Oman Edition 1 Sohar
MARKET At the time of launching SOHAR there wasn’t any other brand available in the Omani market other than some Singaporean brands such as Cook, Chef, Safi and a few others. SOHAR Oil was the first true Omani brand and was an instant success because of its renowned purity. In the cooking oil market there are two main segments - the premium segment and the popular segment. The popular segment contains products that are in use on a day to day basis whilst the premium segment is populated by products for which customers are prepared to pay a premium for perceived additional quality and SOHAR Oil is firmly ensconced in the premium segment as it is seen as being of the very highest quality by its customers. The origination of the name SOHAR Oil is from the ancient and famous ship named SOHAR. This ship is closely associated with Omanis and it is considered as a matter of pride for them because SOHAR Oil is made locally to the very highest standards.
ACHIEVEMENTS SOHAR’s strength and salience in the Sultanate of Oman is due to its ability to deliver a high quality product and its adherence to international quality standards. The company holds ISO 9001 for Quality Management System, ISO 14001 Environment Management System and ISO 22000 for Food Safety Management. SOHAR Double Refined Cooking Oil has always scored high on customer loyalty parameters in Oman. It’s truly a national brand with an international character. SOHAR’s television commercial, produced and aired in 1990, was an instant hit on the domestic TV. In fact the jingle of the film became practically a theme song in the 90s. In 2005 SOHAR came up with a sequel to the 1990 TV commercial. Contemporary in its approach, the new film also became a landmark in Oman’s list of impactful TV Commercials. To maintain the highest standards of hygiene, packing materials such as tins, cans etc are manufactured in-house and filled immediately using automatic packing machines. SOHAR Oil is the first cooking oil blend in the entire GCC. The oil is ideal for multiple frying.
HISTORY SOHAR Oil is widely known as the heritage brand in Oman. The product was launched in October 1983 and was originally packaged in tins. The very first production run was just 50 tonnes of oil and was 64
manufactured in the Rusayl factory. The first distributor for SOHAR Oil was Baker Suleiman Jaffer and later, in 1986, the company started to sell directly to the public. At this time the manufacturing process was undertaken by Areej Vegetable Oils and Derivates but the product was distributed by another company. In 2002 SOHAR Oil packaging was changed to transparent PET bottles and the product was relaunched onto the market. People in many regions began to process vegetable oils thousands of years ago, utilising whatever food stuffs they had on hand to obtain oils for a variety of cooking purposes. Early peoples learned to use the sun, a fire, or an oven to heat oily plant products until the plants exuded oil that could then be collected. The Chinese and Japanese produced soy oil as early as 2000 B.C. while southern Europeans had begun to produce olive oil by 3000 B.C. In Mexico and North America, peanuts and sunflower seeds were roasted and beaten into a paste before being boiled in water; the oil that rose to the surface
was then skimmed off. Africans also grated and beat palm kernels and coconut meat and then boiled the resulting pulp, skimming the hot oil off the water. Some oils have become available only recently, as extraction technology has improved. Corn oil first became available in the 1960s. Cotton oil, watermelon seed oil, grapeseed oil, and others are now being considered as ways to make use of seeds that were, until recently, considered waste. The first efforts to increase output were undertaken independently in China, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, among other places. Using a spherical or conical stone mortar and pestle, vertical or horizontal millstones, or simply their feet, people began to crush vegetable matter to increase its available surface area. The ground material would subsequently be placed in sieves such as shallow, flat wicker baskets that were stacked, sometimes as many as 50 high. The matter was then pressed using lever or wedge presses. The Greeks and Romans improved this process by introducing edge runners to grind and a winch or screw to operate a lever press. Their method was used throughout the Middle Ages. Refinements of this approach included a stamper press that was invented in Holland in the 1600s and used until the 1800s to extract oil, a roll mill invented by English engineer John Smeaton in 1750 to crush vegetable matter more efficiently, and the hydraulic press, invented by Joseph Bramah in England. The first improved screw press was invented by V. D. Anderson in the United States in 1876. His Expeller (a trade name) continuously operated a cage press. When vegetable matter was placed in Anderson’s closed press, the resultant oil drained out of slots in the side. A screw increased the pressure through the cage toward a restricted opening. Enhancements in grinding and pressing plant matter were followed by improvements in extracting the oil. In 1856, Deiss of England obtained the first patent for extraction of oil using solvents, following experiments by Jesse Fisher in 1843. At first solvents such as benzene were pumped through the material and drained through false perforated bottoms. Later, Bollman and Hildebrandt of Germany independently developed continuous systems that sprayed the material with solvent. Both methods were eventually improved, and today solvent extraction is standard in the vegetable oil industry.
