can reduce postharvest losses down to 5% or less. The system will support the government in recovering crops lost to post harvest losses, saving Egypt up to an estimated USD 200 million annually.

To read the full interview, click here. For more news and information, visit Blumberg Partners.

Blumberg in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in an article from The Guardian total titled "Bread rationing and smartcards: Egypt takes radical steps to tackle food waste". An excerpt follows:

In order to achieve this Hanafi is currently finalising an £18m nationwide network of state-of-the-art grain storage facilities to keep government-purchased wheat. The first 105 of these shounas will open in April. "When we collect the wheat, we put it in open-air shounas, but this creates waste and a dramatic loss in quality," he says, pointing to birds, humidity, air pollution and rodents as the main problem areas. These new storage facilities are temperature-controlled, as well as being equipped with primary processing capacity to screen, clean, dry and bag wheat as well as other grain products.

There's even a command centre in Cairo, containing a software inventory management system and camera surveillance technology. David Blumberg of Blumberg Grain, the US specialist storage firm contracted to implement the project, claims the new system could save Egypt up to £130m per year. "The government can get a real-time view of the levels of inventory that they have across the entire shouna system," says Blumberg.

Blumberg has installed similar storage infrastructure in Senegal, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and is currently in discussions with various state governments in India to implement storage facilities for rice, onion and potatoes, as well as wheat.

Post-harvest waste has become a high-profile issue in recent years and governments are increasingly keen to find ways to cut food waste at every level. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, the estimated food that is lost after harvesting could feed 48 million people and exceeds the total food aid to the region.

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in a Miami Today article titled "Gables firm, Egypt partner for grain security" that looks into the company's progress in Africa and continued development of grain storage facilities to reduce post-harvest loss. An excerpt follows:

The company, which signed a contract with the Egyptian government late last year, is currently developing 93 wheat storage facilities across Egypt and expects the first few to be completed by the end of April, said David Blumberg, CEO of Blumberg Grain-West Africa.

He told Miami Today the facilities will process 3.7 million tons of wheat annually and store 750,000 tons, saving Egypt about $200 million a year.

"Post-harvest wheat loss in emerging markets is the primary problem for governments to solve," Mr. Blumberg said. "The loss, between harvest and first sale, is about 50% and due mainly to the lack of storage containers."

That's the ultimate goal of the Blumberg Grain project: to support the Egyptian government in recovering crops lost to post-harvest fatality.

Egypt is the world's largest importer of wheat and Africa's largest producer. However, there are numerous threats to grain in Egypt and other emerging countries, including pest attacks, rot, and theft – or what is referred to in the industry as "leakage." This leakage is often distributed to thieves' friends and family who sell the wheat on the black market.

Currently, Mr. Blumberg said, Egypt's wheat is stored in open-air storage facilities called shounas. He explained the wheat is received from farmers in bags and then stacked in piles, thus exposed to the sun and elements.

"There's a high likelihood that it will go bad due to the weather," Mr. Blumberg said. "The Egyptian pigeon is the worst pest and responsible for about 20% of the loss."

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg in the News

David Blumberg was interview by Africa Agribusiness, detailing the customer history, advancements and current position in the agricultural health and progress in Africa. As another Blumberg Grain Warehouse system is built, Mr. Blumberg spoke with Dave Ramaswamy; an excerpt of the interview follows:

AAM: Do your systems run on a variety of power inputs? Grid power is not always available or reliable, with voltage fluctuations, in these markets.

Blumberg: Good point. When designing our systems, we told our R&D team that they should plan for poor infrastructure as well as harsh climates. The Applied Engineering division designed our units so that a 600-square-meter facility (with 1500 metric tons of storage) can pack up into just one 40-foot cargo container. Our engineers designed our units for fast installation – as little as three days. They designed them for flexible use. Our units are modular when it comes to adding capacity and are upgradable when it comes to adding our technology options.

Speaking to your point about energy – it was clear that the units would have to be able to handle different kinds of energy supply. So we offer solar power, wind power, etc. as a supplementary power source for these systems. Our Grain Vault can run completely on solar power.

AAM: Is it solar PV? How exactly does it work? How do you handle power failure and redundancy?

Blumberg: That's correct, Solar PV on top of the warehouse roof. You can get quite a bit of power out of those panels. What we've done is leverage technologies on the inside of our warehouse that are energy-efficient. The only issue is the cold storage component for which the power needs are quite high. Our cold storage could run on 100 percent solar power, but it then becomes inefficient from an economic perspective.

