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

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 Grain Visits India With An Eye Towards Adding Value to the Country's Ongoing Food Security Initiatives

Blumberg Grain senior executives are arriving in India this week for meetings on food security needs in the public and private sectors.
The Future of Food Security Is Here

The company will also be participating in official business and industry events on January 26th held in honor of visiting U.S. President Barack Obama, and hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council, an arm of the US Chamber of Commerce.

Chairman and CEO, Philip Blumberg, accompanied by senior executives of the US based agribusiness company, will also be evaluating opportunities in India for partnering with Indian companies as well as investing in food processing, manufacturing, and opportunities to establish food security operations in India to reduce post harvest losses, currently estimated at over 50%, to under 5% utilizing Blumberg Grain's state of the art technology and storage systems.

Blumberg Grain's food security technologies and solutions are increasingly taking hold among emerging agricultural economies. The Company was recently selected to develop Egypt's new grain storage infrastructure, which comprises 93 sites across Egypt, and enables primary processing of 3.7 million metric tons of wheat per year across a platform of 3.6 million square feet of storage space. That project will be one of the world's largest integrated food security systems for grain storage. Blumberg is also providing cold chain storage for produce and perishable storage for the Nigerian government, which is anticipated to ultimately comprise the largest cold chain infrastructure on the continent.

Philip Blumberg Chairman and CEO, commented, "Though we have considered investments in India previously, the determination of the Modi Administration to address food security and improve agriculture, combined with President Modi's 'Make in India' initiative, is very aligned with our objectives. We will be evaluating opportunities to manufacture our food security systems and storage in India for domestic use and for export. We are looking forward to meetings with government officials as well as major Indian companies regarding joint-venture/partnership to enter the India market. At the end of the day, we believe that India provides numerous win-win opportunities for our company, Indian agriculture and the Indian people as a whole."

About Blumberg Grain
Blumberg Grain is a leading global food security company, providing harvest protection systems and technology. Blumberg Grain's fully integrated crop and food security systems can reduce post-harvest losses of grain, produce, and other perishables to 5% or less. 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. For more information, please visit www.blumberggrain.com.

Blumberg in the News

CNBC “I want to show you this one thing: How big is this show? You're seeing the Egyptian Minister of Supply who has come to Iowa to further a multi-billion dollar deal to buy secure storage bins from Blumberg Grain for their grain. Egypt is the biggest wheat importer in the world, but loses as much as 40% to spoilage. The delegation right now is in Chicago to figure out how they can have a commodities exchange in Cairo, and Blumberg, which is a real estate investor out of Florida, got into this secure storage business, and this is its first huge deal, billions of dollars."

Blumberg in the News

Blumberg Grain was featured in a CairoScene article this month titled "US TYCOON: USE YOUR LOAF, EGYPT", which proclaims that Egypt's bread crisis could soon be resolved by Blumberg, which is launching a new venture in Egypt to introduce new nationwide storage facilities that are set to prevent spoilage and reduce price volatility. An excerpt follows:

It was Marie Antionette who once said let them eat cake – well now a US business tycoon could soon have Egyptians scoffing some of the best loaf on the planet.

Philip Blumberg, head of Blumberg Capital Partners, has launched the tasty new venture after successive politicians failed to solve the riddle of lowering bread prices despite the relatively high cost of purchasing grain, thanks to the country’s poor credit rating.

He said: "Egypt is the largest importer of wheat in the world, but they have to buy it on the spot market. It’s crazy. The largest wheat buyer in the world is constrained by storage."

Blumberg has now 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.

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