Tribune News Network
Doha
Baladna Food Industries, Qatar’s largest producer of fresh dairy, commenced its third phase with the launch of the country’s first UHT (Long-Life milk) line.
The new state-of-the-art UHT production line aims to help Qatar move closer to achieving self-sufficiency and food security.
A true Qatari flagship brand, Baladna is now expanding its business into a new phase to build its product portfolio. With an investment of approximately QR21 million, the UHT line is looking to produce an average of 80 tonnes of long-life milk daily.
Baladna has sourced and installed the best new generation automated production lines from Europe and used SIG Germany to produce the special Combibloc packaging for the product.
In response to the growing demand for long-life milk in the country, Baladna is all set to become Qatar’s first local producer of UHT ultra high-temperature pasteurisation.
Moataz Alkhayyat, chairman of Baladna Food Industries Co, said, "This is an exciting new phase for us at Baladna and we are proud to be the first and only long-life milk producer in Qatar.”
Baladna’s UHT milk is the first to be produced locally, from a farm only 60km from Doha, making it a preferred choice owing to its freshness quotient. So far, all UHT milk in the market was being imported mainly from Europe with the bulk of it made from milk powder.
"Innovation has always been at the heart of what we do at Baladna, and enabling the country’s first UHT milk line is only the beginning of our expansion journey. With nearly 20,000 Holstein cows in our barns, we have the capacity to expand our product portfolio, leading to a range of new healthy products in the market,” added Alkhayyat.
UHT milk will be made available in the retail stores in phases and there will be two formats -- 1 Litre and 200ml. The UHT products are available in supermarkets from Monday.
Since its inception in 2014, Baladna has been investing in the best quality management systems, people and processes. Internal audits, corrective measures and preventive actions have helped the dairy producer maintain global quality standards consistently. The brand’s core values dovetail with Qatar’s National Vision 2030 to meet the aspirations of the Qatari community, while also being a symbol of national pride for Qatar.