With the extreme climatic conditions in desert countries where the temperatures in summer soar above 55 Deg C and drop down to 5 Deg C in winter, with bone chilling drafts. In spite of such adverse weather conditions and with severe shortage of cultivable land and water resources, the kind of commercially viable and world-class Integrated Dairy Farming activity many countries are carrying out is beyond anyone's imagination.

Saudi Arabia has 3 giant dairy companies viz. Al-Marai Company Ltd., Al-Safi-Danone, and Al-Nada Dairy, who not only cater to Saudi national dairy products requirement, but also are major exporters to other Middle Eastern countries.

Profile of Al-Marai Company Ltd. headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

• Largest integrated dairy company in the world with a total herd size of 45,000 Holstein Friesian cows (pure bred) on their 3 farms. Operates the largest dairy processing facility (1.5 Million Liters daily)
• Largest dairy and Foods Company in the Middle East, with a 40% share of the fresh dairy market concentrating on the production and sale of high quality fresh dairy food fresh laban, fresh milk and fresh yoghurt as well as a wide range of processed cheese, butter, juices and desserts.
• Employs more than 4,000 staff drawn from more than 30 different countries.
• Almarai is the first dairy farm in the world to gain ISO 9002 accreditation. Voted "World's Food Plant of the Year 1998" by the US-based "Food International" Magazine.
• The Almarai Dairy System concentrates on animal well being through top-class husbandry techniques, feed patterns and content, health and fertility schedules, coupled with environmental control and world-class stockmanship skills at farm level.
• The pedigree herd of Holstein Friesian Cows is fed top quality forage, which is grown on the Division's own arable farms, and a range of concentrates on a zero grazing basis. Forage is grown in 8,000 hectares of desert under modern irrigation systems.

Another giant dairy in Saudi Arabia, Al Safi Danone is a part of the Al Safi organization, which owns the world's largest integrated dairy farms at a measurement of 7,500 hectares with more than 30,000 Holstein Friesian cattle reared on one single farm. These figures have helped the company reach a world record-breaking title and being entered into the Guinness Book of World Records.