PRODUCT SOHAR Oil is a corn oil which is a double refined cooking oil of the highest purity. This oil is only sold in Oman and is available in packages of 1.8 litres PET bottle and also in a 2.4 litre tin. The production facility in Avod produces around 11,000 bottles per day using a total of six machines and each machine produces 1,900 bottles per day at full capacity. The procedure starts with the PET input into the machine for melting and this is then molded to form the shapes of the bottles required. These machines are fully automated which means that the product requires less handling by humans therby ensuring absolute cleanliness. In the filling line the bottles go through an air rinser where the bottles are iodised and fully cleaned to remove any contamination. Then comes the filling line where the oil is injected into the sterilised bottles automatically. The automatic oil filling machines accuracy is very high and can fill as many as 80 bottles per minute each bottle having a capacity of 1.8 litres. After filling the bottles are then sealed with a silver foiling. The sealing is achieved through the use of microwave rays – all in an automatic process. The machinery is equipped with a seal detector which rejects those bottles which aren’t sealed properly in accordance with the accepted standards. The next stage is labeling and then the coding is added to indicate the shelf life of the product i.e. the production date and expiry date. The last stage is for the bottles to be packed into cartoons which are weight
checked to ensure quality control. Even if there is a difference of one gram, the batch will be rejected. The finished cartons are the stacked by a robot controlled palletisation system, which is the first of its kind to be installed in the whole GCC, ready for delivery to the distributors.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS The good distribution network of SOHAR is guided by several fundamental principles. The core ones are trust and partnership with dealers. SOHAR Double Refined Cooking Oil has plans to extend its brand’s equity to areas that are related. This is after leveraging the tremendous mind space the brand occupies in the minds of people in the Sultanate of Oman. Its modern and hygienic plant at Rusayl, near Muscat is well equipped to take the brand extension forward.
PROMOTION There was an advertising film made for SOHAR Oil during the year 1992 – 1993 which was the first commercial film to be broadcast on Oman TV with the support of the Government. The advertisement proved to be extremely popular with the general public as was the jingle accompanying the advertisement which caught the imagination of SOHAR Oil’s customers.
BRAND VALUES SOHAR Oil is committed to quality and all of its branding and advertising vouches for that fact. Despite several new products in the market, their consumers have a strong emotional connection with SOHAR Oil and the company ais humbled by the love of people shown to this Omani product. SOHAR Oil promises to keep their trust. It is the policy of Areej Vegetable Oil & Derivatives SAOG to manufacture products consistently that meet National and International Standard and customers’ requirements. To this effect the Management is committed to implement and maintain HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) based quality system throughout the process chain and thu,s in turn, achieve a reliable, safe and wholesome product consistently.
www.omzest.com/avod.htm
Things you didn’t know about
SOHAR Oil
SOHAR is the name of the first ship that sailed from Oman to China. The visual of a ship on the SOHAR product pack label is reminiscent of that ship. SOHAR is also the name of a fast developing city in the Sultanate of Oman. The city is 200 kilometers north of Muscat and about 200 kilometers south of Dubai. SOHAR Oil has got diamond cut designs on its pack and hence the pack shines when kept at supermarkets. SOHAR oil has a rich golden colour.
ACHIEVEMENTS SOHAR’s strength and salience in the Sultanate of Oman is due to its ability to deliver a high quality product and its adherence to international quality standards. The company holds ISO 9001 for Quality Management System, ISO 14001 Environment Management System and ISO 22000 for Food Safety Management. SOHAR Double Refined Cooking Oil has always scored high on customer loyalty parameters in Oman. It’s truly a national brand with an international character. SOHAR’s television commercial, produced and aired in 1990, was an instant hit on the domestic TV. In fact the jingle of the film became practically a theme song in the 90s. In 2005 SOHAR came up with a sequel to the 1990 TV commercial. Contemporary in its approach, the new film also became a landmark in Oman’s list of impactful TV Commercials. To maintain the highest standards of hygiene, packing materials such as tins, cans etc are manufactured in-house and filled immediately using automatic packing machines. SOHAR Oil is the first cooking oil blend in the entire GCC. The oil is ideal for multiple frying.
