A proud heritage, a positive future and a relentless commitment to quality

“Our success is driven by a combination of factors. Our dedicated team under the leadership of our supportive Board and visionary management. Our state-of-the-art infrastructure, incorporating centralized farms and advanced processing plants. And our talent for innovation reinforced by world-class marketing and distribution expertise.”

Inspired vision

Our success story begins in 1977. It was around then that HH Prince Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saudi Al Kabeer, our visionary Chairman, recognized an opportunity to transform Saudi Arabia’s traditional dairy farming industry to meet the needs of a rapidly expanding domestic market.

Under his guidance and patronage, numerous agricultural projects were launched to achieve his vision. Starting with fresh milk and laban processing, the scale and scope of these initiatives soon expanded to incorporate modern dairy farms and state-of-the-art processing plants.

Commitment through investment

During the early 1990s, Almarai entered a period of restructuring and reinvestment that took it from a decentralized structure to a centralized structure. The aim: to establish ourselves as a low-cost producer so that our consumers can enjoy high-quality products at an affordable price.

In line with this model, we replaced five decentralized processing plants with our first central processing plant. We also replaced ten small decentralized dairy farms with four large dairy farms in Al Kharj in the central region.

In late 2005, we commissioned a second, larger central processing plant, incorporating a new cheese plant. We also commissioned two new super-farms. In the same year, we moved from being a privately owned company to a publicly listed company and now have around 70,000 shareholders. At the end of 2011, our market capitalization exceeded SAR23 billion.

Diversifying success

Our growth strategy encompasses diversification through innovation, geographical expansion and organic growth.

Bakery

In 2007, we entered the bakery products market by acquiring Jeddah-based Western Bakeries. Two years later, we started the construction of a new bakery facility in Al Kharj. We continue to develop our bakery portfolio with innovative products and new distribution channels.

Poultry

In 2009, we added poultry products to our portfolio through the acquisition of Hail Agricultural Development Company (HADCO). After investing in a world-class production facility, we launched the new premium poultry brand – Alyoum.

Geographical expansion

Paving the way for geographical expansion beyond GCC, we pooled our respective expertise in dairy and juice with PepsiCo. In 2009, we launched a joint venture together – the International Dairy and Juice (IDJ) Company.

Today, Almarai is capable of delivering high quality products to more than 48,000 customers within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) daily.

Infant nutrition

In 2010, we entered the infant nutrition market with the construction of the region’s first infant nutrition plant at Al Kharj, to be commissioned in 2012. Recognizing that the best way forward involves working with acknowledged experts in this field, we formed the International Pediatric Nutrition Company (IPNC), a 50-50 joint venture with Mead Johnson Nutrition. Its infant nutrition products will be co-branded under Almarai and Mead Johnson’s flagship range, Enfa.

Positive future

We continue to invest intensively in technologically advanced production facilities while recruiting high-caliber people with the skills and experience to optimize their performance.”