Brand manager at Bisco Misr had the following to say in response to our thread on their products:

a) Luxe: as i can see that most of you liked it, it is actually our fastest moving product. so its very unlikely for its taste to be affected by storage, maybe its a coincidence, maybe if you buy it, Inji, from a different retailer you won't find that taste.

Abdallah: We don't have 2 luxe biscuits, only 1. The other Tea Biscuit is a totally different brand, but its very good as well, i love it , personally.

And their packaging is different one is gold (Luxe), the other (Tea Biscuit) is orange/ yellow with a cup of tea on it.

As for being able to differentiate between Hohos & Twinkies: they're two different types of cakes and not "the same but different flavors". Hohos is a chocolate swiss roll ; while twinkies is cake filled with cream.
And Chispsey their all the same design but with different variances, which is the color of the pack and the flavor illustration.

So having the same design and changing only the color, is a typical branding approach in any product with different flavors.

b) Ramsis: i have to admit that its not as good as before, but we are currently working on the development of lots of our products and Bisco Ramsis is definitely one of them.

c) Kahk: Glad you all liked it as well, its one of the company's not product but rather a tradition. Their packaging was updated but not the total face lift. As for the advertising, only last year we didn't make any campaign for the kahk but before that it was a must every year. ISA we'll go back to that.

d) Date bars: we did give it a total face lift and it was re-launched under the brand name Datto, with the same great taste.

But as we have part of our consumers who likes the traditional Date Bars products, although their the same product/ recipe, we kept it with the old name & packaging on very small scale only in our outlets.

e) Corn flakes: is one of the recent products that went under development. The improved corn flakes will be launched in the market very very soon, with packaging indicating that this is the improved one. We have 3 flavors: plain, chocolate and honey.
And we will also launch 2 new flavors: Frosties & Raisins and Almonds.

Please all try them and let me what you think :)

f) our outlets: we have outlets covering most of Cairo, Alex and some governerates as well. You can find them all on our website:

http://www.biscomisr.com/Corporate_Info/OUTLETS.aspx

g) Bimbo and Shorty are competitors products.

h) Advertising in general: we know it's very important but the company policy right now is to focus on internal improvements, product recipes and taste, then to go above the line. But we will have some ads in 2009 ISA.

Finally, thank you all for sharing your opinion, and I'm really glad that some of us still have this spirit of being loyal to our local products and wanting them to change and improve.

We had our third trial week about Bisco Misr's products.

Here are some of what the people said.

"My morning cup of tea is incomplete without Bisco Misr's Lux. The taste is just great.
I think they should work some more on the looks of their products."


"i am concerned about the quality control for bisco misr precisely, i mean you can buy a lux biscuits packet from two different places, they will taste different, thats what i think, but on the other hand most of the time it tastes good although it is different :)"

"I LOVE LUX and elbaskoot bel3agwa (it's the best around - just the right amount of texture & sweetness!)...of course the packaging is a bit outdated but the taste makes up for it...they have lots of other products too can you guys remind us what they are so we can rate them?
Also I don't know about quality control...it might be that the expiry date is closer and thats why the taste is stale..."

"Just want to say I love Al Rashidi Halawa and since Im away for my studies I always ask any visitors to bring me a whole box w the individual halawa bars. Its a shame its not being sold abroad as an energy bar, which is exactly how Ive been using it." ~ H. R.

A new facebook initiative invites you to fight back and demand your rights.

Their mission:

1. Expose all the shops/businesses that have a reputation for putting many people through disturbing or humiliating shopping experiences.

2. Become a well established reference of all the shops that everyone living/visiting Egypt should NOT shop at.

How to interpret information on this group:

1. A business with one bad mention on the group does not necessarily mean a bad business. Most probably its a single bad employee. So please help the business to eliminate him, and name him!

2. A business with several bad experiences, probably means that the shop's management sucks! You should be careful before choosing to deal with them.

3. A business with a huge list of horrible customer experiences, probably means you should never ever enter the shop, even if they are the only shop in Egypt selling that product.

In a problem now, and need emergency help:

1. Call Consumer Protection Service ("7'edmet 7emayet 2el Mostahlek"):

Telephone (call from land-line): 19588
Telephone: 02-33055762/5/8
Fax Number: 02-35380384

They operate from 9am - 5pm all days except Friday. They will only take action after receiving a fax with your story and a copy of your receipt.

2. Always keep your receipts, and call within 14 days of purchase.