Brazil’s BRF deepens Saudi presence with purchase of food processing firm

Brazil meat processing company BRF, a major halal exporter, has agreed to purchase Joody Al Sharqiya Food Production Factory for 29.7 million riyals, roughly $8 million.

The company said in a statement dated May 7 that the purchase was executed by its indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary Badi Limited with Hungry Bunny and others.

Joody Al Sharqiya Food Production Factory has a processing plant in Dammam in Saudi Arabia. Its core business is breaded and marinated cuts and hamburgers.

BRF said it plans to invest around $7.2 million in the Dammam plant to expand its current capacity from 3,600 tons per year to 18,000 tons per year.

The meatpacker said this acquisition does not impact the agreement it signed with the Saudi Arabian Investment Authority in October to secure approximately $120 million in a new Saudi chicken processing plant.

The $120 million investment was a result of BRF’s new strategy for Saudi Arabia that shifted after April 2018 when the Kingdom instituted a no-stunning requirement for animal slaughtering that required the company to migrate its production processes to continue supplying to the Middle East’s biggest economy. The company said in its 2019 annual report that it has incurred additional costs due to the new export requirements.

Additionally, Saudi Arabia’s national campaign to reduce its dependence on oil and diversify its economy also impacted BRF’s chicken meat exports to the Kingdom from its Abu Dhabi facility.

In Islamic countries, BRF has a manufacturing plant in Abu Dhabi, and three in nearby Turkey. It also operates a plant in Malaysia.

It its halal markets its main brands are Sadia and Banvit, as well as secondary marks Perdix, Hilal and Korpe as well as Confidence, UNEF and Gozde.

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