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Case Study
New feed mill for Arabian Farms
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A recently opened facility in Al Ain, UAE seeks to enhance local food production
t’s hard to imagine increasing agriculture and food production in an inhospitable landscape. But that’s what the United Arab Emirates is doing. Three-quarters of land in the UAE is covered by desert. Summer temperatures in the country often soar above 40 degrees Celsius, and freshwater is hard to find. Growing agriculture and food production in such a harsh environment seems ambitious in the country. In fact, its dunes are better known for tourist safaris than their agricultural productivity. Every year, UAE needs to import 90 percent of its food requirements from various countries across the world. It relies on imports of not only food but of nearly all inputs for agriculture and food production. With rapid growth and development and an increase in a diverse population that is largely made up of protein preferring young population coupling a surging demand in locally produced food led by health awareness and Covid-19 pandemic impacts, the importance of food security and the necessity to achieve self-sufficiency in food has been well recognized in the country. In November 2018, the UAE launched the National Food Security Strategy 2051. And On 28 June 2020, the UAE Cabinet approved the national system for sustainable agriculture to improve the efficiency of farms, enhance selfsufficiency in food and create new opportunities to ensure that the agriculture sector is always ranked among the best. More and more agri-food producers invest in modern technologies to build sustainable and profitable local food production that will maintain the country’s supply, improve its food security and transform its food system. Arabian Farms is one of these ambitious companies.
98 | Julio 2022 - Milling and Grain
Arabian Farms: An ambitious poultry business integrator
In 1978 Jeddah-based corporate houses Sedco Holding and Bugshan Investments joined hands to establish Arabian Farms, with a vision to produce fresh, local, safe and quality table eggs. After working successfully for more than 40 years, the company has become the largest poultry products provider in the UAE and is well-known for the high quality and safety of its products and the flagship brand SAHA Eggs. Arabian Farms is the UAE’s only producer of high-end pasteurised shell eggs. The company currently operates a fully integrated poultry business in the UEA and Saudi Arabia. Its farms manage over 8.7 million birds and produces more than 270 million eggs a year at locations close to the main cities, which allow consumers easy access to fresh, locally produced premium products from grocers, food distributors, and food service companies across the region. Its feed mills in Dubai, Al Kharj, and the new feed mill in Al Ain produce layer chick starter, commercial layer feeds, and Omega-3 enriched specially formulated feed. Becoming self-sufficient in feed, Arabian Farms is able to maintain the premium quality of all its poultry products and increase traceability. Arabian Farms has also expanded into poultry meat products with the development of a greenfield broiler chicken site in Al Ain, UAE. When finished, the state-of-the-art project will produce 6000 tonnes per year of broiler meat an annum, helping Arabian Farms capture two percent of the regional fresh chicken market.
Boosting production with an advanced new feed mill
To support Arabian Farms’ new business ambition and production expansion plan, the company entrusted feed mill expert- the integrated solution provider Famsun to deliver a