AGROALIMENTAIRE : LATEEF ENTREPRISE-UN CHAMPION SÉNÉGALAIS AUX AMBITIONS RÉGIONALES
In the sweetener (sugar substitute) market, a Senegalese company is making its mark. Lateef Entreprise, which markets the Sucria brand, has achieved the feat of outperforming imported products. It now aims to expand internationally.
They gave up prestigious positions in the United States to try their hand at entrepreneurship in their country of origin, Senegal. The story begins in 2015 when a group of Senegalese who had studied and were working in the United States created Lateef Entreprise, which markets Sucria, a sweetener (sugar substitute, commonly known as 'diabetic sugar').
Ten years later, what was a gamble has become a success story. "We have achieved our primary objective of being the reference sweetener on the Senegalese market with a price accessible to the purchasing power of households," explains Momar T. Mbaye, founding member and commercial director of Lateef Entreprise.
“What motivated us was that the sweeteners that were present on the Senegalese market were not high-end products. These were products discovered in the 1970s and 80s, and that hurt us,” explains Amadou B. Diop, also co-founder of Lateef Entreprise and Director of Operations.
The secret to this success lies in a quality-driven approach. The founders focused on innovation, research, and thorough market analysis to offer a product that met quality-price standards.
The social impact is real: 100 jobs created with the ambition to reach 500 by 2030.
However, challenges abound. The Sucria brand now faces "dispersed" but real competition from lower-quality, cheaper imported products. Like other local brands, Sucria is also not immune to attacks and unfounded rumors aimed at discrediting the product in the eyes of consumers.
The State must also support these companies in their international expansion strategies. This is the whole point of the SunuChampions initiative launched by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on April 28, 2026, which aims to select high-potential national companies and support them towards regional and international competitiveness.
True to the American spirit, the founders of Lateef Entreprise aren't specifically expecting government assistance. "We want to support the government in implementing its public health policy and creating jobs," says Mr. Mbaye. The stakes are high. According to data from the Ministry of Health, chronic non-communicable diseases (diabetes, hypertension, cancer) are responsible for 53% of deaths in Senegal. This public health problem is linked to poor diet. Indeed, many studies have shown that Senegalese people consume too much sugar, salt, and fat.
Faced with this situation, it is important for the State to be able to rely on local champions in the agri-food sector to reverse this trend. Lateef Entreprise is one of them. But its leaders are looking beyond the Senegalese market. After establishing a strong local presence, the company aims to expand into the sub-region and even beyond. At the same time, it continues to innovate. The company recently launched a new product called exSELent , a reduced-sodium salt presented as an alternative to table salt. The goal is to support manufacturers in the agri-food sector in developing new products with reduced sugar and salt content.
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