August 20, 2009

Qatar's Hassad Food, set up last year and owned by Qatar Investment Authority, expects its first food products to hit the market within a year, chairman Nasser Mohamed al-Hajri announced.

 

Hassad Food is charged with ensuring food security in meat, wheat, rice, corn, soy, fruits and vegetables for Qatar and the region.

 

Al-Hajri said Hassad would soon finalise a deal in Sudan, where a giant project would be announced once the two parties had concluded their talks.

 

Hassad has invested in a poultry farm which would have an annual capacity of 17 million birds and 120 million eggs which would meet 22 percent of the local market needs.

 

Hassad has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Australia's Bydand Pastoral to explore the possibility of buying a farmland with an annual capacity to raise 150,000 cattle and 150,000 tonnes of crops as part of Qatar's food security plan.