AFRICA'S NO.1 FOOD, BEVERAGE & MILLING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Agthia Group records 61% Increase in H1 profits, plots expansion in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

Aug 16, 2021Aug 16, 2021 Editor

UAE – Agthia Group PJSC, one of the leading food and beverages companies in the Middle East, has recorded a 61% jump in half-year net profits mainly driven by acquisition synergies and additional cost optimization. According to a statement from the company, group net profits amounted to AED 67.9 million (US$18.49m) while total revenues appreciated 21% year-on-year to AED 1.32 billion (US$360m). The Group’s consumer business division saw its share of net revenue contribution increase by 20% y-o-y to 65% with the agri-business division contributing the remaining 35% of the Group’s revenue. Agthia noted that the rise was attributed to the addition of…

Saudi Arabian consumer goods giant Savola to purchase UAE-based snack maker Bayara for US$260m

Jul 16, 2021Jul 19, 2021 Editor

UAE – Savola Group, a Saudi Arabia- based consumer goods company, has agreed to acquire Bayara, a manufacturer of nuts, dried fruits and spices as part of a strategy to invest in high growth sectors. Bayara specialises in the manufacture and distribution of healthy snacks including raw and roasted nuts, dates, seeds, dried fruits and confectionery. It also produces cooking ingredients such as herbs, spices, and pulses. The privately held company says it processes around 23,000 tonnes of goods each year and operates out of the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Savola said in a filing…

Saudi Arabia privatizes barley imports and distribution business

May 6, 2021May 6, 2021 Editor

SAUDI ARABIA – The Saudi Arabian government has complemented the full privatization of barley imports and distribution business in line with its November 2020 decree. The decision was implemented when the Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO) sold 1.84 million metric tons (MMT) of barley through an open and competitive bidding process to local grain traders. The quantity was made up of 1.42 MMT of barley stored at 22 packing terminals (mostly contract packers) and seven vessel loads of barley sailing to Saudi seaports carrying 60,000 MT each for a total of…

DuPont brings listeria inhibiting meat preservative to processors in the Middle East

Feb 2, 2021Feb 2, 2021 Editor

MIDDLE EAST– DuPont Nutrition & Bioscience is bringing one of its most effective and label-friendly antimicrobial systems to processed meat manufacturers in the Middle East and Africa. Proven to inhibit the growth of Listeria monocytogenes and other gram-positive bacteria, the newly launched NovaGARD NR 100-G is part of the DuPont Danisco range of antimicrobials. Ensuring food safety in a high risk category The threat of listeriosis – a disease caused by Listeria Monocytogenes in the Middle East is ever present as almost 90 percent of meat products sold in the…

Tanmiah Food Company launches US$1m sustainable chicken waste disposal challenge in Saudi Arabia

Sep 23, 2020Sep 23, 2020 Editor

SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi Arabia’s leading manufacturer and distributor of food and agricultural products, Tanmiah Food Company (TFC) has launched the Omnipreneurship Awards: Sustainability Branch Grand Challenge aimed to inspire innovative ways of disposing excess chicken waste generated by their farms. TFC is looking for solutions that will create new processes for converting and using the growing amounts of chicken manure towards value-added products for TFC’s core business. “Tanmiah aims to become the leading sustainable poultry company in the region, as a net carbon-negative poultry producer and to serve as…

Saudi Arabia embarks on privatization of its flour milling sector

Jul 21, 2020Jul 21, 2020 Editor

SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi Arabia has started privatizing its flour milling sector, as part of a wide-reaching overhaul of its economy, with the Kingdom recently privatizing two of its four flour milling companies for US$740.5 million. Saudi Arabia has traditionally imported and milled wheat, and then sold the resulting flour at subsidized prices. But it has been moving toward privatization for a number of years. In 2018, Saudi Arabi’s Council of Economic and Development Affairs approved a privatization program for the sale of the four flour milling companies by SAGO,…

Saudi Arabia transfers ownership of flour milling companies to privatization agency

Jun 13, 2020Jun 13, 2020 Editor

SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi Arabia has resolved to transfer four milling companies to the National Center of Privatization and PPP (NCP), the body responsible for enabling the privatization of certain government assets and services. The resolution, which was made by the Council of Ministers, also issued the four milling companies identified and as Milling Company 1, Milling Company 2, Milling Company 3 and Milling Company 4 permits to produce flour under the ownership of NCP. The Council noted that the transfer of ownership will not have an impact on the…

UAE and KSA food & beverage market to surpass US$80bn in 2020

Jun 3, 2020Jun 3, 2020 Editor

UAE – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are some of the most strategic markets for food and beverage companies in the Gulf region and despite the COVID-19 crisis and the looming economic recession, the food & beverage market is projected to register steady growth throughout 2020 and reach US$80 billion. This is according to an industry analysis conducted by research firm, Frost & Sullivan titled the ‘2020 Outlook of the KSA and UAE F&B Market’, which attributes the growth to increased…

Saudi food group Almarai appoints new chief executive officer

Dec 10, 2019Dec 10, 2019 Editor

SAUDI ARABIA – Almaria Company, the Gulf’s leading dairy company based in Saudi Arabia has appointed Mr. Majed Mazen Nofal as its Chief Executive Officer, effective 1st January 2020. As part of the company’s succession plans, the current acting CEO Mr. Georges P. Schorderet will handover to Majed Nofal on 31st December 2019 and continue to serve as an Advisor to the Board of Directors. Schorderet took over the position on July this year following the resignation of former CEO Mr. Alois Hofbauer, who according to the company stepped down…

Brazil’s BRF to invest US$120m in Saudi poultry processing plant

Oct 30, 2019Oct 30, 2019 Editor

SAUDI ARABIA – Brazilian food processor, BRF has entered into an agreement with the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority to invest approximately US$120 million in setting up its first chicken processing plant in the country. The investment will enable the company to strengthen its position in Middle East. BRF already has four meat processing facilities in the region and ranks as the largest meat exporter in the Gulf region. The facility will have a capacity to produce around 50,000 tonnes per year, serving the Saudi market as well as neighbouring…