For our refrigerated storage, what we suggest to our clients is to locate these close to the existing grid. If that isn't possible, we need to have generators in place to run the system. Even if we're on the grid, we have the option to hook into different independent power solutions.

Our video on the technology describes this flexibility and some other features of our systems: http://www.blumberggrain.com/video/

AAM: What is the secret of your success in these demanding markets?

Blumberg: That is because of two things: first, the success that we have realized in the market vis-à-vis the application of our product; and second, for some reason, there haven't been companies that emerged to play a role in this storage space in these emerging markets.

When you look at these developing countries, our competition is, for the most part, local concrete contractors. These contractors put up a concrete warehouse that has only a tangential application to food security. The warehouse offers no specialized ancillary options or specialized components. They don't provide the safety and security needed to keep the crop preserved in-condition. So you continue to see high post-harvest loss rates.

We designed our warehouses with coatings and primers that reflect about 65 percent of the sun's heat. We have seals that create foam closures between each panel. This means you don't have leakage and you don't have water coming into the facility. We've designed our warehouse to be basic nuts-and-bolts assembly, so any skilled labor can put it up fast. So there are no problematic issues with construction, and we can be sure the facility works as intended.

In agriculture, the harvest season dictates the timeline for construction projects. If you miss the harvest season deadline, you lose that year's benefit. It is critical to be fast and timely. We hold the record in the industry for the ability to get 600 square meters of covered storage up, in three days.

To read the full interview, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg in the News

A new article from Clement Ejiofor published by NAIJ titled "Why GEJ Is Sure That Nigeria Is ready For Oil Crisis" relays comments made by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on the economy, agricultural transformation agenda, and Blumberg Grain's investment in the country's continued growth. An excerpt follows:

A lot of investment projects are realising within the modernization.

For example, in 2012 Blumberg Grain, the Global food giant invested $250 million in a large-scale food storage facilities for Nigeria’s agricultural sector creating up to 1,000 jobs.

See what David Blumberg, CEO, Blumberg Grain – West Africa thinks of Nigerian agriculture :

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in a CNBC article today titled "The American who wants to save Egypt's bread", which explores the recent activity and advancements of Blumberg Grain in Egypt. An excerpt follows:

The rising price of bread was one reason Hosni Mubarak lost power in Egypt. Food inflation is one reason his replacement, Mohammed Morsi, also lost the job. "Egypt is the largest importer of wheat in the world, but they have to buy it on the spot market," said Philip Blumberg of Blumberg Capital.

That may change.

Blumberg recently reached a deal with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to build 164 grain storage facilities designed to prevent spoilage, reduce price volatility and eventually lead to a local commodities exchange.

"It's crazy," the American investor said. "The largest wheat buyer in the world is constrained by storage."

Blumberg, a Harvard Business School graduate who made his fortune in South Florida real estate, said his family has a history with agriculture, having farmed cotton and pecans in Alabama and tomatoes in Florida. He began to see the buildings he invested in as commodities, too.

"A building is nothing but a bundle of commodities, an assembly of copper, nickel, glass, steel and concrete," his son, David, told Africa Agribusiness.

Philip Blumberg began seeing the need for food security and storage in developing countries, and he decided to create a fund called Blumberg Grain to invest in projects.

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information, visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in a Medill Report titled "Climate change hits your fridge", examining problems for farmers and increasingly straining the global food supply. An excerpt follows:

"We came face-to-face with the issue of post-harvest losses, which is an issue that is sort of lost upon the American public," said food security expert David Blumberg, describing a 2010 trip to India that exposed first hand the enormity of food safety issues farmers face in developing countries against the weather.

Rain had washed grain into the streets, he said. When touring the rest of the country they found similar food storage problems in almost every other small town.

"There wasn't adequate storage infrastructure in place to hold onto the harvest of the farmers for that season," Blumberg said. "So food was getting eaten by birds, rodents, insects, or molding because the rain had fell on it."

Blumberg is the chief executive officer of Blumberg Grain, a company that installs technologically advanced grain and produce storage systems that enable farmers to protect their harvests from rot, climate and pests.

About 40 percent of food in the U.S. is lost in the transition from farm to fork, according to a 2012 paper by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The trend applies to developing countries as well, Blumberg said, and the company looks for ways to lessen losses by providing specialty warehouses featuring controlled atmosphere technology. It pumps nitrogen into the environment to delay expiration, such as extending the lifetime of a mango to five months, for example.

