EDITOUR PETplanet Insider Vol. 25 No. 03/24 www.petpla.net 12 Deep water from the Hajar mountain region in the north-east of the Emirates Mineral water bottler focusses on vertical integration by Kay Barton If you drive from the hubs of Dubai or Abu Dhabi towards the port city of Fujairah on the north-east coast of the UAE, you will come across the southern foothills of the Hajar Mountains shortly before reaching your destination. A little further north and inland, about half an hour from Fujairah, lies the small village of Masafi, from which the water brand of the same name originates. It recently became part of the Hattan Group, which invests and operates in various sectors. The special thing about Masafi water is that, unlike other major brands in the country that obtain their water from municipal seawater desalination, the manufacturer extracts its water exclusively from wells up to 300m deep and then packages it in a vertically integrated process on plants of European origin. Plant Manager Fraz Younas and Engineering & Project Head Mohammed Youssef answered our questions about the details during a visit. Interview with Masafi Co. (LLC) December 12, 2023 We met: Mr Fraz Younas, Plant Manager UAE & Oman Mr Mohammed Youssef, Engineering & Project Head The way to Fraz Younas’ office is via a staircase on the first floor of one of the production halls. The “first water brand in the Emirates”, as we were told, has been in existence since 1977 and the founder himself, Mr Abdulla Al Ghurair, comes from the same area of Masafi. Masafi is currently chaired by Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, a billionaire and Chairman of the Board of Mashreqbank. Until 1997, the company bottled in PVC bottles on a Sidel line with a capacity of 72,000 bph, after which Masafi switched 100% to PET. The company fills and sells three different types of mineral water, the Masafi “Pure” brand, the standard product with a pH value of 6.5-8.5, “Zero”, which is characterised by a sodium content of less than 1mg, and “Alkalife” with a pH value of 9. Masafi’s wide product portfolio includes drinking water, tissues, hygiene kits, oils and rice. Another Masafi plant is located in Oman. Today, Masafi is part of the Al Ghurair Group, a Dubaibased group of companies that is active in various industrial sectors as well as in the real estate and investment business. “We have seven wells here in the region for our water,” explained Mr Younas. He has a Master’s degree in Engineering Management, has been with the company for a year and a half and previously worked for Nestlé in Pakistan and Switzerland for over 15 years. “We have a constant supply of premium quality water here due to the special location of the wells,” says Mr Youssef, who has been working here for over three years and previously worked for Coca-Cola in Saudi Arabia for over three years. “The water continuously seeps into the groundwater here in the region via rainfall from the mountains. Rainfall is far more frequent here than anywhere else in the UAE.” Around 460 million bottles roll off the production line here every year, with the 0.5 l bottle making up the majority, accounting for around 40% of the total output. This is divided into the formats 0.2 l, 0.33 l, 1.5 l, all with 29/25 neck plus 5 l and 15.14 l containers for water dispensers. There are also 0.125 and 0.2 l thermoformed cups with a pull tab. The two estimate that around €50 million has been invested in the machinery and that the company has deliberately focussed on the highest quality suppliers from the outset. Two Netstal preforming machines with Otto Hofstetter different sets of 128cavity moulds and a 48-cavity mould are used for preforming, the latter for the long-life 0.5 l bottle. The material is dried using Gea dryers. A new Husky machine with six cavities for the special-format 15.14 l containers will be delivered shortly. On the compresEDITOUR Interview meeting at the Masafi office with (f.l.t.r.) Mohammed Youssef, Fraz Younas and Kay Barton Krones line for 1.5 l bottles in action Fraz Younas with a 1.5 l bottle of Masafi Pure
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