ESTUDIO DE CASO

Case Study

t’s hard to imagine increasing agriculture and

Ifood production in an inhospitable landscape. But that’s what the United Arab Emirates is doing.

Three-quarters of land in the UAE is covered by desert. Summer temperatures in the country often soar above 40 degrees Celsius, and freshwater is hard to find. Growing agriculture and food production in such a harsh environment seems ambitious in the country.

In fact, its dunes are better known for tourist safaris than their agricultural productivity. Every year, UAE needs to import 90 percent of its food requirements from various countries across the world. It relies on imports of not only food but of nearly all inputs for agriculture and food production.

With rapid growth and development and an increase in a diverse population that is largely made up of protein preferring young population coupling a surging demand in locally produced food led by health awareness and Covid-19 pandemic impacts, the importance of food security and the necessity to achieve self-sufficiency in food has been well recognized in the country.

In November 2018, the UAE launched the National Food Security Strategy 2051. And On 28 June 2020, the UAE Cabinet approved the national system for sustainable agriculture to improve the efficiency of farms, enhance selfsufficiency in food and create new opportunities to ensure that the agriculture sector is always ranked among the best. More and more agri-food producers invest in modern technologies to build sustainable and profitable local food production that will maintain the country’s supply, improve its food security and transform its food system. Arabian Farms is one of these ambitious companies. Arabian Farms: An ambitious poultry business integrator

In 1978 Jeddah-based corporate houses Sedco Holding and Bugshan Investments joined hands to establish Arabian Farms, with a vision to produce fresh, local, safe and quality table eggs. After working successfully for more than 40 years, the company has become the largest poultry products provider in the UAE and is well-known for the high quality and safety of its products and the flagship brand SAHA Eggs. Arabian Farms is the UAE’s only producer of high-end pasteurised shell eggs.

The company currently operates a fully integrated poultry business in the UEA and Saudi Arabia. Its farms manage over 8.7 million birds and produces more than 270 million eggs a year at locations close to the main cities, which allow consumers easy access to fresh, locally produced premium products from grocers, food distributors, and food service companies across the region.

Its feed mills in Dubai, Al Kharj, and the new feed mill in Al Ain produce layer chick starter, commercial layer feeds, and Omega-3 enriched specially formulated feed. Becoming self-sufficient in feed, Arabian Farms is able to maintain the premium quality of all its poultry products and increase traceability.

Arabian Farms has also expanded into poultry meat products with the development of a greenfield broiler chicken site in Al Ain, UAE. When finished, the state-of-the-art project will produce 6000 tonnes per year of broiler meat an annum, helping Arabian Farms capture two percent of the regional fresh chicken market.

Boosting production with an advanced new feed mill

To support Arabian Farms’ new business ambition and production expansion plan, the company entrusted feed mill expert- the integrated solution provider Famsun to deliver a

state-of-the-art feed mill in Al Ain. For the turnkey project, Famsun provided project design, process engineering, manufacturing, project management, installation, commissioning and training services.

The greenfield project has 12 robust storage silos with a combined capacity of 4500 tonnes for maize, soybean meal and finished products. Of which, flat bottom silos are for maize and the hopper bottom silos are for soybean meal and finished products.

The hoppers are designed in different specifications according to the properties of soybean meal and finished feed. Together with supplying a conveying system of 80 TPH and associate equipment, the Famsun solution ensures hygiene, safety and efficiency in the storage, handling and processing.

The company’s delivery range also includes steel structure warehouse and workshop tower. Layout in the buildings keeps biosecurity, lean manufacturing and ergonomic concept in mind to improve production efficiency, product quality and user-friendly. Broiler feed and layer feed are produced flexibly and reliably on the same K-series pelleting line according to the orders from Arabian Farms’ poultry raising facilities nearby.

It can also produce crumbles for chicks. The feed can be delivered to Arabian Farms’ poultry farms in a bulk truck with the reasonably arranged finished product silos or delivered in bags at the last step of production. The feed mill is fully automated with the latest automation system and digital solutions from Famsun to cope up with the demand in production and quality.

Arabian Farms needs full supply chain resilience when investing in new capacity for local production. The new feed mill in Al Ain acquires advanced productivities, quality feed and better traceability to secure its food supply locally and protect birds and consumers.

The feed mill was built during the inconvenience of the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide. Construction work was started on August 5, 2020 and was completed successfully on June 2, 2021. Famsun’s local team, global experts, and partners from the local industry worked closely with Arabian Farms experts to overcome obstacles and secure construction continuity for the project.

The partners worked out an effective biosecurity strategy to protect workers on the construction site. Famsun’s digital service solutions allowed Famsun experts from its headquarters in China and other local teams worldwide to provide engineering guidance and share skills remotely to push the construction schedule ahead.

Modern technologies and investments are the drivers to bolster food resilience. “As a technology partner in the agrifood sector, the company is committed to partnering with ambitious producers to create more regional and local food production and supply capacities to ensure that people can access sufficient and nutritious food easily,” says Paul Zhu, Famsun representative in the GCC region.

“And Arabian Farms has made their resolve stronger to increase local production and protect the health and well-being of local people. We at Famsun have the same purpose.”

“We are proud to bring new resilient agri-food production capacity to the UAE’s food ecosystem with Arabian Farms,” adds Mr Zhu.” The new feed mill definitely will contribute to the next phase of the region’s food security and better life.”

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