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information, visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg in the News

An article was published by ONews Agency titled "Minister of Supply: 3 major projects for the storage of wheat at a cost of 3 billion and 206 million pounds" discussing the meeting between President Abdel Fattah Sisi with Dr. Khaled Hanafi, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, and Blumberg executive team members to discuss new projects in Egypt. An excerpt follows:

Dr. Khaled Hanafi Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, following the two meetings commented, that the first meeting was with President Abdel Fattah Sisi with the aim of a group of international investors to set up three major projects, the first project at a cost of one hundred million dollars for the construction of the first plant for storage technology and modern logistics warehouses to serve the domestic market and export to markets Arab and African countries.

The second project at a cost of one billion and one hundred and ten million pounds to create the ten modern logistics areas, as the first stage, for the storage and trade of perishable products from fruits and vegetables to reduce production costs, and thus prices, and preserving the rights of agricultural producers, so they can provide the goods and provide to citizens at discounted prices, which provides 40% of the costs as a result of avoiding wastage in the trading, transportation and storage.

The Minister of Supply and Internal Trade said that a third project at a cost of one billion and three hundred and eighty-one million pounds to bring one hundred sixty-four shounas to modern global standards. Instead of dirt barns will use modern technology to suit the conditions of the Egyptian environment, which includes operations of receiving and handling and storage of wheat and grain, and provides about 30% as a result of the cost to avoid wastage in wheat trading operations. Balhun exposed and dirt, as well as the classification of Egyptian wheat for the first time in order to preserve the rights of farmers and draw some wheat varieties are expensive and exported abroad.

To read the full article, click here (for the original Arabic version, use this link). For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in an article this weekend titled "Sisi with the Head of Blumberg for 3 projects for the storage of grain and fruit" which summarizes a meeting in which President Abdel Fattah Sisi met with Philip Blumberg, Dr. Khalid Al-Hanafi, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, David Blumberg, Managing Director of Blumberg Grain West Africa, and Christian Rath, Senior Vice President of the Blumberg Grain company. An excerpt follows:

The meeting was aimed at review and discuss three major projects, including the creation of the company's first factory for storage technology in the Middle East, which will serve the local market, and targets integration with the national project of the giant development axis at the Suez Canal, as well as providing opportunities to export to the Arab countries and African countries, where the project will the world's largest in its field, and direct investments worth 100 million dollars.

It also included discussions on project to replace the storage barns (dirt shounas) with Blumberg's modern and advanced technology, which are specially designed to suit the conditions of production and circulation, which is used to store grain and wheat, providing more than 30% of grain crops, ie, 1.2 million tons, which was being wasted due to the poor conditions of storage and handling, and a total cost of 1.7 billion pounds.

The third project would seek to establish a ten areas of logistics, as a first stage, for the purpose of processing, storage and preservation of agricultural products, grains, vegetables and fruits, to avoid wastage of 40% of these crops, as well as the opportunity to control prices by storing these products, and re-launched in the market to set prices and control expensiveness. Note that these three projects were under consideration at the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, during the past three months.

To read the full article, click here (for the original Arabic version, use this link). For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in a World Grain article today titled Blumberg Grain Links with The Corporate Council on Africa. An excerpt follows:

Blumberg Grain said that it has joined The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), a organization developing and strengthening business relationships between the United States and Africa.

In its release, David Blumberg, CEO of Blumberg Grain – West Africa said, “CCA is a very effective organization, with breadth and depth of experience in Africa. We appreciate how effective participating in CCA conferences and events has been for our company and staff, and look forward to a continued close working relationship.”

Added Philip Blumberg, Chairman of Blumberg Grain’s parent Blumberg Capital Partners, “With our company’s plans to expand manufacturing into Egypt and Nigeria this is a particularly appropriate time to join CCA. The Council and its members are committed to the betterment of Africa by identifying and helping create business opportunities and strengthening ties between the US and Africa.”

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in Yahoo! Finance this week under Food Safety and Security Leader Blumberg Grain Joins The Corporate Council on Africa. An excerpt follows:

Blumberg Grain, a global leader in food safety and security, has joined The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), the leading trade organization developing and strengthening business relationships between the United States and Africa.

