Algeria boosts dairy processing capacity with plans for 1,300 tons daily by 2025

ALGERIA – Algeria is actively strengthening its dairy processing capacity to meet rising demand and reduce its reliance on imports. 

The government, aiming for increased self-sufficiency, has unveiled plans to add nearly 1,300 tons of daily production capacity by early 2025 through three key industrial dairy projects.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Youcef Cherfa announced on October 24 that these projects include a private dairy in Bordj Badji Mokhtar with a capacity of 11.2 tons per day, which will start operating on November 1. 

Additionally, a public dairy plant in Bouira, set to supply 250 tons daily, will be launched on November 17. 

The largest addition, set for February 2025, is a facility from the Industrial Group for the Production of Milk and its Derivatives (Giplait) in Rouiba, Algiers, which will produce 1,000 tons per day of both pasteurized and UHT milk.

The expansion is vital for Algeria, which has imported nearly half of its dairy consumption over the past few years. 

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that Algeria’s annual dairy import reached approximately 6.5 million tons between 2020 and 2022, emphasizing the need for increased local production to curb dependency. 

Presently, Algeria’s dairy industry processes around 2.1 billion liters of milk annually, and the country boasts approximately 1.8 million dairy cattle, which produced around 3.5 billion liters of milk last year.

Key industry players include Giplait, a public entity deeply involved in dairy processing; Laiterie Soummam, one of Algeria’s leading private companies known for an extensive product line; and the newly established Alrawabi Dairy Company, which operates with substantial foreign investment and employs advanced dairy farming practices.

These companies are instrumental in meeting the demand for dairy staples like cheese and milk powder, with annual production of 55,000 tons of cheese and 30,000 tons of milk powder and whey.

Meanwhile, the government has launched the National Dairy Program, which targets self-sufficiency in dairy production by 2025. 

Additionally, in 2022, Algeria engaged in partnerships with international dairy corporations to facilitate technology transfer and advance local industry standards. 

Although the nation imports about 1.2 billion liters worth of dairy products each year, Algeria has a growing export footprint, sending around 50 million liters of dairy products abroad annually. 

Such initiatives, along with new capacity-building projects, aim to foster a sustainable and self-reliant dairy sector, reducing Algeria’s dependency on imports and driving economic growth in the dairy market.

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