Almarai enters red meat with SAR 500 million Haboor brand

Summary

• Almarai is launching Haboor, a red meat brand, with investment near SAR 500 million.
• The business will focus on high-quality beef products manufactured inside Saudi Arabia.
• Entry into a new protein category broadens revenue beyond dairy and supports local food security.

The latest

Saudi food group Almarai is moving into red meat for the first time, launching a brand called Haboor backed by an investment of close to SAR 500 million, according to a company filing to Tadawul. The company said the new business will centre on locally manufactured premium beef products, and that the financial impact will begin showing in results from the fourth quarter of 2026.

Details

• The investment: Almarai said the entry into the red meat category carries an investment of nearly SAR 500 million, disclosed in its statement to the Tadawul exchange. The filing did not break the figure down across production facilities, livestock, distribution or marketing, nor set out a spending schedule.
• The brand: The new line will trade under the name Haboor, a brand created specifically for this category rather than an extension of the existing Almarai label. The company did not name the launch markets or list the product range that will carry the brand at rollout.
• The product focus: Almarai said the business will concentrate mainly on high-quality beef products manufactured locally inside the Kingdom. Beef is the stated core of the category entry, with no commitment made to other red meats within the announced scope.
• The timeline: The company said the financial impact of the launch is expected to appear in its results starting from the fourth quarter of 2026, meaning investors will not see a revenue or margin contribution from the category in reported earnings before that point.
• The strategy: The move sits inside Almarai's growth strategy for 2026 to 2031, which the company said aims to diversify its business lines and strengthen the security of food supply chains in Saudi Arabia. Haboor is presented as an execution step within that plan.
• The disclosure route: The announcement came through a statement to Tadawul, the channel listed Saudi companies use for material disclosures, and was reported by Argaam. Filing it there signals the company treats the category entry as shareholder-relevant information rather than a marketing release.
• The supply chain angle: Almarai tied the launch directly to local manufacturing, framing domestically produced beef as a contribution to supply chain resilience. The statement did not specify whether cattle will be sourced domestically, imported for local processing, or a combination of both.
• The business shift: Red meat is a category Almarai has not previously operated in, placing the company alongside existing protein suppliers in a market where it has no established brand presence. The filing did not name competitors or set out a target market share.

Background

Almarai is the largest listed food company in Saudi Arabia by market value, built primarily on dairy, juice, bakery and poultry. Its expansion into additional protein categories has been framed around reducing reliance on imported food and deepening domestic production capacity.

Between the lines

The 2026 timing frames the rest. By saying the financial impact only lands in the fourth quarter of 2026, Almarai is signalling a build-out phase first and revenue later, consistent with locally manufactured beef requiring production capacity rather than imported stock. Placing Haboor under a separate brand name also suggests the company is treating red meat as a distinct consumer proposition.

What's next

Watch Almarai's coming quarterly disclosures to Tadawul for capital spending tied to the category, any announcement of production sites or sourcing arrangements, and the first reported contribution from Haboor in fourth quarter 2026 results.

Source: Almarai statement to Tadawul