Almarai to invest SAR 153 mln in parent poultry facility, SAR 252 mln in seafood unit

Almarai headquarters

Almarai Co.’s board of directors on June 13 approved a SAR 153 million investment to secure the supply of poultry parent birds for the company and the Saudi Arabian market.

The investment will allow Almarai to mitigate an imminent risk of supply shortage of parent stock in the Kingdom, the diary producer said in a statement to Tadawul.

Once further investments are deployed to secure additional parent stock supply, the parent bird facility will be utilised for hatching egg production as initially planned for poultry capacity expansion.

Almarai's proactive investment in securing parent bird stock is part of its commitment to all stakeholders to provide quality food products and a recognition of its contribution to food security in the Kingdom, the statement noted.

In a separate statement, Almarai said that the board also approved an investment plan to enter the seafood market.

The plan entails an initial investment of SAR 252 million for a seafood processing facility, financed from Almarai’s operating cash flows.

It will enable Almarai to offer its consumers high-quality seafood, expand the company’s product offering and contribute to the food security agenda as per Vision 2030, the statement said.

The investment plan is subject to approval of regulatory authorities, Almarai said, noting that the expected timeline is 24 months from the date of final regulatory approval.