INVESTMENT WATCH- Todo and the gang are going to Morocco: Edita, the nation’s largest producer of packaged snack food, announced (pdf) it will directly enter the Moroccan snack food market through a greenfield investment with Morocco’s Dislog Group, a leading Moroccan distributor for top multinational brands. Edita signed an MoU with Dislog to form a joint venture named Edita Food Industries – Morocco, with Edita owning a 51% stake. “Commercial operations will begin in early 2018 with exports of Edita’s products to Morocco, while the second stage will entail the establishment of a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in 2019 with an initial investment estimated at around USD 10 mn.” Edita Chairman and Managing Director Hani Berzi says, “Morocco itself is a very attractive market due to its strong domestic demand and significant growth potential in the segments in which we operate… As we enter the Moroccan market, we aim to capitalize on our successful track record and replicate a proven business model of marketing and manufacturing excellence, calling on the same expertise in research and development, production, and distribution that has seen us succeed in Egypt. We will continue to be aggressive in terms of delivering on our long-term strategy to maximize growth.”