Brazilian food giant BRF is in advanced talks with multiple parties in Saudi Arabia to produce chicken in the kingdom, according to company CEO Lorival Luz.
In January, the firm announced that it planned to restore chicken exports to Saudi Arabia to previous levels after one of its plants lost its certification to export to the kingdom.
The facility – known as Lejeado – had been exporting around 6,500 tonnes of chicken products to Saudi Arabia each month before the Saudi government significantly reduced the number of Brazilian exports allowed to ship there.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Luz said that the company is now in advanced talks with more than one party in Saudi Arabia to produce chicken in the kingdom.
“It’s a priority for BRF,” he said. “I would like to see talks concluded by year-end.”
BRF began exporting meat and poultry products to the Middle East in the 1970s. In 2016, the firm consolidated OneFoods, a regional subsidiary. The firm now has 5 production units in the region, as well as 11 distribution centres and over 6,000 direct employees.
In May, Reuters reported that BRF executives travelled to Saudi Arabia to discuss the expansion of its presence there.
At the time, company chairman Pedro Parente said that the BRF executives met with Saudi authorities and potential partners to explore meat production in the country.
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