Syria’s famed sweets hit the shelves again
damascus — Syria’s grinding conflict has brought bitterness to producers of the country’s renowned sweets, but after years of struggle they say business is finally picking up again.
At the “Daoud Brothers” sweet shop in the capital Damascus, 20 workers surround large metal platters, preparing hundreds of waferthin barazek, a famed Syrian biscuit dotted with pistachio pieces and coated in sesame seeds.
Syria’s sweets were once a leading export as well as a must-have souvenir for visiting tourists.
But the war decimated the industry, with tourism disappearing and domestic consumption nosediving as the conflict ravaged the economy.
Fighting cut routes that brought the finest ingredients from across the country to producers, and closed borders that once facilitated exports to the region and beyond.
“With the war, exports were basically interrupted,” said Radwan Daoud, the shop’s export manager. “There was no demand, and we couldn’t deliver on what orders there were because the workshops were in Damascus province,” he said, referring to areas where clashes between Syria’s army and rebels were frequent.
“Getting through was difficult and dangerous, and the routes were often cut.”
Parts of Damascus province outside the capital are some of the last remaining strongholds of Syria’s rebel forces, but in recent months fighting has dropped off thanks to the implementation of a “de-escalation zone” in the region.
Daoud said exports were back on the rise in the past few months as a result. “Primary materials and products can reach markets easily and quickly,” he said.
“Things have finally started to pick up again, and we’ve recovered about 15 per cent of our activity.”
But Daoud Brothers once exported up to 40 tons of sweets a month, mostly to Canada, the United States, Europe and the Gulf.
For the moment, sweets are exported either by boat from the ports of Latakia and Tartus, or taken by land into neighbouring Lebanon and flown from Beirut airport. —