HISTORY SOHAR Oil is widely known as the heritage brand in Oman. The product was launched in October 1983 and was originally packaged in tins. The very first production run was just 50 tonnes of oil and was 64
manufactured in the Rusayl factory. The first distributor for SOHAR Oil was Baker Suleiman Jaffer and later, in 1986, the company started to sell directly to the public. At this time the manufacturing process was undertaken by Areej Vegetable Oils and Derivates but the product was distributed by another company. In 2002 SOHAR Oil packaging was changed to transparent PET bottles and the product was relaunched onto the market. People in many regions began to process vegetable oils thousands of years ago, utilising whatever food stuffs they had on hand to obtain oils for a variety of cooking purposes. Early peoples learned to use the sun, a fire, or an oven to heat oily plant products until the plants exuded oil that could then be collected. The Chinese and Japanese produced soy oil as early as 2000 B.C. while southern Europeans had begun to produce olive oil by 3000 B.C. In Mexico and North America, peanuts and sunflower seeds were roasted and beaten into a paste before being boiled in water; the oil that rose to the surface
was then skimmed off. Africans also grated and beat palm kernels and coconut meat and then boiled the resulting pulp, skimming the hot oil off the water. Some oils have become available only recently, as extraction technology has improved. Corn oil first became available in the 1960s. Cotton oil, watermelon seed oil, grapeseed oil, and others are now being considered as ways to make use of seeds that were, until recently, considered waste. The first efforts to increase output were undertaken independently in China, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, among other places. Using a spherical or conical stone mortar and pestle, vertical or horizontal millstones, or simply their feet, people began to crush vegetable matter to increase its available surface area. The ground material would subsequently be placed in sieves such as shallow, flat wicker baskets that were stacked, sometimes as many as 50 high. The matter was then pressed using lever or wedge presses. The Greeks and Romans improved this process by introducing edge runners to grind and a winch or screw to operate a lever press. Their method was used throughout the Middle Ages. Refinements of this approach included a stamper press that was invented in Holland in the 1600s and used until the 1800s to extract oil, a roll mill invented by English engineer John Smeaton in 1750 to crush vegetable matter more efficiently, and the hydraulic press, invented by Joseph Bramah in England. The first improved screw press was invented by V. D. Anderson in the United States in 1876. His Expeller (a trade name) continuously operated a cage press. When vegetable matter was placed in Anderson’s closed press, the resultant oil drained out of slots in the side. A screw increased the pressure through the cage toward a restricted opening. Enhancements in grinding and pressing plant matter were followed by improvements in extracting the oil. In 1856, Deiss of England obtained the first patent for extraction of oil using solvents, following experiments by Jesse Fisher in 1843. At first solvents such as benzene were pumped through the material and drained through false perforated bottoms. Later, Bollman and Hildebrandt of Germany independently developed continuous systems that sprayed the material with solvent. Both methods were eventually improved, and today solvent extraction is standard in the vegetable oil industry.
PRODUCT SOHAR Oil is a corn oil which is a double refined cooking oil of the highest purity. This oil is only sold in Oman and is available in packages of 1.8 litres PET bottle and also in a 2.4 litre tin. The production facility in Avod produces around 11,000 bottles per day using a total of six machines and each machine produces 1,900 bottles per day at full capacity. The procedure starts with the PET input into the machine for melting and this is then molded to form the shapes of the bottles required. These machines are fully automated which means that the product requires less handling by humans therby ensuring absolute cleanliness. In the filling line the bottles go through an air rinser where the bottles are iodised and fully cleaned to remove any contamination. Then comes the filling line where the oil is injected into the sterilised bottles automatically. The automatic oil filling machines accuracy is very high and can fill as many as 80 bottles per minute each bottle having a capacity of 1.8 litres. After filling the bottles are then sealed with a silver foiling. The sealing is achieved through the use of microwave rays – all in an automatic process. The machinery is equipped with a seal detector which rejects those bottles which aren’t sealed properly in accordance with the accepted standards. The next stage is labeling and then the coding is added to indicate the shelf life of the product i.e. the production date and expiry date. The last stage is for the bottles to be packed into cartoons which are weight
checked to ensure quality control. Even if there is a difference of one gram, the batch will be rejected. The finished cartons are the stacked by a robot controlled palletisation system, which is the first of its kind to be installed in the whole GCC, ready for delivery to the distributors.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS The good distribution network of SOHAR is guided by several fundamental principles. The core ones are trust and partnership with dealers. SOHAR Double Refined Cooking Oil has plans to extend its brand’s equity to areas that are related. This is after leveraging the tremendous mind space the brand occupies in the minds of people in the Sultanate of Oman. Its modern and hygienic plant at Rusayl, near Muscat is well equipped to take the brand extension forward.
PROMOTION There was an advertising film made for SOHAR Oil during the year 1992 – 1993 which was the first commercial film to be broadcast on Oman TV with the support of the Government. The advertisement proved to be extremely popular with the general public as was the jingle accompanying the advertisement which caught the imagination of SOHAR Oil’s customers.
BRAND VALUES SOHAR Oil is committed to quality and all of its branding and advertising vouches for that fact. Despite several new products in the market, their consumers have a strong emotional connection with SOHAR Oil and the company ais humbled by the love of people shown to this Omani product. SOHAR Oil promises to keep their trust. It is the policy of Areej Vegetable Oil & Derivatives SAOG to manufacture products consistently that meet National and International Standard and customers’ requirements. To this effect the Management is committed to implement and maintain HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) based quality system throughout the process chain and thu,s in turn, achieve a reliable, safe and wholesome product consistently.
www.omzest.com/avod.htm
Things you didn’t know about
SOHAR Oil
SOHAR is the name of the first ship that sailed from Oman to China. The visual of a ship on the SOHAR product pack label is reminiscent of that ship. SOHAR is also the name of a fast developing city in the Sultanate of Oman. The city is 200 kilometers north of Muscat and about 200 kilometers south of Dubai. SOHAR Oil has got diamond cut designs on its pack and hence the pack shines when kept at supermarkets. SOHAR oil has a rich golden colour.
