Almarai

Inspired vision

Our success story begins in 1977. It was around then that HH Prince Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud 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 50,000 shareholders. At the end of 2016, 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. In the same year, we established a joint venture with Chipita and Olayan Finance Company under the name of the Modern Company Industries to launch 7DAYS brand.

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 100,000 customers within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Egypt and Jordan 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), Almarai has recently acquired the entire project and now offers its products under the brands Nura.

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