Abu Dhabi zone inks deal with Brazil food giant

Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad) has announced the signing of a new musataha agreement with Brasil Foods (BRF), South America’s largest food processing company and the producers of Sadia, the region’s most renowned brand in frozen foods.
The agreement, with Federal Foods Company, the local arm of Brasil Foods, was signed by Khaled Salmeen, CEO and MD of Kizad, and Patricio Rohner, general director, BRF Middle East of Brasil Foods.
The AED533 million investment provides Brasil Foods with a land plot of 1,743,00 sq. ft. in the free zone area’s food manufacturing cluster of Kizad Area A, which will be used to produce diverse products, including meat products, marinated processed foods and other bread based foods.
Expected to be fully operational by 2014, the Kizad based plant will have a production capacity of 80,000 tons annually.
“We are pleased to welcome South America’s largest food processing company, and the largest poultry exporter in the world, to Kizad. Through Kizad’s food manufacturing cluster, we aim to support Abu Dhabi’s Economic vision 2030 by increasing food production within the emirate through reducing dependence on imports. Brasil Foods will benefit from Kizad’s multi-modal transportation infrastructure and proximity to Khalifa Port, the only semi-automated port in the Middle East, allowing them to tap new markets and increase their business output dramatically,” Salmeen said.
Patricio Rohner at Brasil Foods added: “Our strategic agreement with Kizad will facilitate the access to global markets faster and more efficiently, giving us the competitive advantage and enhancing our brand penetration, distribution, and sales. Setting up in Kizad will also allow Brasil Foods to produce local goods and processed foods customized to fit the local and regional demand, and expanding our food portfolio.”
Based in Sao Paolo, Brasil Foods, South America’s largest food processing company, and the world’s largest poultry exporter, was formed following a AED14 billion merger between two of the largest meat packers, Sadia and Perdigao.