Dubai: Mars GCC, the regional manufacturer of confectionary products in the Middle East, has embarked on a major expansion plan in its Jebel Ali factory and is expected to invest about Dh400 million over the next couple of years.
Mars GCC general manager Ahmad Bayoumi said the company is also looking to snap up a huge chunk of the region's $2 billion snack food market by tripling its business to $1 billion in sales by 2015.
"By the end of this year, we would have invested over Dh300 million in our factory and we look to invest additional Dh100 million over the next couple of years on expanding the capacity of our factory," Bayoumi told Gulf News.
The company, which has been present in Jebel Ali for the past 15 years, is a recipient of the 2007 Dubai Quality Award in recognition of its organisational excellence.
The award recognised the success of 10 organisations in Dubai that showed continuous improvement in four main categories: leadership, people, policy and strategy, and partnership and resources. It is based on the Excellence Model of the European Foundation for Quality Management, which has been followed by private and public sector organisations since 1992.
Endorsement
"The award is a great endorsement from the local authorities for our efforts to achieve high standards of quality in everything we do," Bayoumi said.
Mars GCC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mars Inc, which is one of the largest family-owned businesses in the world with a global turnover of more than $25 billion annually.
It owns some of the world's most popular brands in the chocolate confectionary, pet food and main meal and drinks markets including Galaxy, M&M's, Snickers, Uncle Ben's, Pedigree and Whiskas pet food.
The company's business in the region has been growing by more than 20 per cent on average annually over the last five years, owing to the healthy population growth and rising income levels of residents, as well as the company's product innovation and improvement in services and efficiency.
"Our business in the region is close to $350 million and has been growing consistently for the last ten years driven by our investment in manufacturing and marketing, as well as in developing product propositions that serve the consumer in this part of the world," Bayoumi said.
