Sime Darby Oils and Dr. B.R. Shetty’s ADVOC announce strategic partnership for MENA region

Sime Darby Oils (SDO) and Dr. B.R. Shetty owned Abu Dhabi Vegetable Oil Company (ADVOC), are pleased to announce they have entered into a strategic partnership to market oils and fats products in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Via the partnership, SDO and ADVOCwill operate in the region as a single sales and marketing team, focusing on basic and specialty fats (including bakery fats, shortening, industrial margarines, spread fats, dairy replacers, confectionary fats and cocoa butter substitutes and replacers). This will benefit regional customers by providing them access to the companies’ combined sales expertise, production capabilities and extensive product range.

With evolving customer needs playing an increasingly critical role in businesses, companies recognise they need to accelerate the development of innovative solutions to ensure they remain competitive. In view of this, Sime Darby Oils-ADVOCpartnership aspires to help support customers in the MENA region through bespoke solutions using the combined skills and understanding in the oils and fats category, product ideation, development and deployment.

“The Sime Darby Oils-ADVOCpartnership is a powerful combination. Sime Darby Oils’ understanding of specialty fats, its deep R&D expertise, and agile, collaborative approach is uniquely complimentary to that of ADVOC’s. Over the last two decades, ADVOC has earned the reputation of being a customer driven and reliable supplier of a wide variety of oils and fats in the MENA region” said Dr. B.R. Shetty, Chairman, ADVOC. 

“The MENA region is a key growth market for Sime Darby Oils. Partnering with ADVOC enables us to establish an on-the-ground presence through enhanced local market knowledge and capabilities and open up opportunities for sustainable products and supply chain. Through this partnership we can leverage our respective assets to offer compelling customer propositions,” said Mohd Haris Mohd Arshad, SDO's Managing Director.

“The teams are working closely to set up the operations, structure, portfolio, marketing and route-to-consumer strategies, licensing and other operational matters. Together, working as one team, we will unlock the full potential of global expertise and local requirements, and place our clients on the best path for success” said Nirman Shetty, Director ADVOC.

By connecting ADVOC’s local market understanding with SDO’s extensive oils and fats know-how and expertise, the collaboration represents a step-change in the way both entities address the needs of the market.

About ADVOC

Established in 1997, ADVOC is the first edible oil refinery and manufacturer of edible fats in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. ADVOC is also the newest and one of only three fractionation plants in the entire GCC.

ADVOC has market leading brands such as Coroli, LiteLife and Sarola and is proud to manufacture in Abu Dhabi and export across the MENA region to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Jordan, Maldives and Yemen among others.

Apart from manufacturing edible oils and fats for consumers, ADVOC also makes ingredient oils and specialty fats for the food service and retail industry. It serves hotels, food processing companies, bakeries, catering companies, restaurants and cafeterias. It specializes in making bespoke specialty fats such as Butter Blends, Dairy Fat Substitutes and Frying Solutions among many others. 

ADVOC is part of the BRS Group of companies and is owned by Dr B R Shetty, Founder and Chairman of NMC Healthcare, Finablr, Neopharma. The BRS Group has interests across healthcare (NMC Healthcare, Neopharma, BR Life), Financial Services (Finablr, Unimoni, UAE Exchange), Food (ADVOC, Assam Company India Limited, Royal Catering), Education (Bright Riders School, Deira Private School, International Community Kindergarten) and Environment (Al Ahlia Waste Management).

About Sime Darby Oils

Sime Darby Oils (SDO) is a fully owned subsidiary of Sime Darby Plantation (SDP), the world’s largest oil palm plantation company (by planted area) and the world’s largest producer of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO).  

Launched on 4 March 2019, SDO represents the entire downstream division of SDP with a business that spans across 14 countries worldwide, involving the manufacturing as well as the sales and marketing of oils and fats products, palm oil-based biodiesel, nutraceuticals and other derivatives.

SDO aims to occupy a sustainable, quality, integrated, innovative position, reinforcing trust in the brand by focusing on human lives. The Company’s tagline ‘Realising Possibilities, Together’ reflects SDO’s philosophy to help its partners create quality products so that people can live life to the fullest and do so in a sustainable manner. SDO has a workforce of over 2,750 employees as of August 2019.

AboutSime Darby Plantation  

Sime Darby Plantation (SDP) is the world’s largest oil palm plantation company by planted area, producing about 4 percent of the global CPO output. It is also the world’s largest producer of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO), with a CSPO production capacity of over 2.46 million MT.

As a globally integrated plantation company, SDP is involved in the full spectrum of the palm oil value chain, from upstream to downstream activities, R&D, renewables and agribusiness. Its upstream operations which consist predominantly of oil palm cultivation, harvesting and milling are spread across Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Liberia. Its downstream business, known as Sime Darby Oils, spans across 14 countries worldwide, and is involved in the manufacturing as well as the sales and marketing of oils and fats products, oleochemicals, palm oil-based biodiesel, nutraceuticals and other derivatives. SDP is also involved in rubber and sugarcane plantations, as well as cattle rearing.

With a workforce of over 95,000 employees and a strong focus on operational excellence, research, innovation and sustainability, SDP is one of the largest companies on Bursa Malaysia with a market capitalisation of RM31.01bn (USD7.42 bn) as at 2 August 2019.