Satyendra Pathak Doha
In a bid to promote Indian brands and make Indian products more popular in Qatar, LuLu Group launched ‘India Utsav’ at its outlets across Qatar on Monday.The ‘India Utsav’, which marked the 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence, was launched at the same time across all Lulu stores in the GCC countries. It was the first ever simultaneous region-wide launch of Lulu Group’s celebration of the 75th Indian Independence Day under the tagline ‘India Utsav 2022’.The festival in the Qatar region was inaugurated by the Ambassador of India to Qatar HE Dr Deepak Mittal at the Ain Khaled branch of Lulu Hypermarket. A number of Qatari dignitaries including Qatar Chamber First Vice Chairman Mohamed bin Ahmed Twar Al Kuwari, Sheikh Mohamed bin Ahmed MA Al Thani, Abdulla Al Kuwari and Ibrahim Almalki. Lulu Group International Director Dr Mohamed Althaf and a host of important guests from the Royal family, ministries, the Indian embassy, Indian community organisations, officials from the Lulu chain and a large gathering of ethnic and expatriate communities were also present on the occasion.Speaking on the occasion, the Indian ambassador expressed his happiness over the initiative of Lulu Hypermarket in organising the Indian festival across all Lulu outlets in Qatar and other GCC counties.“It is a very special moment for every Indian citizen to be celebrating the 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence. Lulu has been playing important role in promoting Indian brands in the GCC. I am very happy to be here for inaugurating the festival,” said the ambassador.He said that Lulu has been playing a major role in promoting food security in Qatar even during challenging times in the past few years.“The festival is showcasing so many varieties of products which have been imported exclusively from different parts of India including Jammu and Kashmir to northeast and southeast of India,” the Indian envoy said.He said that the festival offers various food items including fruits, organic vegetables, millets and other plant-based protein vegans.Qatar Chamber (QC) First Vice-Chairman Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Twar Al Kuwari said that Lulu Hypermarket is offering a big range of Indian food items during the festival including fruits, vegetables among others in very nice packs.“Lulu Hypermarket is very famous for its promotion and offers products at competitive prices. It always offers something new to its customers. We are grateful to Lulu for supporting our local market,” Kuwari said.Talking to the media on the sidelines of the festival, Althaf said, “Being a major player in Qatar-India relationship, Lulu Hypermarket is taking this opportunity not only to promote Indian products to enhance trade relations between two countries but other ties as well like cultural and cuisines.”He said that the diplomatic relations between Qatar and India are going to mark 50 years bringing the two countries closer.“Many new shipping routes were opened during the past five years. Now we have direct trade relationship between Qatar and India which enhances further trade ties between two countries,” said Althaf.Regarding food security, he said that India has got a very major role to play in Qatar by exporting food items in a large quantity which is being recognised by people including Indian expatriates, Qatari citizens and residents of other countries.“This is one of the major events we are hosting in this new branch of Lulu Hypermarket. The festival-related offers are made available at all the 18 stores in the country,” said Althaf.Lulu has been conducting the festival on the same theme for the last two decades aligning with Indian Independence Day to celebrate to highlight the unique quality and richness of the food products from India.“India Utsav” is a retail festival that brings alive the 3Cs of the Indian experience at LuLu: Culture, Commerce and Cuisine. It showcases the close commercial ties Qatar enjoys with India.Every year, Lulu Group organizes special events to showcase the beauty and diversity of Indian culture through festivals like ‘India Utsav’ as customary to their hypermarket’s brand identity. It has exerted great efforts to introduce a new range of products, from its own sourcing offices across India. After two years of challenging times, the shopping industry is making a strong come back and they want to make sure that shoppers get everything they need for the festive season at the most affordable prices.LuLu has flown in many exclusive Indian products for the shopping festival. LuLu chefs have created a huge range of authentic specialities, desserts, and street food delicacies in the hot food section.To complete the Indian culture experience, trendy high-street fashion, as well as a curated collection of designer wear for festivals, is made available.This year LuLu highlights over 3,500 products in different categories, which are flown in straight from India for this promotion—from fruits and vegetables to meat, packaged food products, kitchen essentials, and traditional wear like sarees, churidars and others. A wide range of hot food dishes is also being freshly prepared daily.
