the encyclopedic entry of Almarai

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The Evolution

In the early 90’s Almarai entered into a restructuring phase moving away from a decentralized to a centralized structure. The first Central Processing Plant was commissioned replacing 5 decentralized plants. Almarai also established four large dairy farms in the Central area replacing ten decentralized small farms. This classified Almarai as the low cost producer in the region.

Since then, the company has continued to invest heavily in technologically advanced production facilities and equipments. A second and larger Central Processing Plant incorporating a new cheese plant was commissioned in late 2005. A new super farm has been commissioned and a second one is currently under construction. Today, Almarai is capable of serving high quality products to more than 35,000 retail outlets within the GCC.

One of the cornerstones of Almarai’s success is its well established distribution network within the Gulf countries.

In 2005, Almarai moved from being a privately-owned company to a publicly listed company and today has over 90,000 shareholders.

During 2007, with the acquisition of Western Bakeries (flagship brand – Lusine), Almarai extended its footprint in the food category in the region. Exceeding all expectations, the results for 2007 show Almarai generating a profit of SR 667.3 million from SR 464.7 million in 2006.

One of the mainstays of Almarai’s success is its unique ability to maintain and deliver high quality products. This intrinsic attribute combined with a strong understanding of consumer tastes and preferences – acquired through intensive consumer research, ensures that Almarai continues to be a market leader in the GCC countries. And, with the acquisition of Western Bakeries, the product range has been expanded to include a range of bakery products as well as fresh and long-life dairy products, which are made primarily from fresh milk, fruit juices, cheese, butter and other non-dairy products.

Products

Almarai produces a variety of dairy and food products, as follows –

Fresh milk (full fat, skimmed and low fat)
Fresh flavoured milk
Long-life milk (full fat and low-fat)
Long-life flavoured milk
Functional milk (Lacto-free milk)
Laban (full fat and low-fat)
Functional laban (for weight control)
Plain fresh (full fat and low-fat) yoghurt
Fruit flavoured yoghurt
Crème caramel
Custard
Mousse
Fresh bottled juice
Cheese (jar cheese, blocks, square portions, triangles, tins, slice-cheese, Feta, Mozarella)
Bakery products (bread, pastry)

Community Services

Almarai actively contributes to support the development of the society. The company sponsors and organizes various competitions as well as cultural, educational and athletic events, such as the ‘Scientific Innovation’ award, the ‘Educational Excellence’ award for students across the GCC and drawing competitions for children. Almarai also supports the Rua’at Al Khair (sponsoring good deeds) program through the company’s charitable program initiative.

Awards

Almarai is the first dairy farm in the world to have been accredited with ISO 9002. Almarai also received the ISO 9001-2000 award, across all its operating divisions, including farms, procurement, processing, technical research and development, distribution and supply chain sales.