Defying the subdued trend due to the global financial turmoil, Masafi - one of the leading FMCG brands in the Gulf and Middle East - today announced 36 per cent increase in its net profit for 2008 compared to the previous year. The company also registered net revenue of AED378 million during the year, recording an impressive growth of 35% over 2007.
Masafi's impressive financial results during 2008, which witnessed rising inflation caused by escalating raw material costs, surging operating expenses and weakened consumer confidence due to the global financial turbulence, have been attributed to its strategic growth strategy aimed at continuous product innovation and diversification.
In his comments, Ashraf Abushady, CEO of Masafi, said: "Masafi has seen tremendous growth in 2008 amidst this challenging time for all businesses. We pride in the fact that Masafi has consolidated its market leadership, thanks to its world-class product offerings, driven sales efforts and innovative communications campaign. In spite of the credit crunch, we continued undeterred on our growth strategy by diversifying our offerings, thus fulfilling our goal of becoming a total food and beverage company."
He added: "Masafi's stellar performance has also been credited to our adherence to our 3P bottom line strategy - Profit, People and Planet, where our financial bottom lines (profits) were driven from our commitment to tailor our products in line with the need-states, tastes and preferences of our consumers (people) and our company's stress on safeguarding our environment (planet). As part of this cause, we launched the Masafi Carbon Action Plan and the corporate recycling service to reduce the environmental impact of plastic bottles."
One of Masafi's significant achievements during the year was the 'Environmental Contribution of the Year' recognition at 2nd Annual Middle East Business Achievement Awards 2008 in November. Masafi adopted the Carbon Action Plan in 2008 to measure and reduce the carbon emissions and move towards a carbon negative environment.
The first mineral water company in the UAE and among the first in the region to be awarded prestigious ISO 14001 certification for Environmental Management, Masafi is also the first and currently only mineral water company to have an in-house recycling facility. The company has deployed a custom-built collection vehicle dedicated to collecting plastic for the purpose of recycling.
2008 saw Masafi's entry into gourmet food business with Masafi Gourmet Potato Chips - a pivotal step towards the company's objective to provide a premium comprehensive food and beverage portfolio and become a complete FMCG company by 2011.
The year also witnessed Masafi mineral water building on its market leadership and enjoying the highest equity index ever, while Masafi Tissues achieved UAE market leadership, as per a study conducted by A C Nielsen in July 08.
During the year, Masafi Tissues also achieved the number one share of heart across UAE, based on consumers' responses across three basic criteria - willingness to pay a price premium; favourite brand and brand most recommended to friends, and family.
The year also saw Masafi Flavoured Water spearheading the category with 27.8 per cent market share (A C Nielsen, Aug/Sep 2008) with its strawberry, lemon, peach, mint-lemon and the newly-launched Jasmine flavored water.
During 2008, Masafi also launched the innovative proprietary 100% pure juice flavour blends catering to different consumer need-states and wants.
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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 the past 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 first-class 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 mineral water, tissues, Masafi Juices and the newly-launched Masafi Flavored Water. 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. The 4-gallon bottles are 100 per cent recyclable and only for one-time-use. The tissue line includes boutique fragrant tissues in three scents, floral tissues in purple, pink and green colors, car tissue boxes and recently launched its new boutique tissues -- Sense of Spring. Masafi leads the UAE market in Brand Equity Index in the tissue line and enjoys the number one share of heart across the UAE. The hugely popular Masafi Juices come in an array of original flavors and rich blends available in 2 litre, 1 litre and 200ml bottles. The flavored water is available in five flavors -- strawberry, lemon, peach, jasmine and mint & lemon in 500ml sizes.
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/ Naeem Badiuzzaman,
BPG Public Relations,
Dubai
Tel: +9714-295 3456;
Fax: +9714-295 1027
E-mail: gkammoun@batespangulf.com /naeem@batespangulf.com
© Press Release 2009
