Co-op Islami sales grow 30 per cent in Qatar

his follows the halal food producer's expansion of its operations on the peninsula in the past year and a special agreement with the Transend Company to become the sole distributor of all its products in Qatar. Saleh Saeed Lootah, Managing Director of Co-op Islami, said: 'Qatar is one of our most important markets in the region. There is considerable demand there for our products from consumers seeking high quality real halal food.'

The group now has a 25 per cent share of the Qatar halal food market and Lootah said: 'We are confident that we can increase this in the very near future.

'The demand for our products within the GCC region is growing by 20 per cent every year which place our products in a leading position within the market. Qatar is one of our fastest growing markets in the region.'

The growth in sales was announced during the Co-op Islami organised Second Trade Convention held in Doha. The convention took place in Sheraton Hotel in Qatar where a number of the organisation's trade partners attended.

Saleh Abdulla Lootah, Assistant General Manager of Co-op Islami-Operations, said: 'The conference was a sign of our commitment to providing the best halal food. This commitment remains the same and there will be a second conference this year as we continue our drive to improve and enhance halal food production and consumption.'

Its progress in the Qatari market reflects the success of its strategy for rolling out the brand, production and the goods throughout the GCC and other Halal consuming regions. Part of the plan involved the expansion of its warehousing, storage and logistic support in the UAE, a process that is now complete.

Mohammed Oni OulaKara, General Manager of Transend Company, said: 'Our partnership with Co-op Islami has been a great success and within a very short period of time. The results recorded by the company in Qatar prove the high level of products and services provided by CO-OP ISLAMI.

At the end of the convention, Co-op Islami presented awards to a number of its trading partners in Qatar for their contribution to its successes last year. Awards were presented to Carfour for the highest level of sales, Lolo Hyper Market for the best commercial product display and Al Muntazah for the best support to a promotional campaign.

Al Yarmouk, New Doha, Madinat Khalifa, and and Al Wakrah Co-ops received excellence awards.