Lay's brand now has a 24% market share in the UAE

NTDE, who took over the UAE-wide distribution of Frito-Lay snacks: Lay's, Doritos and Cheetos, four years ago - in February 2002, has achieved an average annual growth of 50 per cent. 'This can mainly be attributed to improvements in promotion and distribution of the brand over the past four years,' said Hussain Al Zubaidee, Director, Snacks Division, NTDE.

"With over 4,000 tonnes of Lay's potato chip products distributed to more than 6,000 shops across the emirates, Lay's today enjoys high recall amongst UAE residents. Known especially for its extra-crisp, high quality, Lay's potato chips are available in no less than four flavours, including chili and cheese. As per AC Neilson figures, Lay's is now the number one potato chip brand in the UAE.

"Since NTDE took over its distribution in 2002, heavy investments were made to enhance visibility of the brand and develop the Lay's retail network, in addition to improvements in marketing and logistics. Today we have more than 30 trucks on the road daily to ensure that retailers in every emirate are adequately supplied with the popular Lay's flavours and have received samples of new products on the market," he said.

In recognition of NTDE's achievements since it took over the nation-wide distribution of the brand, Frito-Lay, the snacks division of PepsiCo, Inc., one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, awarded it its 'Best Distributor Golden Award' for two consecutive years - 2003 and 2004, the latter was received in July 2005.

"Winning this award is a great motivation for us and we will do our best to maintain our growth. With the steady population growth and a vibrant tourism industry, we foresee a brighter future for the snack sector in the UAE," he added.