Sustainability at Almarai

Our approach to community investment focuses on structured, long-term initiatives. Through programs spanning training and development, health, sports, and donations and sponsorships, we design our programs around local needs and national development agendas. Many of these initiatives are designed to be repeatable and scalable, allowing their benefits to extend across regions and time horizons. Consistent investment in education, health, and youth participation further strengthens relationships with stakeholders and reinforces our role as a responsible corporate actor contributing to broader social objectives, including those articulated under Saudi Vision 2030.

We govern community investment activities through the Community Investment Policy, alongside a Strategic Community Investment Framework that translates policy commitments into consistent program design and delivery. Together, these instruments set out the principles, scope, eligibility criteria, and governance requirements for programs implemented across Almarai’s primary operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and key regional markets.

Community investment activities are organized around four focus areas: Training and Development, Health, Sports, and Donations and Sponsorships. These focus areas provide a structured basis for program selection and implementation across reporting periods, while allowing initiatives to respond to local needs and priorities. Programs under these areas address education, health outcomes, youth participation, and broader community well-being, and are aligned with national development objectives, including those set out under Saudi Vision 2030.

Community investment is resourced through the annual budgeting process. We allocate approximately 2.5% of our annual net profit to community and social responsibility initiatives, with funding distributed across the four focus areas based on defined priorities, program performance, and identified community needs. Oversight of community investment activities sits at senior management level, with accountability for implementation embedded within established corporate reporting and review processes.

We deliver community investment programs in collaboration with national and regional institutions and accredited platforms. Partnerships with government entities, training institutions, health authorities, and approved charitable platforms enable program delivery and alignment with national social priorities. Feedback from partners and program evaluation informs refinement of initiatives and contributes to continuous improvement in program design and delivery.

During the year, we continued to scale our community investment activities with a sustained focus on training and employability. Training and Development remained the largest area of investment, reflecting continued emphasis on workforce readiness and skills development aligned with national priorities. Key developments included the expansion of the Food Industries Polytechnic (FIP) program, delivered in partnership with national training institutions, the introduction of new technical specializations, and the continued rollout of structured vocational pathways, including the Almarai Chefs National Program. Since inception, FIP has trained and graduated more than 3,000 participants, with a high proportion progressing into employment, reinforcing its role as a long-term employability pathway within the food sector.

The reach of community programs expanded further during the year, with increased activity in priority regions across Saudi Arabia, including Qassim and the Eastern Province. Training capacity under existing programs was also increased for broader geographic access. These developments form part of the final year of Almarai’s 2019–2025 sustainability strategy cycle, under which delivery across employability, education, and food access priorities has been maintained.

Alongside these developments, we continued delivery across health, sports, and food-access initiatives. Nutrition awareness programs were implemented in schools and communities, youth sports and fitness activities were supported through sponsorships, and food donations were distributed through trusted charitable platforms, including the Ehsan platform. Product donations exceeded 2.5 million healthy servings, supporting families in need and reinforcing food access as a core component of Almarai’s community investment activities.

Through our site-visit programs, we have engaged more than 250,000 participants, including school and university students, families, and visitors to our farms and manufacturing facilities. These visits focus on food safety, nutrition awareness, and sustainable production practices and are delivered primarily in Saudi Arabia, with participation from other countries.