JEDDAH, 27 July 2004 — A major packaging company opened its doors recently and invited employees’ families and female members of the Saudi Science Club to visit their factory complex in two specially arranged tours.
In a groundbreaking visit by the female club members, 22 students from high schools and universities had a comprehensive tour of the facilities, lasting half a day. The club’s CEO, Abdulhafiz Ameen, who organized the day with Tetra Pak, escorted them. They began with a presentation by Faisal Ghulam, general manager for human resources, of the principles of aseptic packaging — a packing process that allows foods to be kept at ambient temperature in warm climates — and the history of the company in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world.
“We took the opportunity to show families of our staff what ‘dad’ does at work,” said Amar Zahid, Tetra Pak’s managing director. “We also wanted to introduce the Science Club to the very important contribution to food science — aseptic packaging manufacture — that we carry out here.”
He added that bringing local groups with an interest in industry and science to the ultra modern facility “might well trigger an interest that results in the next generation of Saudi staff.”
Even during the summer, the factory runs twenty-four hours a day, producing the carton packaging for beverages, fruit juices and dairy products familiar on supermarket shelves around the world. The Jeddah factory produces over five billion cartons a year, about half of which are exported.
The family tour brought with it a bevy of children. “We were very concerned about the safety aspect of our guests in the factory,” said factory director Roberto Valenzuela. “We took extra safety precautions as there were children, and all went very well.”
Tetra Pak, a Swedish company, is no stranger to the challenges presented by visits by interested groups. During January this year, Princess Victoria of Sweden toured the facilities while on a visit to the Kingdom. The children were particularly fascinated by the machinery and the high-speed printing. Several kilometers of brightly colored packaging streams off the machines every hour, spinning on to vast reels weighing up to eight tons each.
“It is a good opportunity to introduce an interest in industry to young minds,” said Roberto. “But because Tetra Pak is very much concerned with environmental issues, the visit helps sow seeds of concern that might bear fruit years from now.”
Emad Rizq, who is head of safety and security at the factory, brought his daughter Eram, 9, and son Abdul Karim, 6.
“It was our first official visit,” he said, “and it has made the stories I tell them about work so much more real for them.”
Eram, who took a very serious interest in the proceedings, confirmed, while clutching some packaging samples, that “the best bit was the printing.”
