180,000-crate cold store helps accommodate 15 percent demand increase notched in Q1 2015 alone

Dubai, June 30, 2015

Al Rawabi, the UAE's number one locally-based dairy in terms of daily production, has announced the expansion of its cold storage infrastructure through the introduction of a facility that can store 4,000 pallets - equivalent to 180,000 crates in a temperature controlled environment. The new facility was developed at a cost of AED 25 million.

The move comes as Al Rawabi bolsters internal capacity to accommodate rising demand for its products. The company's sales have grown 15 percent in the first quarter of 2015 alone. The dairy's meteoric growth has resulted in it becoming the number 1 brand in the UAE in terms of market share in juices, with 14 different flavours on offer.  Al Rawabi also holds a 1/3rd market share of the UAE market for dairy products.

The new cold store has taken Al Rawabi's storage capacities from 1,000 pallets to 4,000. The facility also introduces state of the art design and technological improvements, with a new ramp eliminating bottlenecks, and automatic packaging and labelling machines delivering efficiency gains. New loading area technologies improve the loading processes while reducing instances of transport related damage to zero. Increased space for night loading operations reduces loading times by 4 to 6 minutes per vehicle, generating substantial productivity increases.

"We are very proud of Al Rawabi's journey towards becoming the UAE's leading locally-based dairy. A project that started in 1989 with a mere 500 cows has turned into a state of the art facility producing 275,000 litres of dairy products a day as well as 150,000 litres of fresh juice. Al Rawabi is committed to expanding its operations and introducing world-class facilities to continue providing consumers across the region fresh, high quality products. Our new cold storage facility offers engineering, design and technology improvements to create efficiency and cost savings while helping us streamline our value chain and become a premier regional brand," said Al Rawabi Dairy Company's General Manager Dr Ahmed Eltigani.

The new facility benefits from stringent temperature control that maintains operating temperature uniformly across all areas, including storage and transport corridors. State of the art waste management reduces landfill loads. The facility is scalable, and can accommodate a further 5 loading stations in the future.

"Al Rawabi has recently completed 25 years of operation, during which it has established a reputation as the UAE's leading provider of dairy products. We are investing heavily in strengthening internal capacities and creating new assets and infrastructure including farmland, machines and stores to continue meeting sharp demand increases for our superb quality products," Dr Eltigani concluded.

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About Al Rawabi Dairy Company:
Al Rawabi Dairy Company is a leading dairy and juice company in the UAE with a wide range of products from milk, yoghurt, laban, juice and functional products.  Currently, Al Rawabi operates in the UAE, Oman and Qatar serving more than 10,000 stores with fresh products.  In our home, at the farm in Al Khawaneej with our 12,500 cows with us, we continue to grow, learn and think of new ideas every day.

Starting in 1989 with a just 500 imported cows, today we are celebrating our 25th Anniversary. Our farm has grown to have a total of 12,500 cows, located in the warm Dubai Dessert, and we possess the dairy production capacities that compete with some of the most advanced European companies.

Innovation is at the core of the company thinking and everything that we do. We have first introduced the plastic bottles in 1991 to the UAE market, first introduced pasteurized juices in the region, and we are the first company to launch functional products in the dairy industry - such as Nutree Boost, Omega-3 milk and Super Milk. The new functional products are enriched with multivitamins and minerals, and designed to help solve the health concerns of the GCC population. The company today is awarded with ISO 9001, ISO 14003, ISO 22000, HACCP certifications and has received many local and international recognitions, such as Super Brand Award, Best Environmental Practices, as well as being listed among the 40 strongest brands in the Arab World by Forbes Magazine.

For more information, please contact:
Maan Dalghan
PR Director - Quill Communications
+971 52 9933298
mdalghan@quillmena.com
www.quillmena.com

© Press Release 2015