São Paulo – Brazilian food processing company BRF announced on Wednesday (4), the beginning of operations of OneFoods, the holding company’s new unit that focus on halal products, which are produced according to the Sharia, the Islamic law, for the consumption of Muslims.
OneFoods is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and, according to a BRF statement, “is born already as the world’s largest halal animal protein company.” The company’s new logo has a crescent moon, a symbol of the Muslim world.
In July of last year, the multinational had announced the creation of a subsidiary focused on Muslim markets named Sadia Halal. OneFoods, however, will include products of brands Sadia, Perdix, Confidence and Hilal. These brands are sold directly by the Brazilian company to the markets of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Libya, Lebanon and Egypt. Other Arab countries also acquire BRF’s products via distributors.
With OneFoods being launched, its name now replaces BRF’s in the packaging of the brands aforementioned.
According to the company’s statement, OneFoods will operate in a market of around 1.8 billion people, with a profile carrying economic and population growths above the global average.
“By creating a local company to consolidate our operations in Islamic markets, we moved further up the production chain to get closer to our consumers, which should support the accelerated growth of OneFoods,” said Pedro Faria, BRF’s global CEO, in the statement.
OneFoods is headquartered in Dubai and employs near 15,000 people. The halal products are produced in a total of ten plants. Besides the central plant, OneFoods has another eight in Brazil and one in Malaysia.
“The subsidiary’s operations are fully integrated, which gives OneFoods a unique position in terms of production costs compared to its competitors,” explained Faria in the statement.
OneFoods’ operations will be head by Patrício Rohner, general director of BRF in the Middle East and North Africa. “OneFoods already operates in more than 40 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Asia. Its goal is to accelerate the transition process and forge closer relationships with consumers in all its markets, by replicating the leadership it has attained in the Middle East through its brands, distribution, integrated chain, low costs and high-quality and innovative products,” explained Rohner.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
