Company awarded for Best Stand, Environmental Sustainability initiatives

Dubai, February 28, 2011: Masafi, one of the region's leading FMCG brands, took the limelight at the Gulfood 2011 Awards ceremony, winning the accolades for the Best Trade Stand [Upto 100 square metre category] and the Best Environmental Sustainability.

The awards were given away last night at a glittering ceremony held on the sidelines of Gulfood 2011 - the region's leading annual food, drink and hospitality exhibition - currently being organized in Dubai. The exhibition, which started on February 27, continues till March 2 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Awards in 19 different categories were given away during the ceremony. The jury judged initiatives launched by companies after March 2010 and Masafi's landmark environmental initiatives and attractive stand design took the honours.

In her comments on the awards, Natascha Edelmann, Head of Marketing at Masafi, said: "Masafi is honoured to receive the prestigious Gulfood 2011 Awards and we would like to thank the jury, every one at Masafi and most importantly our partners in our environmental initiatives, who have actively contributed to our efforts of furthering the cause of environment. These awards further reinforces our resolve to continue promoting and partnering such community efforts to safeguard the environment. The Best Stand award is a recognition of our commitment to innovation and we are thrilled with this honour."

The Masafi Stand at Gulfood 2011 showcased the natural environment in which its products are sourced and packaged. The stand offered an easy-to-navigate design, with an effective use of space in a very relaxed, natural ambience. Designed in a very unique way, the stand offered a mix of areas for demonstrating products and meeting space in a very traditional Arabian setting close to the environment and acknowledging the rich heritage.

The stand had its touch of green, to reflect the company's commitment to environment with the Hajar Mountains - the source of Masafi water - towering in the background. The open design reflected modernity and that look transfered to the image Masafi believes in - forward thinking and progressive, yet honouring the original home and source of Masafi Natural Mineral Water.

The Environmental Sustainability award was in recognition of Masafi's landmark eco-friendly initiatives in the last year, which include:

  • Launch of the Oxo Biodegradable films in its shrink-wrap packaging for water bottles in GCC. Masafi is the first company in the food and beverage sector in Middle East to launch the packaging. The launch follows the success of the shrink-wraps in the UAE.

  • Support to the 2010 Can Collection Campaign, organized on May 8, 2010, by the Emirates Environment Group [EEG]. Masafi distributed over 185 cases of water free of cost for the campaign. Over 22,000 kilograms of aluminum cans were collected.

  • Strengthening its institutionalized approach to CSR by rolling out an awareness campaign on environment with University of Jazeera in Dubai. Masafi also participated in an exhibition at the University and distributed leaflets, flyers and educational brochures on its environment programmes.

  • Reinforcing its Corporate Recycling initiative by distributing CSR leaflets in 7Days, issuing over 72,000 copies across the UAE. With the initiative, Masafi has re-emphasized its commitment to further the cause of recycling plastic.

  • Organizing the Clean-Up campaign at Masafi Village in Ras Al Khaimah on January 7th, 2011. Over 240 Masafi employees took part in the Clean-Up Campaign and collected over 9.14 metric tonnes of waste within three hours.

Since its inception, Masafi has always cared for the environment and is ready to go the extra mile towards a better tomorrow for the people and society.

-Ends-

About Masafi:
Masafi, the leading producer of pure natural mineral water in the entire Gulf, was established in 1976 with a paid-up capital of approximately $5.5 million. The company has retained its market leadership for over three decades by providing world-class products which are renowned for their pure natural freshness. This has seen Masafi become the premium reference for bottled mineral water in the entire region. In the process, it has built an extremely strong distribution network to consistently deliver to dynamic market requirements and has continuously upgraded its state-of-the-art equipment to keep pace with technological advances around the globe.

Being a leading brand that delivers to consumer needs, Masafi's wide product portfolio includes Pure, Natural Mineral Water, Tissues, Juices, Flavored Water and Gourmet (Chips). The mineral water product line comes in bottles of 1.5 litres, 1 litre, 500ml, 330ml (regular and sports) 4 gallon bottles, 330ml kids packaging (regular and sports); mineral water cups in sizes of 250ml, 200ml, and 125ml. All Masafi product bottles are 100 per cent recyclable and only for one-time-use. The tissue line includes boutique fragrant tissues in four scents, floral tissues in purple, pink and green colors, and car tissue boxes. Masafi leads the UAE market in the Brand Equity Index in the water and tissue categories. The hugely popular Masafi Juices come in an array of original flavors and rich fruit blends available in 2 litre, 1 litre and 200ml bottles and a 100% juice blend tetra pack product line. The flavored water is available in four flavors -- strawberry, lemon, peach and mint & lemon in 500ml sizes. The Gourmet potato chips come in four flavours - sea salt, sweet chilly, 'four cheese' and Labneh & Zaatar.

The company was the first recipient of the ISO 9002 certification in the entire Middle East and was awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certification for developing and maintaining a high standard Quality Management System. Masafi has also been awarded the HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) certification. Masafi is also a member of International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) and Asia Bottled Water Association (ABWA). Masafi Water is tested and approved by NSF International, USA, which carries out annual unprompted audits on behalf of IBWA. Masafi is the first mineral water company in the region to be awarded the prestigious ISO 14001 certification for Environmental Management.

For further information, please contact:
Ghada Kammoun/ Venkat Iyer
BPG Public Relations, Dubai
Tel: +9714-295 3456
Fax: +9714-295 1027
E-mail: gkammoun@batespangulf.com / venkat@batespangulf.com

© Press Release 2011