September 6, 2012
Almarai expresses concern over rising feed prices
Saudi Arabia''s Almarai has expressed concerns over the rising prices of animal feed and said that the food producers and consumers across the Middle East are expected to feel the sting of rising commodity prices at global level.
Abdulrahman A. Al-Fadley, Almarai''s chief executive officer, said that the company has geared itself well to cope with soaring prices and to continue performing better on all fronts. Addressing a press conference on Monday (Sep 3), Al-Fadley commented on the rising prices of feed stocks including corn and soy. The soaring prices are caused by the inclement weather conditions including a drought in the US, low rainfall in Russia and a weak monsoon season in India.
Al-Fadely gave an overview of the Saudi dairy sector with special reference to the growth of Almarai, its vision and future expansion plan. Referring to the expansion plan of Almarai, Al-Fadley said that "Almarai was going ahead with its new plans and projects."
In 2009, Almarai embarked on a new development phase with initiatives for geographic expansion through the establishment of a joint venture with PepsiCo to form International Dairy and Juice (IDJ) firm. In the same year, Almarai acquired HADCO as part of investing in a new product category through the acquisition, modernisation, and building of new facilities to form Alyoum for poultry products.
To this end, he noted that Almarai has established the Almarai Food Processing Academy in conjunction with an international reputable organisation. Almarai is also involved in the University Students Co-operation Training programme, he added.
Asked about the products and their quality, he said that Almarai provides nutritious and healthy products to consumers of all ages including dairy products, cheese, juices, bakery products, poultry and infant formula under the brand names Almarai, L''Usine, 7Days, Alyoum and Infa.
Al-Fadley pointed out that Almarai Company is certified (ISO 9001-9002) across all operational divisions, including farms, procurement, processing, quality product development, distribution, and supply chain.
He pointed out that Almarai serves more than 48,500 retail customers per day. "Our dairy herd consists of more than 135,000 Holstein cows," he noted. The cows produce an average of over 13,000 litres of milk every year, almost double the European average, he observed. Almarai, he said, produced an annual average of more than 900 million litres of milk.
He pointed out that Almarai''s facilities that include farms and plants among others cover a total area of over 700 million square metres.
"Furthermore, Almarai is committed to adopting and implementing state-of-the-art production processes, plant design, and operating systems to reduce and conserve water consumption," he said.