Riyadh – Mubasher: Almarai Company partnered with Saudi Arabia's Social Development Bank to launch a new training programme for small catering businesses.

Dubbed 'Almarai Chefs', the programme aims to empower and support owners of cooking projects in Riyadh region, according to a press release.

Almarai will finance training courses and provide food products, equipment, and tools to participating ventures. It will also help identify suitable activities for backing.

For its part, the Development Bank - via business centre Dulani - will offer empowerment solutions to qualify beneficiaries.

It will work with Almarai to nominate family enterprises for the programme and its development services.

The agreement signifies efforts to boost entrepreneurship and accessibility to financing and skills training across the kingdom, facilitating collaboration between the private sector and government institutions toward social and economic goals.

The CEO of Almarai Abdullah bin Nasser Al Bader welcomed the company’s partnership with Saudi Arabia's Social Development Bank to launch the Almarai Chefs programme.

He said the programme will have a meaningful positive impact on very small cooking project owners.

Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Humaidi, CEO of the Social Development Bank, stated: "The cooperation agreement with Almarai Company targets owners of very small projects in the cooking and productive families sector in the Riyadh region, in an effort to develop small businesses and contribute to their transformation into sustainable projects.”

Almarai posted net profits of SAR 692.22 million in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024, up from SAR 635.05 million in Q1-23.