Muscat: Mazoon Dairy, the biggest dairy project coming up in the Sultanate under the country’s national food security initiative, is expected to begin production by July, 2019, according to the Supreme Council of Planning.
According to the First Follow Up and Evaluation Report for 2019 by the council, “The project is 80% complete, and its spending is 93% complete.”
The council added in its report that there has been a slight delay in the project, but that it will soon be producing and selling its products all over Oman.
“The delay in the project is around 5 percent. Production will occur in stages, starting from July, 2019.”
Some in Oman already claim to have seen Mazoon’s products popping up occasionally across the Sultanate.
Mansoor, an Omani living in Muttrah, said he received a sample from Mazoon just as Ramadhan started.
“They came by the kornesh while I was on some errands and handed out bags of Mazoon laban,” he told Times of Oman. “You can’t find it everywhere right now, so I think this is a way to sample the product and introduce us to it by giving a sample. I got two bags of laban,” he added.
About the quality of Mazoon’s laban, he said, “It’s rather good, I liked it a lot.”
According to an official from Mazoon, there have been some samples being given to people in Oman. However, the official said that most of the samples being given were in mosques during Ramadhan.
Mazoon Dairy is meant to become a highly omanised company in the future, which will also contribute in providing job opportunities for Omanis with suitable skills.
According to the official website of Oman Food Investment Holdings, under which Mazoon operates, “The project opens wide opportunities in the employment market for Oman. The Project is expected to reach around 90% Omanisation in 10 years. It would employ approximately 2300 staff in Year 10 and will also provide indirect employment through forward and backward linkage effects of the project.”