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Company augments dairy, juice, packaged food ranges
Partnership with Al Douri Foods marks UNIKAI's foray into nuts category
Dubai, UAE – UNIKAI, one of the region’s oldest and most diversified FMCG conglomerates in the packaged food and beverage arena, marked a successful participation in this year’s Gulfood expo. In addition to the soft relaunch of its Royal Treat premium ice cream range, the company signed a partnership agreement with Al Douri Foods at the exhibition, adding the nuts category to UNIKAI’s food portfolio under the Delite brand. The company also received a halal certification during the show.
After spending more than AED10 million on business improvements in 2016, UNIKAI has committed to quadrupling its investments into enhancing its distribution network as well as upgrading its production lines and infrastructure this year.
At this year’s edition of the world’s largest food and beverage exhibition, UNIKAI showcased the latest additions to its extensive product portfolio. Apart from the Royal Treat relaunch, the brand premiered its flavoured laban range Labani in refreshing options including meetha lassi, jeera lassi, cucumber and mint, sambaram, and lemon ginger and chilli. Visitors also got an exclusive first glimpse of UNIKAI’s new products including Delite feta cheese, a new line of tinned milk powder and an expanded range of impulse foods including cupcakes, mountain cake, fruit slice and plum cake.
UNIKAI’s stand featured a variety of experiential interactions including a juice corner with a resident mixologist rustling up delicious smoothies and fruit concoctions from the brand’s range of pure juices, and a parlour-like ice-cream creation counter.
Speaking on the premium ice cream range, Neeraj Vohra, CEO of UNIKAI, said: “The soft relaunch of Royal Treat at Gulfood 2017 marked our foray into the premium ice cream category. Capitalising on our success in the mass ice cream segment across the region, we aim to gain market share in the premium ice cream segment, competing head-to-head with global players. Relaunched with a heavy investment, the product will hit the shelves this summer.”
Royal Treat will be available in a range of flavours including Mocha, Cookies & Cream, Double Chocolate, Caramel Crunch, Premium Vanilla and Natural Strawberry.
Addressing UNIKAI’s ongoing portfolio rebranding, which commenced in September 2015 and is now 70 percent complete, Vohra said: “In FMCG, it is imperative to regularly revitalise designs in keeping with the latest trends. Following extensive market research, we saw a tremendous opportunity in diversifying our product portfolio while redesigning the packaging across our product lines.”
He added: “We believe that our 40-year tradition as a UAE brand combined with our growth plans that seek to double our distribution network across the UAE and Oman in the next three years are our biggest strengths in the upcoming phase. We have strong brand recall among Emiratis, as they have grown up enjoying our products. Building on that heritage, we seek to bring a sense of freshness to our portfolio that younger generations can relate to.”
For his part, Abdul Ghani Al Douri, Founder of Al Douri FoodStuff Trading Company and Factory, said: “With almost four decades of catering to the tastes of the GCC market to its credit, UNIKAI is one of the region’s most popular FMCG brands. Our partnership cements our reputation as the supplier of best-in-class products. We are keen to see the uptake of our products once they hit the shelves and look forward to further collaborations with UNIKAI.”
Over the next three years, UNIKAI plans to replace existing production lines with faster and higher-capacity ones. To keep up with the constantly changing consumer demands, the company has also recently invested AED1 million in a new R&D facility. Researchers will use the latest food industry trends, such as the buzz around the health benefits of dark chocolate or the preference for healthier yoghurt variants, to improve the company’s products. Further adding value across the portfolio, research on flavour injections and innovations in the recipe makeup will enhance UNIKAI’s current recipes while retaining the original taste and quality of old favourites.
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About UNIKAI
UNIKAI Foods PJSC is a publicly listed company on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). With a long tradition of almost four decades, the company is one of the most established FMCG conglomerates on the Arabian Peninsula. Boasting an extensive distribution network in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and east Africa, UNIKAI offers a diversified product portfolio comprising juices, dairy products, ice cream, snacks and rice.
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© Press Release 2017
