Building on our unique expertise and integrated operations in our home market, we have taken important steps during the year to drive growth in attractive new markets abroad. The highlight for this year was the announcement of a new company, Baladna Algeria, which will be fully responsible for overseeing our USD 3.5 billion integrated dairy project in Algeria.

Record revenue and cost efficiencies

In 2024, Baladna surpassed robust targets that were benchmarked on last year’s results, generating revenue and profit growth that created value for our investors.

Revenue rose 8% to QR 1.15 billion from QR 1.06 billion on stronger performances across all sales channels and product categories, quarter on quarter and year on year. These were largely due to gains in market shares across key product categories, a healthy contribution from Ramadan sales, and Qatar’s hosting of the sixth edition of the Asian Cup.

Notable achievements included ever highest market share and brand equity. Innovation around extensions to our existing products and the introduction of more than 39 new SKUs helped secure a higher overall market share of 54.1% (53.5% in 2023) and across all major categories despite strong competition from local and foreign players. We entered into the high-protein milk and yoghurt markets, expanded our Greek Yoghurt portfolio with new flavours, and increased the variety of cheese products. During 2024, we also relaunched our juice portfolio with new product packaging and f lavours, and revitalised the Awafi product range under a new brand proposition, “Every Day Quality, Every Day Value”.

Our cost control regimen continued to deliver results while the entire value chain benefited from further improvements in efficiencies. We reduced finance costs by renegotiating our debt and maintained tight controls over General and Administrative expenditure. Commodity pricing trends improved during 2024, contributing positively to our overall performance.

Market-leading profit performance

Along with the positive impact of the top line, our strong operational outcomes led to exceptional increase in net profit to QR 185 million compared QR 110 million in 2023, abetted by the fair value gain on share investments. Pleasingly, our margin is now the best among our regional peer group.

Our continuing robust financial and operational achievements validate our role in building Qatar’s domestic food production sector, while also furnishing us to advance our international strategy.

From Qatar to the world

In 2024, we secured a landmark agreement with the Algerian National Investment Fund to partner in exporting the successful Baladna model of farming, production, and distribution beyond Qatar.

The joint venture will develop the largest integrated dairy farming project in the world, encompassing arable farming, dairy farming, and powdered milk production facilities. The project, in which we own 51% and the Algerian National Investment Fund owns the balance, is valued at USD 3.5 billion. We broke ground this year and expect to relocate the first herds by the beginning of 2026 and start milk production early 2027.

Like Qatar, Algeria is intent on becoming self-sufficient in food production. By partnering with Baladna, Algeria aims to exert greater control over food security. The new integrated dairy project is expected to produce 194,000 tonnes of powdered milk each year, representing a substantial portion of its domestic dairy needs.

Subsequent to the finalisation of this agreement, Baladna signed an MOU with Algeria’s Ministry of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production to explore the feasibility of an infant milk production project. This new venture will complement the milk powder production project.

The Algerian project will create significant value for our shareholders, and we are proud to be the chosen partner for this substantial greenfield endeavour. Based on our success in Qatar, we are confident it will be a precedent for many other potential international ventures. Our successful end-to-end integrated model and vertically aligned approach could be adopted and implemented to meet the needs of other nations that similarly strive to become more autonomous in their food sector. Consequently, we anticipate a wide range of value-creating opportunities to leverage our unique capabilities in tackling the global challenge of food security.

Our foremost focus

Notwithstanding our international expansion plans, our priority is and always will be to ensure Qatar’s food security and autonomy. Accordingly, we stand firm on delivering on our promises to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers and stakeholders each day while preparing for a successful and sustainable tomorrow.

Our farming practices are premised on a sustainable and efficient approach that is centred on herd welfare. In the year under review, we rolled out performance recording of young stock to optimise the health and productivity of our calves from birth. As we increasingly embrace data-driven systems to monitor our herd, we are making better and more informed decisions that ensure the young animals reached their full potential. Similarly, we continued to fine-tune the nutrition of each calf, based on age and size, to ensure they thrive. By providing our young herds with the best possible feed, we pave the way for exceptional cows at maturity.

Consolidation boost to efficiency and quality

From an operations perspective, consolidating production facilities, yielded significant improvements. Our new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, a QR 450 million investment, is poised to become an important asset in Qatar’s food security infrastructure through its capacity to produce evaporated milk and sterilised cream domestically, reducing dependency on foreign imports.

The adoption of lean manufacturing techniques and further process optimisation continued to streamline production, while newly implemented performance metrics contributed to greater production efficiency. Overall, we were pleased to record significant growth in production output compared to the previous year.

Sales, Marketing, and channel growth

Our sales operation achieved positive growth across all key channels in 2024, helped by effective Ramadan promotions and the influx of tourists attending the Asian Cup.

As always, our strategic partners are important to our business model, and we were very pleased with the growing market opportunity from our national flag carrier, Qatar Airways, which increased sales volumes and issued new tenders. We renewed our strategic partnership with Widam Food for a further three years, strengthening our network and our alliances with companies like the Bel Group continued to boost local production. Furthermore, we secured a significant QR 100 million Government tender for evaporated milk, which will commence in January 2025 for a 12-month period.

We met market demand in 2024 after implementing advanced inventory management systems and availability of order support system. In optimising our route-to-market strategy, sales volumes increased without requiring additional resources, improving operational efficiency and minimising our environmental impact.

Building a sustainable business

As an agribusiness, Baladna takes its sustainability responsibilities seriously. Consequently, we constantly explore new approaches and technologies to improve our use of non renewable resources. In 2024, we made significant progress in improving our water and waste management systems, implementing a circular economy approach to transform waste into valuable resources, in line with Qatar’s Vision 2030 and our own long-term sustainability goals.

We reduced Loss in Processes (LIP) as a result of automation, better resource management and new technologies adopted during the year to improve planning, recipe management, and quality control.

Bolstering our talent base

The implementation of a new executive management structure in 2023 streamlined operations and produced the intended results, including greater agility and collaboration across all levels.

In 2024, we restructured the organisation in parallel with various process and technology enhancements to create a more agile team which is well equipped to support our business objectives. This exercise was supported by change management projects to support our people through the transition and ensure they adapted to their new roles and responsibilities. These changes have instituted a solid foundation for a lean, effective company that is more collaborative and aligned with our long-term vision.

Looking ahead to 2025

After an eventful and prosperous 2024, we look to next year with enthusiasm and excitement, particularly regarding our Algerian joint venture. In the coming months we will plant crops, build infrastructure and manufacturing facilities, and identify key business partners.

We will explore other opportunities for international expansion, while entrenching our strong market position in Qatar, supported by our ongoing strategy to boost operational efficiencies, product quality, and innovation.

Acknowledgments

Our Chairman and the Board of Directors once again demonstrated their valued counsel in 2024. My executive team and I are very grateful for their guidance and support. Similarly, our heartfelt thanks go to every member of the Baladna team for the dedication and hard work that was so instrumental in driving our success this year.

As always, we deeply appreciate the trust and support demonstrated by shareholders, partners, and most importantly, our customers and consumers. We are honoured to collaborate with you in building a sustainable future for Qatar and expanding our horizons to new markets and opportunities.