Oman’s first dairy to produce 1 million litres milk per day

Muscat: Oman’s first dairy project plans to produce a million litres of milk per day, according to the Chief Executive Officer of Oman Food Investment Holding Company (OFIHC).
Mazoon Dairy company is expected to begin operations within the next three months and is currently in the final stages of launching production.
Unique project
Saleh Al Shanfari CEO of OFIHC spoke to Times of Oman about the unique project which is expected to reduce the country’s dependency on imported dairy goods.
“In the first phase we will start with 350,000 litres of milk per day and we plan to reach 1 million litres a day within a decade.
“The farm is designed to manage 25,000 cows. Currently, we have around 4,000 dairy milk breed but the herd is growing,” Al Shanfari said.
“The complexity and size of this unprecedented project in addition to the need to liaise with both local and international contractors has meant we are being cautious about naming our launch day, but having said this, I can assure you that our plan is to deliver the product to the market towards the end of the third quarter in 2019,” Al Shanfari confirmed.
“We are getting close to 100 per cent completion and readiness. We have sufficient Omani manpower who have gone through intensive training programmes in international dairy schools. We are also working very closely with international technology suppliers to make sure that Omanis are ready to run and to manage these complex facilities.”
According to Al Shanfari, bulk milk production has already begun and is being used for testing. At the same time, excess milk is being exported and sold locally to SMEs and major milk producers.
Speaking about the various systems which are already up and running, Al Shanfari said: “This is the first facility in the region to use biogas plant as part of its renewable energy. We have a dedicated separate milking parlour which is fully operational now, as are the farms, the power system, and the water system.”
Al Shanfari added that the green light to launch the product into the market will come from the technology suppliers, however so far all the on-ground equipment is ready.
“Housing facilities for the various grades of employees are in place and we have enough working space for everyone, so we are almost 100 per cent ready. However, deciding when to go to the market is part of our marketing strategy and is connected to signals we will receive from the technology suppliers who are the ones who will inform us when we will be able to run the facilities. This is not something we can decide by ourselves. The decision must go through the appropriate procedures and protocols.”