Al Islami Foods, a leading halal food producer in the Middle East, has announced its entry into Saudi Arabia with a strategic distribution agreement with Arabian Trading Supplies, a leading distributor in the Kingdom.

Under the distribution agreement was signed in Jeddah, Arabian Trading Supplies will distribute a range of Al Islami's halal products under the brand name of ‘Co-op Islami’.

The initial consignment of Co-op Islami products of frozen chicken and chicken parts has already been sent and distributed in Saudi Arabia and received a highly welcome response from the Saudi consumer market, said a top company official.

Saleh Abdullah Lootah, chief executive officer of Al Islami Foods, said, 'The synergy with strong distributors such as the Arabian Trading Supplies will consolidate company’s efforts in developing the GCC’s halal food market and taking the Al Islami benchmark to the international arena, as part of our regional and global expansion plan.'

The Global Halal Food Market report of 2007, published by the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada estimates the food market in the GCC region is worth $ 9 billion of which Saudi Arabia’s share is 63 per cent ($5.6 billion).

Though this deal, Al Islami will cater to 28 million Saudi population offering a range of premiem products such as processed meat, frozen seafood.

The company is set to enter other key markets including Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Syria, Jordan and Sudan markets next year.-TradeArabia News Service