Very few people know the steps a pickle or any other vegetable undergoes on its way from the plant to the plate. The selection and sorting of vegetables, the cleaning and transformation process, their storage and packaging, and even their distribution, are art forms that I've been practicing for over twenty years, and ones that I'm passionate about. The products' seasonality gives each period of the year a particular taste, because the work processes are not the same, but there is still a common thread in the meticulous choice of quality raw ingredients with good ripeness and beautiful colors. For me, this is the key factor in the success of Vetrapa, which I launched in 2005 with just two workers, and which today feeds over 30 families, depending on the season, through direct and indirect employment. The commitment and dedication of all our staff has enabled us to cover the needs of the market, first in the Sfax region and then throughout southern Tunisia. We currently work with several types of customers with diverse and varied needs. 

To keep them loyal, we extended our range to over 50 products, but even with strong customer relationships and a full order book, we don't consider ourselves immune to fluctuations in the business cycle. We saw this first-hand during the COVID-19 health crisis, when our restaurant and hotel customers were forced to close. Our sales dropped by half.  

The COVID-19 Business Recovery Grant Fund established by the US government as part of its USAID Tunisia JOBS program helped us bounce back by investing in a vacuum packing machine. This packaging technique gave us the opportunity to overcome the crisis and offer new options to our customers, which led us to win new markets. 

Kais Louati – Founder of Vetrapa