One of the biggest global exporters of chicken, BRF has launched a new halal brand in the middle east in an attempt to expand its share of the market.
BRF is headquartered in Brazil, and operates in the UK through a joint venture with Invicta Food Group which imports, processes and supplies meat to processors and foodservice firms. BRF is the world’s seventh largest food company and is responsible for 20% of global poultry trade.
The new middle eastern subsidiary, OneFoods has been launched to try and tempt to consumers in a market made up of 1.8 billion people. OneFoods is headquartered in Dubai, UAE, and according to BRF is the world’s largest halal animal protein company.
“By creating a local company to consolidate our operations in Islamic markets, we moved further up the production chain to get closer to our consumers, which should support the accelerated growth of OneFoods,” said Pedro Faria, BRF’s Global CEO. 
OneFoods already controls a market share of approximately 45% in chicken products in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, BRF said, due to its existing operations there. BRF owns middle eastern brands including Sadia.
“If you ask which is the number one halal food brand in the Middle East, the answer is Sadia. This is a fantastic asset that shows how close we are to consumers and just how confident they are in the quality and origin of our products. We’re talking about a relationship of over 40 years, given that the first container of Sadia products arrived in the region in the 1970s,” said Faria.
OneFoods will employ around 15,00 and operate a fully integrated production chain. Products are supplied by ten plants, eight of which located in Brazil, one in the United Arab Emirates and one in Malaysia, all of which hold the required halal certifications. “The subsidiary’s operations are fully integrated, which gives OneFoods a unique position in terms of production costs compared to its competitors,” said Faria.
Patricio Rohner, BRF general manager in the Middle East and North Africa, will be the leader of OneFoods. The executive works at BRF and has been living in the region for over 15 years.