Margaux McDonald, Canada’s senior trade commissioner in Pakistan, answers a few questions about canola market expansion in Pakistan.

Q&A with Margaux McDonald

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What should the canola industry know about the demand opportunity for canola in Pakistan based on your experience there?

McDonald: Pakistan is one of Canada’s top six exports markets for canola – and the good news is that it is likely to grow even more! Canola seed in Pakistan is prized for its high oil content, with recent campaigns, led by the Government of Pakistan, supporting canola oil use across its 200 million population in a push for consumers to switch to healthier edible oils. Moreover, we believe there is real opportunity for demand growth of canola seed in Pakistan – particularly for animal feed, including poultry and dairy. We suspect that the full benefits of canola meal on animal growth and productivity is not yet fully known across the industry in Pakistan, so we have our work cut out for us to expand the thinking about canola and to grow the market here for the benefit of both Canada and Pakistan.

What is unique about the Pakistan business community that is important for canola sales?

McDonald: Pakistani canola seed importers prioritize long-term, trustworthy relationships. Business partners become like family and often share in meals, exchange gifts and commit to doing business over the long-haul. Fortunately, the small community of oilseed importers in Pakistan love Canada – which makes sense – after all, their livelihood depends on our product! Visits to Pakistan, like the one CCC‘s, Brian Innes took in
December 2019 to meet with partners and build stronger bonds, go a long way in fortifying the commitment of a buyer to one particular product from one particular country. That’s also where Canada’s High Commission in Pakistan and our TCS team can play an important role. For example, Ali Khan, our canola expert, has been a Canadian trade commissioner in Pakistan for over 25 years. Every day he works to strengthen Canada’s network of Pakistani oilseed importers, helping to grow market share for Canadian canola seed. Also, our high commissioner, H.E. Wendy Gilmour, has taken a particular interest in promoting canola and regularly meets with influential members of the business community in Pakistan, highlighting the virtues of this valuable Canadian commodity. It’s true that Pakistan is a price-sensitive market, but it’s also a relationship-based market, and I encourage canola seed exporters to work with the CCC and with our TCS team in Pakistan to help strengthen canola’s favourability in this growing market.

Margaux McDonald, Canada’s senior trade commissioner in Pakistan, poses with a can of Sufi brand canola oil.

What was the most memorable interaction you had while working on canola in the lead-up to the Pakistan Oilseeds Summit?

McDonald: Hailing from Western Canada, I have strong memories of visiting farming relatives in the canola belt of Saskatchewan every summer. So it was all the more memorable when, in December 2019, I visited a canola seed crushing facility outside of Lahore, Pakistan with CCC’s Brian Innes, en route to the Pakistan Oilseeds Summit. CCC’s visit to Pakistan was a perfect reason to tour the facility, meet some of the leading importers of Canadian canola, and speak to them more about the value and benefits of Canadian canola. During the facility tour, Brian and I found ourselves actually holding Canadian canola seed as it was being prepared for crushing. It was surreal to imagine the journey that this seed had taken – from Canadian farms, across the ocean on a cargo ship, to the Port of Karachi, and then eventually to the Punjab province of Pakistan where we were standing. It was an incredibly gratifying moment to realize that my TCS team and I play a role in that journey, as we work hard to ensure secure and reliable market access, and search for opportunities to grow the canola seed market in Pakistan. Moreover, as I toured the crushing facility, I had a tangible glimpse at the jobs that Canadian canola seed create all the way across the world in Pakistan – not to mention the other benefits that canola oil consumption brings to the people of Pakistan in terms of health benefits. I’m proud to be a part of canola’s success story – in Canada and on the other side of the globe in Pakistan and beyond.