Buy local from the comfort of your home

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s shortage of dollar liquidity has plunged its businesses into a deep financial crisis. The current economic situation has led many to shut down and lay off hundreds of employees.

This has led several online activists to take charge and introduce local brands to the world of e-commerce and online delivery in the hope of putting them on the map and encourage their trade inside and outside Lebanon.

Menlebnan.com, buylebnene.com, and a third website, which remains nonfunctional, called madeinlebanon.com, are three competing e-commerce websites that have been set up with the sole aim of marketing local Lebanese brands inside and outside Lebanon.

Annahar spoke to all three founders of the websites about their mission and motivation behind these local initiatives.

“We are four partners in madeinlebanon.com. We decided to come back to Lebanon and launch our website, which distributes Lebanese products to all over the world like Amazon,” Yves Kouyoumji, one of the co-founders, told Annahar. “We are collaborating with over 70 local companies.”

Madeinlebanon.com will also work with Aramex and DHL to guarantee future shipments to all countries.

Rami Kastoun, the co-founder of buylebnene.com, told Annahar that his website incorporates more than 30 local products and close to 300 items. These items are categorized under fruits and vegetables, dairy food, canned goods, spices, baking sweets, snacks, beverages and coffee, household items, baby items, and homemade food.

“Buylebnene.com offers competitive prices to the market in Lebanese currency only, promoting exclusive offers to encourage people to buy at a lower price,” Koyoumji said, adding that he currently receives up to seven orders a day, with wine and beauty products being the most popular.

Menlebnen.com competes with the previous two websites with 20 brands and around 500 items listed on its platform.

“I came up with the idea a few days after the start of the revolution,” software engineer Joseph El Khoury, told Annahar. “When the dollar crisis started, I realized that we are dependent on imports. Our shopping behavior is negatively affecting our economy because we got used to buying imported products while we have many local alternatives.”

Aside from websites that support local production, many have also resorted to social media to market homemade Lebanese products along with handmade crafts.

One of the largest of these groups is “Made in Lebanon! The Lebanese Products Group!” The Facebook group includes 33,000 members who advertise their local products on the timeline.

“This group was created to encourage Lebanese production of all kinds,” Lea Kreidi, founder of the group, said. “We were honestly not expecting to see such an overwhelming reaction. We have people baking cakes and making “mouneh” and makdous and all sorts of food.”

Kreidi and her in-laws were so overwhelmed with the crafts and designs marketed on the group that they decided to create a new group dedicated to local designers.

“We’re excited about watching our group grow and thrive, and to see people collaborating through our group,” she told Annahar.