Businessman to reopen meat processing plant shut 23 years ago

DOHA: A Qatari businessman who set up a meat processing plant 31 years ago but shut it down in 1989 since the local market wasn’t as big, has re-launched the project. 

The plant, to be commissioned soon, is the first of its kind in the country and is expected to meet much of the local demand for fresh and frozen meat (chicken and red meat) and for processed meat like chicken and beef sausages and hamburgers. 

The development comes at a time when the Qatari market is facing severe shortages of fresh and frozen chicken because of Saudi Arabia’s decision to ban exports, as a result of which prices have been soaring. “Some 70 percent of our produce would be chicken and only 30 percent red meat, both mutton and beef,” Ahmed Al Khalaf told The Peninsula yesterday. 

He said that his factory would first cover the local market and then embark on an export-oriented expansion during a second phase. “We will be importing chicken and red meat stocks from various countries,” he said.

For chicken imports, his company has identified Brazil, China and some European countries, whereas, Australia, Argentina and New Zealand have been selected to source red meat. The plant would process the meat and the idea is to market at least a 100 products like chicken, mutton and beef sausages and nuggets, etc. “This aside, we will also be marketing fresh and frozen items.”