BMMI plans to have five large supermarkets and as many neighbourhood stores in Bahrain within five years, with its first major supermarket due to open shortly in Amwaj.

Under its Alosra branding, which means family, the company intends to capture the high-end of the shopping experience in the kingdom, according to retail and distribution chief operating officer Mike Eastwood.

'We are currently completing the building of our supermarket in Amwaj and when that opens, we will be looking for a second one in Durrat Al Bahrain,' he said.

'Alosra is a BMMI-created brand at the premium-end of the shopping experience.'

BMMI owns and operates Alosra Supermarket, the anchor store of the Najibi Centre community mall, Saar.

Eastwood said Alosra has successfully carved out a leading market share of the kingdom's high-end grocery sector, but 'now we are looking to substantially expand this in the next few years.

'Known as the fresh and friendly supermarket, Alosra enjoys a reputation for delivering fast and friendly service, and for the unrivalled freshness and quality of its produce,' he said.

'In response to customer needs and tastes, Alosra specialises in sourcing and supplying particular Western brands and speciality products and as part of BMMI's expansion plans we intend to take this offering further afield across the country.

'The company is also developing its Great salads, sandwiches and sushi offerings from its production facilities and will be offering these both as takeaway and sit-in cafe operations, which will be operated from its Alosra outlets.

'In Great, we are focusing on fresh, healthy convenience foods both sit-down and takeaway and this is a business that when we have developed it in Bahrain we will look to take further afield,' he said.

'We have spent a lot of time in developing these brands and this is part of BMMI's move to be a major brand owner rather than just a distributor of other brands.'-TradeArabia News Service