Vegetable oil factory opens in Roumieh

The $70 million turnover is expected
from local and regional sales

Freiha Food Company, an affiliate of Freiha Holding, opened a factory for manufacturing vegetable oil in Roumieh, in early 2015. It will market the oil under the brand name ‘Crops’.

Ralph Freiha, major shareholder and General Manager said that they used to import oil and distribute it locally, but found it more feasible to produce their own. The company will obtain the raw vegetable oil, which has only been squeezed up to this point, to be refined and bottled at the factory.

The $17 million factory will have a total built up area 6,000 square meters. It will create around 40 jobs. “Experts from Belgium conducted training sessions for the team working in the production department,” said Freiha. He said that the company recruited specialized staff for the labs and for quality control departments.

The production capacity of the new factory will reach 4,000 tons of oil monthly. The turnover is expected to reach $70 million in the first year and grow to $100 million, annually, once the factory begins operating at full capacity, according to Freiha. “We operate the factory 24/7 because stopping the machines wastes a lot of energy”, said Freiha.

Crops oil will be distributed locally and exported to Syria, Jordan, Iraq, UAE, and Yemen.

Freiha Holding owns the Lebanese Poultry Company, which produces and distributes the Shuman chicken brand and the Freiha Food Company, which imports several food products and distributes them in the local market.