A joint venture between Saudi Arabian dairy company Almarai and PepsiCo has acquired Egypt’s Beyti, maker of dairy and juice products.

The venture, International Dairy and Juice Limited, said it acquired Beyti from Almarai, which bought it in October and transferred its 100 per cent stake to the venture at cost.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Beyti, also known as Egypt’s International Company for Agro-Industrial Projects, makes products including milk, yogurt, cheese and juices.

Almarai recently introduced a fermented milk product called “Trim” aimed at helping people lose weight and break down fat cells, said Hussam Abdul Qader, its general manager.

“In milk, we already have a 60 per cent market share (in Saudi Arabia),” he was quoted as saying in the media. “So the way to expand is to start looking for all these issues within drinkers and non-drinkers of milk.”

Packaging line

Earlier, Almarai reported it received a packaging line from Oystar Gasti.

The new Contitherm 123 cup filling and sealing machine will be employed for the production of semi-solid yogurt starting this year.

With demand for cow milk products still strong in the Gulf region Almarai commissioned Oystar Gasti to supply the 11th filling and packaging line for its yogurt production.

With an output of 30,000 cups per hour the Contitherm 123 represents the world’s fastest continuously working machine for filling products such as yogurts and desserts.

The new machine for Almarai will fill inoculated yogurt milk and transport it for sealing without spilling.
The final product is a semi-solid yogurt. In addition, recontamination through ambient air is prevented by sterile excess air pressure in the entire filling area up to the sealing station. 

Almarai is setting up a $173 million plant for infant formula and a baked goods factory both of which are to be completed by the end of this year.

In other recent developments, Almarai said it had completed the organisational acquisition of Hadco which it bought for $254 million.