Al Ain Farms and Al Dahra Forge Strategic Dairy Supply Partnership in UAE

Al Ain’s dairy scene just got a real shake-up. Al Ain Farms Group – the UAE’s national food champion behind familiar names like Marmum Dairy, Al Ajban Chicken, Al Jazira Poultry’s Golden Eggs and Saha Arabian Farms – has teamed up with agribusiness giant Al Dahra Group in a three-year deal that’s got plenty of people in the food sector talking.

The agreement, inked during Global Food Week in Abu Dhabi, ensures Al Ain Farms will get a steady supply of raw milk from Al Dahra’s dairy farms right in Al Ain itself. It’s the sort of local partnership that ticks several boxes – supporting the “Made in UAE” agenda, keeping products fresher, and giving a leg up to the country’s food security plans, which have been under the spotlight more than ever lately.

Hassan Safi, Group CEO of Al Ain Farms Group, said the deal means the company can guarantee a “consistent supply of quality raw milk” for operations such as Marmum Dairy. The aim, he noted, is to boost confidence in local sourcing, strengthen supply chains, and make sure families can count on fresh, wholesome dairy every day. Spot on, really – because when you think about it, having milk that doesn’t have to clock thousands of miles before it reaches the shelf just makes sense.

On the flip side, Arnoud van den Berg, Al Dahra Group’s CEO, described the collaboration as “a milestone in the evolution of the UAE dairy sector.” Announcing it at Global Food Week wasn’t accidental – these events are where national players show they mean business. Partnering with Al Ain Farms, he said, shows their commitment to providing top-notch raw milk and helping the UAE crank up its local production capabilities.

Now, I reckon this partnership signals more than just a contract between two food giants. It’s about threading local supply chains together in a way that could inspire other producers to follow suit. Plus, it’s refreshing to see an initiative that genuinely goes beyond corporate talk and leans into national resilience.

AAFG (as Al Ain Farms Group is often called) works on a “farm-to-shelf” model – the idea being that products go from production line to store fridge within 24 hours. That’s no small feat – a bit of a faff at times, I imagine – but it’s that commitment to speed and freshness that builds consumer trust. And believe it or not, their range spans everything from dairy and juices to poultry and eggs.

Al Dahra, for its part, isn’t exactly new to large-scale agribusiness. The multinational manages more than 100,000 hectares of farmland across the world – from Egypt and Romania to the United States – producing millions of tonnes of food commodities and livestock feed each year. So when two players like these join forces, the ripple effect could be pretty powerful for the region’s agricultural scene.

From where I’m standing at Arageek, where we’re always eager to see startups and established players collaborate, this kind of tie-up is a promising model. It shows that sustainability and profitability can walk hand in hand – even in sectors as traditional as dairy.

All in all, the signing at Global Food Week seems like much more than a standard corporate handshake. It’s a real sign of how national champions are rolling up their sleeves to build the UAE’s next chapter in food self-sufficiency. And that’s something worth paying close attention to, even if the road ahead won’t be perfectly smooth – or should I say, perfectly smoothe.

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