Almarai, the Middle East’s largest food & beverage manufacturer and distributor of dairy products, baked goods, poultry, juice, food, desserts, and infant formula, has announced the next phase of its digital transformation with the global technology company SAP to optimize operations and support food self-sufficiency in Saudi Arabia and the region. Every day, Almarai delivers high-quality products to tens of millions of consumers across the GCC, Egypt and Jordan.

Brands include “Almarai”, “L’usine”, “7DAYS”, and “ALYOUM,”, as part of its alignment with Saudi Vision 2030’s economic diversification and self-sufficiency goals. Almarai has extended its two decades’ partnership with SAP. The SAP S/4HANA real-time intelligent suite is spread across all lines of business to support future business growth and help create Almarai of tomorrow. “In response to increased food and beverage demand in the Middle East, we at Almarai needed to accelerate our growth plans while optimizing our operation leveraging intelligent technologies,” said Majed Nofal, CEO, Almarai.

“By advancing our digital transformation, SAP’s real-time technologies are intending to optimize our resources, reduce waste and drive a leaner operation. Our aim is to deliver high-quality and nutritious food and beverages to our consumers at the right time to enrich our consumers’ lives.” As part of its roadmap, Almarai is working with digital business consultants McKinsey and SAP Services. Almarai is deploying SAP S/4HANA real-time business suite, which will run on a HANA Enterprise Cloud platform that is managed by SAP.

“Almarai shows how Middle East food and beverage manufacturers can leverage real-time technologies to drive innovation, enhance margins, and deliver products that meet consumers expectations,” said Mohammed Alkhotani, Managing Director, SAP Saudi Arabia. “Digital transformation can help manufacturers to gain full visibility and control across farm-to-fork, enhance quality control, and properly forecast and plan products’ demand.” As part of its digital transformation roadmap, Almarai is also exploring emerging technologies such as robotics, chatbots, and the next phase of cloud innovations