Al Bayader to bite off bigger slice of food packaging industry in Gulf

Dubai food packaging company Al Bayader International is aiming to secure a bigger slice of business from the region's $20 billion food and beverage industry.

The Dubai food packaging company Al Bayader International is aiming to secure a bigger slice of business from the region's US$20 billion (Dh73.46bn) food and beverage industry.

The company, which makes more than 1,000 products, has poured Dh80 million into its business to capture the market's rapid growth.

"In the last 10 years, we have significantly pushed substantial investments in industrial, logistics and marketing strategies," said Nidal Haddad, the group chief executive. "We have consciously pursued an industrial strategy that embraces in-house design, research and development and manufacturing with the aim of achieving 85 to 90 per cent self-sufficiency."

Part of the investment included a Dh15m outlay into a production line at the company's manufacturing facility in Jebel Ali for its latest product launched yesterday, the Towerpac range of containers that lock using a screw mechanism.

The company, which has grown between 10 and 12 per cent annually over the past 10 years, introduced its latest range after spotting a gap in the market. "We have been watching the market for quite a long time and we have noticed that what is actually being provided to the market does not meet the market [needs] or address the specific requirements, because these products were coming to the Gulf markets and imported from other countries where they have other eating habits and other food," added Mr Haddad.

"Our overall and continuing investment addresses the economic growth forecast for the region, which … is set to top Dh27.5bn for the mass grocery retail sector by 2015."