Arla Foods, one of the world’s largest producers of organic dairy products, enjoys success as the top supplier in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in the dairy sector as well as the FMCG category.
The annual Advantage Report survey allows retailers to rate suppliers on various business-related competencies to measure and benchmark their business-to-business performance. Retail customers rated Arla Foods as the number one supplier according to their overall performance and across each of Advantage Report’s engagement drivers: partnership, execution, reputation and vision—an impressive accomplishment for a supplier in any market.
Arla Foods Understands the Retailer and Supplier Relationship
The success of Arla Foods in KSA is due to flexibility and collaboration within the multifunctional team. The dynamism of the team and collective customer-centric approach allowed Arla Foods KSA to remain reactive and, subsequently, meet the needs of customers and consumers.
The team focused on planning and forecasting service levels, innovative solutions, and category growth plans. Through this plan, Arla Foods developed a resilient frontline, enabling the company to gain and build trust from retailer partners in KSA.
“The thinking coming out of Arla Foods and the KSA team is strategically brilliant, especially in a year as volatile as 2022. They understand customers’ and consumers’ unique needs and have developed a plan to capitalize on futuristic opportunities. This will keep them dynamic, responsive, and ahead of the game. I look forward to working with them again and seeing their success in 2023,” comments Jean-Marc Gilg, Managing Director, Advantage Group Middle East.
Arla Foods Is Looking to 2023 For an Improvement in Advantage Report
“This is a proud moment for our KSA team, we have been on an exciting journey in the last years of building a more shopper and customer-centric organization and mindset. Our objective is to keep our leadership position in 2023 and beyond; we are already analyzing our strengths and opportunities in the areas we need to improve to ensure that we are continuously the number one preferred supplier of our customers in KSA,” says Merve Diken Durmus, Sales/Commercial Director, KSA
“We believe that we have the responsibility to create the future of dairy in KSA. While doing so, our retail partners are so important to work together and we will continue to listen to their feedback and work jointly to deliver our commitment,” adds Henrik Lilballe Hansen, Vice President and Managing Director, KSA.
The stellar performance of 2022 does not bring complacency to the Arla Foods KSA team. They view this performance as an opening for maintenance and improvement. An analysis of the strengths and opportunities in the team dictates future investments in innovation, digitization and human resources.
Navigating the evolving retailer-supplier landscape requires collaboration and a customer-centric approach. Trust in Advantage Report to guide you through the complexities of strengthening customer engagement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
