Market Expansion
Al Ain Dairy: market expansion
Melodena Stephens Balakrishnan
Melodena Stephens Balakrishnan is an Associate Professor (Marketing) in the Faculty of Business and Management, University of Wollongong in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
hashi Kumar Menon, the chief operating officer of Al Ain Dairy was at their launch of the new product Long Life Juice in Dubai on 16 July 2010. To a room full of media and interested stakeholders, he explained the company’s upcoming six month plan. Al Ain Diary was UAE’s largest dairy company by market share but now wanted to replicate their success in dairy in both the regional market and the fruit juice market. There were challenges: increasing production capabilities; product innovation (increasing shelf life); the supply chain management (dairy especially needs to be transported at a 48C condition and there is a need for access to a steady supply of fodder); and brand building in newer markets. Shashi needs to prioritise what new products they want to move into (options include related lines like cheese); assets they need to acquire (manufacturing); and what future skills they need to develop to meet the regional challenge. There is a three to four year time frame to prioritise these objectives as the markets are still in recession. Shashi says about their vision for the future:
S
We are very much a local company and would like to be seen as regional at least in the Khaleej [GCC Countries], if not beyond . . . With the introduction of long-life juice, the whole world is a market for us because these products have a shelf life of nine months and unlike fresh products we don’t have limitations on time.
Al Ain Dairy: a Government of UAE initiative
Catering to local demand Al Ain Dairy began in 1981 as the first dairy farm in the UAE. It was set up under the directives of the late H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nayhan. At that time they had only 200 head of cattle, all imported from Australia. Al Ain Dairy’s
Melodena Stephens Balakrishnan
Melodena Stephens Balakrishnan is an Associate Professor (Marketing) in the Faculty of Business and Management, University of Wollongong in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
hashi Kumar Menon, the chief operating officer of Al Ain Dairy was at their launch of the new product Long Life Juice in Dubai on 16 July 2010. To a room full of media and interested stakeholders, he explained the company’s upcoming six month plan. Al Ain Diary was UAE’s largest dairy company by market share but now wanted to replicate their success in dairy in both the regional market and the fruit juice market. There were challenges: increasing production capabilities; product innovation (increasing shelf life); the supply chain management (dairy especially needs to be transported at a 48C condition and there is a need for access to a steady supply of fodder); and brand building in newer markets. Shashi needs to prioritise what new products they want to move into (options include related lines like cheese); assets they need to acquire (manufacturing); and what future skills they need to develop to meet the regional challenge. There is a three to four year time frame to prioritise these objectives as the markets are still in recession. Shashi says about their vision for the future:
S
We are very much a local company and would like to be seen as regional at least in the Khaleej [GCC Countries], if not beyond . . . With the introduction of long-life juice, the whole world is a market for us because these products have a shelf life of nine months and unlike fresh products we don’t have limitations on time.
Al Ain Dairy: a Government of UAE initiative
Catering to local demand Al Ain Dairy began in 1981 as the first dairy farm in the UAE. It was set up under the directives of the late H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nayhan. At that time they had only 200 head of cattle, all imported from Australia. Al Ain Dairy’s