Said David Blumberg, CEO of Blumberg Grain – West Africa, “CCA is a very effective organization, with breadth and depth of experience in Africa. We appreciate how effective participating in CCA conferences and events has been for our company and staff, and look forward to a continued close working relationship.”

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in a Ventures Africa article this month titled "Blumberg Grain Expands African Business Into DRC", announcing that Blumberg Grain has been contracted by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to provide grain warehousing services to its farmers after signing a similar contract with the Nigerian Ministry of Agriculture to expand the country's food security and storage. An excerpt from the article follows:

"This initial DRC order represents another important deployment of Blumberg Grain's food security storage and systems," Blumberg Grain West Africa CEO, David Blumberg said.

He noted that throughout Africa, governments emphasize the need to lower post-harvest losses in order to increase farmer incomes and boost agricultural output.

"That's a key focus of Blumberg Grain's food security systems," he said.

Philip Blumberg, CEO of Blumberg Capital Partners, said his company also looks forward to investing in processing plants, cleaning, drying and packaging facilities in the DRC."

Blumberg Grain works with private companies and countries to modernize agricultural value chains, increase the quality and marketable output of their harvests, enable efficient market timing, and significantly boost exports of agriculture products.

To read the full story, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg In the News

Blumberg Grain was featured this week in an AllAfrica article after having been awarded an agri-warehousing project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. An excerpt of the article follows:

Following the Nigerian Ministry of Agriculture's recent contract for Blumberg Grain food security and storage systems, Blumberg Grain has also been chosen to provide its grain warehousing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC project includes the installation of the company's Grain Vault product line with integrated security systems.

David Blumberg, CEO of Blumberg Grain - West Africa, commented that "This initial DRC order represents another important deployment of Blumberg Grain's food security storage and systems. Throughout Africa, governments emphasize the need to lower post-harvest losses in order to increase farmer incomes and boost agricultural output. That's a key focus of Blumberg Grain's food security systems." Philip Blumberg, CEO of Blumberg Capital Partners, stated "We will also be looking into investing in processing plants, cleaning, drying and packaging facilities in the DRC."

To read the full story, click here. For more news and information, visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg Grain in the News

The Nigerian Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced this week that it has awarded Blumberg Grain its project to expand food security and storage in Nigeria. The project calls for the turn-key installation of Blumberg Grain warehousing systems and technology, specifically the Arctic Vault and Grain Vault product lines for perishable and dry storage, respectively.

This award represents the first phase of the initial order called for in a Letter of Intent executed between Nigerian Minister of Agriculture Akin Adesina and Philip Blumberg, CEO of Blumberg Grain's parent company, Blumberg Capital Partners. The agreement also confirms Blumberg Grain's intent to build a manufacturing plant and export Hub for West Africa in Nigeria, which will serve as a production facility for Blumberg Grain's food storage warehousing systems and create over 1000 new jobs in Nigeria.

To read the full article, click here. For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Blumberg Grain in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in an article titled Blumberg Grain Makes Ghana A Finalist For West African Manufacturing Hub published by The Investor yesterday. The article makes note of an impending investment decision to possibly locate a multi-million dollar Manufacturing Plant and Export Hub in Ghana by Blumberg Grain. An excerpt:

If Ghana is selected, the Blumberg Grain Hub would employ over 1,000 Ghanaians, generate USD 1.25 billion in sales/export, increasing Ghana's GDP by 3 percent, and house an agricultural institute that provides programming on best practices in agricultural development.

Blumberg's investment will make the winning country the major agribusiness center in the sub-continent. Ghana is in contention with sister African economies, but Blumberg's CEO, Philip Blumberg, said he was impressed with Ghanaian Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Kwesi Ahoi's response, with whom he had personal contact during his 5-day visit.

Mr. Blumberg noted, "Minister Ahwoi has passion, an understanding of the business of agriculture, and a strong desire to see Ghana transformed into a vibrant and critical agricultural commune. Minister Ahwoi introduced us to his team in Accra, who were extremely impressive as well, both in their technical knowledge and their vision for a comprehensive system for Ghana", describing the response as, "extremely impressive."

Speaking about Ghana, the Blumberg team noted that this country is a good place for the Hub as according to them Ghana's Minister is committed to working within the political system to achieve for Ghanaian farmers improvement and support. "He's very focused on that. And that makes a difference to us because it means not only do we have ministerial support, but we also have a government advocate for the center. I was very encouraged by that."

To read the full article, click here. More news and information is available at Blumberg Capital Partners.