Quality and Food Safety
Our commitment to quality and food safety shapes every aspect of our business, given the scale of our operations and our focus on fresh and perishable food and beverage products distributed across the GCC. The nature of these products requires rigorous hygiene, quality control, and cold-chain integrity across our value chain. We manage these requirements through robust prevention, monitoring, and control systems designed to protect consumer health and ensure regulatory compliance across our operations.
Why This Matters
Quality and food safety are also central to our commercial performance. Consumer and trade confidence plays a critical role in purchasing decisions in fresh food categories, where confidence in product integrity directly influences demand, retailer relationships, and access to markets. Consistent performance in quality and food safety bolsters our reputation, enables stable revenues, and underpins long-term growth. Over time, adherence to high standards strengthens brand loyalty, supports premium positioning, and enables access to regulated and institutional markets that require certified food safety systems.
Our Approach
We manage quality and food safety through group-wide management systems that establish a consistent framework for product integrity, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement across our operations. All manufacturing facilities operate in alignment with internationally recognized standards, including Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000, a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-recognized scheme, alongside ISO 9001 Quality Management System requirements. Together, these frameworks define common expectations for food safety controls, documentation, monitoring, and performance across the Group.
Quality and Food Safety Controls
To strengthen consistency and accountability, we are formalizing corporate-level food safety policies that consolidate requirements across all divisions and product categories, with oversight and approval at senior management level. We apply a dual-layer assurance model that combines business-unit ownership of food safety performance with corporate oversight to ensure alignment with internal standards and external certification requirements. Audit and verification activities follow a risk-based planning approach and include both internal and third-party assessments. Findings are systematically managed through corrective and preventive action processes, assisted by digital quality management systems to ensure root causes are addressed and lessons are shared across the organization. In parallel, we implement structured, role-based training programs to build and maintain food safety competence at all operational levels.
Key Developments
In 2025, we advanced our food safety performance through stronger systems, broader certification coverage, enhanced supplier assurance, deeper process-level audits, targeted workforce training, and forward-looking risk prevention—reinforcing consistent standards, operational resilience, and continuous improvement across our manufacturing and distribution footprint.
Systems and Certification Implementation
During 2025, we strengthened the implementation and coverage of our food safety management systems across manufacturing and distribution operations. Progress during the year included extending integrated food safety management systems to major distribution centers across the GCC, including facilities in the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain, extending consistent controls beyond manufacturing sites. We also expanded the scope of ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000 certification to additional logistics and product operations, including new beverage production lines, while maintaining FSSC 22000 Version 6 certification across manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the UAE. During the reporting year, we further reinforced our commitment to quality with the successful certification of Almarai’s Corporate Quality Management System to ISO 9001:2015, covering the company’s headquarters and 31 operational sites across Saudi Arabia.
We further strengthened supplier assurance activities to advance compliance with certification requirements for high-risk ingredients. During the year, supplier oversight included audits of 70 suppliers and performance reviews of 390 suppliers, contributing to progress toward full GFSI-recognized certification coverage across the high-risk supplier base. By the end of the reporting year, 100% of high-risk ingredient suppliers held certification to a GFSI-recognized food safety standard.
Monitoring, Assurance, and Continuous Improvement
To strengthen assurance beyond baseline certification requirements, we expanded our internal food safety audit program and introduced reviews at the process level to test whether controls are operating effectively. The initial focus was dairy production, including cleaning-in-place systems, and the same approach will be extended across other manufacturing sites. With increased audit coverage and stronger follow-up on corrective and preventive actions, the non-conformance rate decreased by approximately 15% during the year.
Training and Capability Development
We continued to invest in workforce capability as a core element of food safety performance. Structured internal training programs were rolled out to strengthen competencies in food safety hazard identification, allergen management, sanitation, traceability, and audit practices. Training delivery combined internal expertise with selected external providers, ensuring alignment with recognized food safety frameworks and emerging requirements. During the year, 265 quality personnel across the Group received targeted food safety and quality training, reinforcing consistent understanding of roles, responsibilities, and risk controls as certification scope and audit activity expanded.
Process Innovation and Risk Prevention
Alongside these efforts, we developed an in-house material hazard risk assessment process to strengthen forward-looking identification and management of food safety risks. This process systematically assesses potential hazards across raw materials, production processes, facilities, and finished products, and integrates findings into operational decision-making and improvement initiatives. Furthermore, in 2025 Almarai won the MODON Industrial Excellence Award in the Large Factories Category under the Industrial Innovation Track, recognized for our leadership in automation, advanced manufacturing technologies, operational efficiency, and its contribution to strengthening national food security and industrial performance.
Progress Toward Targets
Current Targets
Status
All manufacturing sites will have Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) recognized certification by 2025.
Target achieved as of 2022.
All high-risk ingredient suppliers will have Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)-recognized certification by 2025.
Target achieved as of 2025.
Metrics
100%
Production volume manufactured in sites certified by an independent third party to internationally recognized food safety management system standards*
100%
Significant product categories covered and assessed for compliance with product information and labeling procedures*
0
Incidents of non-compliance with regulations and/or voluntary codes concerning the health and safety impacts of products and services*
*Includes GCC operations only.