RIYADH: Thanks to its state-of-the-art logistics, warehousing and food sourcing team, LuLu has been able to strengthen networks with local farmers and government agricultural organizations to find and showcase the best local food items grown in Saudi Arabia.

The region’s largest hypermarket chain, LuLu has reinforced its commitment to supporting local farmers and agricultural enterprises with the Pomegranate Festival being held across all its branches in Saudi Arabia. The juicy fruit is sourced from two regions in Saudi Arabia, mainly Qassim and Baha. The festival is part of the retail giant’s efforts to promote fresh and local produce. Thanks to its state-of-the-art logistics, warehousing and food sourcing team, LuLu has been able to strengthen networks with local farmers and government agricultural organizations to find and showcase the best local food items grown in Saudi Arabia.

LuLu is the first and only retail chain in Saudi Arabia to promote local pomegranates directly from Saudi farms. The festival, which is currently running in the Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah stores, began on Oct. 27 and will continue until Nov. 2. It is an initiative in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture’s “It’s Season” campaign to promote seasonal agricultural produce. 

“At LuLu, we believe in extending support to the local agricultural community and this puts our hypermarkets at the front of the ‘farm-to-table’ movement,” said Shehim Mohammed, director of LuLu Hypermarkets Saudi Arabia, “This is part of our corporate effort to promote food self-sufficiency and also the local farmers. We are looking forward to a long and fruitful association with MEWA to do this.”

LuLu is a leading hypermarket and supermarket chain and the only Middle East retail group to be featured in Deloitte’s annual “Global Powers of Retailing 2021” survey, for the MENA and Asian regions. Founded in the early 90s, it is present across the GCC, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Suriname and Egypt. Serving more than 1,600,000 shoppers every day, it is the fastest growing retail chain across 10 countries and currently operates more than 217 stores with a multinational staff force of more than 57,000. Since 2020, LuLu’s carefully-structured expansion plan includes hypermarkets, express store-format smaller outlets and a vibrant online shopping platform.