Barilla expands into Saudi’s nascent pasta market

By RJ Whitehead

- Last updated on GMT

© iStock
© iStock

Related tags Saudi arabia United arab emirates

Pasta brand Barilla will expand into Saudi Arabia in partnership with Mayar Foods as its distributor.

Though the company supplies more than 2,000 retailers, 5,000 restaurants and five airlines in the Gulf, most of its distribution is to the UAE, Qatar and Oman through regional partners.

The Italian giant said it hoped that by opening up Saudi’s market, which currently accounts for 55,000 tonnes a year and a per-capita consumption of 2kg, its business will grow by 5% over the next five years.

Our expansion into Saudi Arabia marks a major milestone for Barilla as we continue to experience increased demand from the region​,” said Loay Elkhouly, Barilla’s regional managing director, adding that the company has also moved into North Africa since it opened its Dubai headquarters in 2014. 

We are proud to be working with Mayar on our expansion into Saudi Arabia and are confident in the joint success that will be brought through their expertise and vision to provide Saudi Arabia consumers with top quality food products​,” Elkhouly said of its distributor.

Barilla has seen recent growth in dietary awareness and consumer demand for authentic, Mediterranean diet foods in Saudi, prompting the move. Barilla Restaurant Group, another Barilla brand, also recently opened its first restaurant in the Middle East in Dubai and is planning further expansion in 2017.

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2 comments

Head of Sales

Posted by Aamir Raza,

Rightly said Moharam. Saudi is definitely a black box for a lot of MNCs. The realities/exaggerations about the challenges in KSA is a good excuse for many inefficiencies to remain and values from being unlocked. It is hear that the few smart amongst them with the right local based management are able reap the advantages while also giving an opportunity for local/regional players to make a mark.

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Barilla is already in Saudi

Posted by Moharam Adhwan,

When you read news of big multinational companies, you feel they're misguided by their regional offices who wants to stay partying in Dubai for as long as they can so long as they provide wrong information to head offices and they follow. First, Barilla is in most super markets in Saudi so what's will be added. Second, Saudi market of 55,000 tons is a big joke. The major producer in Saudi makes 90,000 mtons, all imported products exceed 30,000mt. But they'll say we can't verify unless we get info from Nielsen which covers only Panda supermarket. In short, multi-national companies are out of touch with Saudi market.

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