Kraft Foods commenced construction of its $40 million plant at the Bahrain International Investment Park, and Bahrain’s Minister of Industry and Commerce hailed the company’s decision to set up the plant as one more example of international companies acknowledging the country’s potential.

Dr Hassan Fakhro said the new plant would benefit from Bahrain’s proximity to Saudi Arabia and other markets in the region. The kingdom was fortunate in having a Kraft factory presence as “Kraft is not simply a company; it is a quality company in many respects.”
Kraft held a cornerstone ceremony for the plant  which will produce cheeses in various categories and Tang powder beverage.  Inaugurating the ceremony were Dr Fakhro and Maurizio Calenti, group vice president of Kraft Foods and president of Kraft Foods Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.  Commercial production could begin at the end of 2007 or the first quarter of the following year.
The 60,000 sq m factory will have an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes per year and employ 250 to 300 workers while incorporating the latest food manufacturing technologies, quality and safety systems, Calenti said.  The cheeses and powdered beverage will be delivered to markets in the Middle East.
Currently the Middle East’s supplies of Kraft cheeses come from Australia. Kraft would not say how much the region received beyond stating that volumes have been steadily increasing at the rate of 5 per cent from 2002.
Tang is imported from the US with volumes increasing by 3.5 per cent over the last three years. Again, Kraft could not say how much was imported. Total sales for both Tang and cheese were $173 million in 2005.
Elsewhere in the region, Kraft has a joint venture in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, to produce biscuits. Other Kraft ventures are a biscuit factory in Egypt and a coffee factory in Morocco.
For the Bahrain plant, Al Zamil Steel is responsible for erecting the steel structures and sheds. Machinery will be imported from Germany and the US. The equipment installation contractor had not been selected by the middle of last month (December).
Calenti said Kraft’s decision to invest in a new regional factory in Bahrain demonstrated the company’s commitment to its consumers in the GCC and in the Middle East region as a whole.
“The building of this new facility will enable us to improve production efficiencies so that we can better cater to the needs of our customers,” he said. “Once completed the plant will be one of the larger international food and beverage factories in the GCC.”
Calenti said Bahrain was selected as the plant site because of its proximity to Middle East markets, good communications, suitable state policies, favourable business climate and good infrastructure.
The Bahrain plant would also have the support of an R &D centre, but details would be announced later. What was certain was that Bahrain academic institutions would have a role in such a facility, the official said.
Patrick Satamain, managing director of Kraft Foods GCC, observed that Bahrain offered “an ideal environment in which Kraft can expand, having a central location with good communication links within the GCC and a rapidly developing business sector.”
Kraft is US-based and its brands are now available in more than 150 countries. They include cheeses, dinners and dressings, Jacobs, Gevalia and Maxwell House coffees, Oscar Mayer meats, Nabisco brand Oreo cookies and Ritz crackers and chips; Philadelphia cream cheese, Planters snack nuts, Post Honey Bunches of Oats cereals and Crystal Light and Tang beverages.
Kraft favourites also include the Tassimo hot beverage system, South Beach Diet foods and Sensible Solution products.