Maneesh Bakshi
Doha
The blockade imposed on Qatar by Saudi Arabia and its allies seems to have given a massive fillip to 'made in Qatar' products.
Just walk into any local supermarket, you will see more Qatari products on the shelves. And this is a heartening sign of Qatar heading towards achieving its goal of self-sufficiency and food security.
Baladna dairy products can be seen as a fine example of breaking the monopoly of Saudi dairy products as they now occupy prominent shelf space in leading supermarkets of Doha.
"Baladna dairy milk is well accepted in the market and well-received by customers. We havn't come across any complaint in this regard," a salesman of Al Meera outlet said.
He said,"Baladna has recently signed an agreement with Ali Bin Ali (ABA) Group by appointing the latter firm as their sole distributor in the Qatari market. Baladna hopes to capture 40 percent of the dairy product market in the country in the next three years."
Baladna has launched high-quality sheep milk which is rich in protein and essential minerals and is easy to digest. Milk is drawn from their farm in Al Khor where it rears Awassi sheep and is one of the largest integrated 100 percent Qatari-owned livestock farm in the GCC.
Baladna milk comes in conventional glass bottles of one litre each. Sheep and goats are milked every day to provide a wide selection of dairy products while retaining its original taste preserved in bottles until they reach consumers.