Interloop Eyes $2.3 Billion Gulf Cheese Market Through Turkish Venture: Report

Interloop Holdings, one of Pakistan’s largest conglomerates and a key supplier to global apparel brands, is making a bold foray into the Gulf’s $2.3 billion cheese and butter market through a joint venture in Turkiye, as part of a strategy to diversify beyond textiles. The move, first reported by Arab News, comes as Interloop’s chairman, Musadaq Zulqarnain, outlined plans to leverage the group’s dairy arm, IRC Dairy Products Ltd, to capture a significant share of the fast-growing Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) dairy sector. IRC, in partnership with Turkish firm Rella Gida, currently processes 120,000 liters of milk daily, producing Turkish mozzarella cheese and butter for markets in Pakistan, Eurasia, and the Far East. Zulqarnain said he will travel to Turkiye this month to finalize plans for exports to the GCC, where cheese and butter imports reached $2.3 billion in 2024, with Saudi Arabia alone accounting for $980 million. “We expect to produce about 7–8% of the cheese imported by the entire GCC,” he said in an interview from Faisalabad, Interloop’s manufacturing hub. IRC Dairy currently derives about 10% of its revenue from exports, with sales projected at Rs. 10 billion this fiscal year and ambitions to quadruple that figure as capacity expands. The company plans to triple its production capacity within three years, targeting annual output of 21,000 tons of cheese, 3,500 tons of butter, and 8,400 tons of whey powder by 2028. Interloop is also considering establishing a production facility in Saudi Arabia through a new joint venture, in response to rising dairy demand in the Kingdom. The group’s expansion aligns with Pakistan’s broader push to boost non-textile exports and attract foreign investment, following a recent U.S. tariff concession that reduced duties on certain Pakistani exports from 29% to 19%. IRC Dairy CEO Matloob Hussain highlighted Pakistan’s logistical advantage over Western suppliers, citing shorter shipping times to Gulf markets. Beyond dairy, Interloop is expanding into logistics and IT services, with its technology arm already operating in the UAE and exploring partnerships in Saudi Arabia to provide AI, cloud computing, and software solutions. The company also plans to export apparel to Saudi Arabia, which accounts for half of the GCC’s $35 billion apparel market. To fund its expansion, Interloop intends to list its dairy business on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, Zulqarnain confirmed. The group’s diversification comes amid deepening economic and strategic ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, with a wide-ranging economic agreement expected by the end of October. Interloop, best known for manufacturing socks and apparel for Nike, Adidas, Puma, Target, H&M, Marks & Spencer, and Zara, operates large-scale facilities across Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.