FRANCE/SAUDI ARABIA: Fromageries Bel expands in Saudi Arabia

just-food.com has just learned that Fromageries Bel , the major French dairy group, has started having jar cheese produced in Saudi Arabia. Fromageries Bel has hooked up with SNZMP , the local New Zealand Milk Products subsidiary. The news comes as a number of Western food manufacturers step up their investment in the markets of the Middle East. Factors including the liberalisation of import regimes and investment laws for foreign companies and a boom in advertising are fuelling the interest of foreign majors. Just last week, for example, Danone announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in Saudi Arabia's second largest fresh dairy,