Stakeholders have suggested systemic reforms and stronger policy support to enable Pakistan’s food industry to earn valuable foreign exchange through exports.
“Regulatory reforms, financial incentives, infrastructure improvements, and greater trade facilitation are needed to reduce inefficiencies and support exporters”, said National Foods’ officials while talking to a group of journalists during their recent visit to the Faisalabad plant.
Challenges:
Pakistan’s food export sector, including National Foods Limited (NFL), continues to face hurdles in expanding globally as regulatory, quality, logistics, and cost challenges weigh heavily on competitiveness.
Exporters must navigate varying requirements across markets, from language on primary packs to nutritional labelling and certifications such as SFDA and FDA, which create delays and complexity. Meeting global quality standards, including IPM-grade raw materials, significantly raises costs and adds SKU complexity, while natural contaminants in raw materials risk making products non-compliant in certain markets.
Moreover, logistics disruptions linked to geopolitical factors further complicate operations, driving up freight costs and making on-time, in-full (OTIF) service levels difficult to achieve. At the same time, exporters face competitive pressures such as shelf availability, customisation demands, and higher distributor margins, while elevated packaging and utility costs compared to global benchmarks make Pakistani products less competitive.
Benefits of timely interventions:
Without targeted action, Pakistan risks losing ground in global food markets, but with the right measures, the sector can enhance competitiveness, diversify its export base, and significantly increase food exports. This, in turn, would strengthen Pakistan’s economic position, attract investment, and contribute to broader economic growth and poverty reduction.
Enhancing food exports can significantly strengthen Pakistan’s competitiveness, attract investment, and expand market access, but it is not a quick fix. The government must strategically prioritise regulatory reforms, financial incentives, infrastructure improvements, and trade facilitation.
Pakistani food exporters continue to face challenges such as cost inefficiencies and financial constraints, limited access to finance, inadequate infrastructure, and complex regulatory procedures. Addressing these challenges is critical to enable the sector to become more competitive, diversify its export base, and substantially increase food exports, ultimately contributing to economic growth and poverty reduction.
