Meet Rym Bedoui, Managing Director of Finest Food Factory, which specialises in top-of-the-range Tunisian food products.

What has been your career path as a woman entrepreneur?

Rym Bedoui - As the daughter of a diplomat, I've been lucky enough to travel a lot. When I returned to Tunisia, after an MBA in the United States, I ran a technical cooperation programme and became a member of the Tunisian Businesswomen's Association. This led to my desire to create a brand for export, with halwa, the sesame paste that is so popular in the Middle East, as its main product.

Why did you go into the food industry?

R. B. - Because I realised the enormous potential of Tunisian products. And also because to export them more effectively, they had to be adapted to certain quality and hygiene standards, revisited and given attractive packaging. So I launched 'Sultan's Finest Food', a brand that is now present from Singapore to Kuwait, via Austria and France - at Lafayette Gourmet and Monoprix. Since this year, we've also had a presence in Tunisia.

Are top-of-the-range Tunisian products becoming 'trendy'?

R. B. - Tunisian companies realise that if they don't improve and seek to create more sophisticated and better adapted products, international consumers won't buy. That's why the state is subsidising a packaging technical centre and why Tunisia is actively improving its marketing to overcome its image as a developing country.