GEA to build integrated dairy facility in Algeria

A leading Qatari dairy and food producer, the Algerian Government and GEA have signed a contract for the construction of what is claimed to be the largest integrated dairy farm and milk powder facility in Algeria.

GEA will be providing a range of dairy farming and processing solutions as well as process designs and services for the project, which is one of the largest single orders for GEA to date.

Today, Algeria is the world’s third largest importer of milk powder. To strengthen future autonomy and food security in dairy products, the Algerian Government — via its National Investment Fund — and Baladna Q.P.S.C. from Qatar entered a strategic partnership via the newly formed company subsidiary Baladna Algeria S.P.A. The partnership’s purpose is to finance and manage the construction of a state-of-the-art integrated dairy farming and milk powder production facility in Algeria’s Adrar province. The locally produced milk powder is planned to meet about 50% of Algeria’s national milk powder needs, representing a significant step towards self-sufficiency.

Construction of the facility will commence at the beginning of 2026, with first milk powder production scheduled to start in late 2027, and then gradual scale-up of production volumes over subsequent years. When completed and fully supplied, this facility’s final capacity will be approximately 100,000 tons of milk powder per year.

“We are proud that Baladna and the Algerian Government are entrusting GEA to play a key part in this lighthouse project,” said Stefan Klebert, CEO GEA. “Not only are we building the world’s largest facility of its kind — we are also helping to strengthen regional food security and economic development. This project showcases the attractiveness of our technologies and products, underpinned by our extensive capabilities for large-scale process and plant engineering.”

GEA CEO Stefan Klebert (left) and Ali Al-Ali, Chairman of Baladna Algeria, at the contract-signing ceremony for what is claimed to be the world’s largest integrated dairy facility. Source: Baladna/GEA

“This engagement with GEA marks a milestone in the acceleration of the project. We are proud to attract the most prominent national and international expertise and renowned companies from all over the world to contribute to the completion of the project, following the highest international standards,” Mohamed Moutaz Al-Khayyat, Chairman of Baladna, commented.

Using its portfolio of complementary engineering technologies, GEA will cover the entire value chain of milk powder production when constructing the facility — from dairy farming to processing and packaging of the final product. It will provide a range of solutions from a single source to run the facility’s large milking parlours as well as its milk powder and anhydrous milk fat installations. These include system solutions, such as separators, membrane filtration and heat treatment, as well as evaporation and spray drying plants. Automated packaging and service components are also part of the scope.

Top image credit: iStock.com/Picsfive