In 1997, under the pretext of concern about mad cow disease, Ratsiraka obstructed Ravalomanana's plans to build a farm stocked with imported high-yield milk cows. Ravalomanana overcame the objection by breeding high-yield cows locally, thereby further boosting Tiko production. Later that same year, Ratsiraka's daughters began competing with Tiko by importing and reselling vegetable oil under the brand name "Eden". When Norbert Ratsirahonana declared himself a candidate in the 1997 presidential elections against Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy, Ravalomanana provided significant financial contributions to the Ratsirahonana campaign in return for tax exemptions on his edible oil products for a period of five years. The profits he consequently earned were reinvested to create the Magro wholesale company in 1998. By 2001, over a dozen principal warehouses throughout the country enabled widespread distribution of Tiko products to urban and rural areas, with a flagship warehouse in the Akorandrano neighborhood of Antananarivo.