Brasil Foods invests $145 million in Kizad

UAE-based Federal Foods Company, the local arm of Brazilian food processing company Brasil Foods (BRF), has signed an agreement with Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad) to invest $145 million (AED533 million) in the free zone’s food manufacturing cluster.

The investment provides Brasil Foods with a land plot of 1,743,00 sqft in the Kizad Area A cluster, 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 tonnes annually.

“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” says Khaled Salmeen, CEO and managing director of Kizad.

“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 customised to fit the local and regional demand, and expanding our food portfolio,” adds Patricio Rohner, general director, BRF Middle East–Brasil Foods.