The Arab Supply & Trading Corporation (ASTRA Group), ASTRA, whose products and services are known for more than 35 years, is an integral part and reflection of the economic developments taking place in the region.
“Our strategic long-term plans are to provide the Arab society with various projects that will have a significant impact on the improvement of the region by creating new job opportunities and opening international markets, which leads us to achieve self-sufficiency,” ASTRA Chairman Sabih Taher Masri said.
Since its incorporation, ASTRA has expanded its business to include more than 50 countries, investing in various activities such as agriculture, contracting and services, manufacturing, health care, medical and chemical industries.
Trade, real estate, banking and finance, hotels and tourism, as well as telecommunications have been the main fields of its activity.
“Our companies are all integrated and supported my management systems of high standards, with proper staffing and training, backed by state-of-the-art technologies,” the chairman said.
Today, ASTRA has become one of the most important business holdings in the region, with a high commitment to continuously provide quality products and services to meet international standards. “Our motto is ‘ASTRA, a world you can rely on,’ and our prime objective is to work toward it,” he said.
Expanded continuously since its foundation in 1979, its operations in the Tabuk area have resulted in the production of a wide range of quality fruits, vegetables and livestock. Poultry, plants and flower products are among the other areas of its activity. The miraculous success in desert cultivation and development of ASTRA farms constitute an important element in the group’s overall expansion and transformation into what is known today as one of the largest food self-sufficiency players in the local and regional markets.
This was achieved through hard work, research and investment in new technologies, and by the efforts of its 1,500 motivated employees, all dedicated to exerting possible effort in sustaining the group’s rapid growth.
ASTRA Farms has been the pioneering commercial fruit growers in the Kingdom. Its orchards and groves produce a wide range of fruit such as peaches, apricot, nectarines, plums, pears, apples, oranges, mandarins, tangerines, lemon, grapefruit, grapes, dates and figs. With the first R&D center in the area, and nurseries for seedlings, experimental plots and stringent quality control systems, ASTRA has managed to maintain the high quality of its products and produce commercial quantities of fruits to supply both local and export markets.
Thanks to its continuous development efforts, its Flowers and Ornamental Plants Division has become a major supplier and introducer of new plants and cut flowers to the local and export markets. Additionally, they provide several varieties of indoor and outdoor plants, and fruit tree and vegetable seedlings.
ASTRA’s award winning experience (Arab Agriculture Award) in the field has enabled it to provide customers with information, consultations, crop protection, and advice from its laboratory service pertaining to water, soil and tissue analyses. This is done according to the procurement and application of the US and Dutch standards.
ASTRA has a modern poultry farm equipped with the latest monitoring technology. With an integrated operation system of parent stock farms, it provides domestic and foreign markets with hatching eggs, day old chicks, live and dressed chicken and table eggs.
Additionally, ASTRA was the first to introduce quails to the Saudi market, creating popular demand and becoming the largest quail farm in the world. The capacity of quality controlled quail production reached 12 million birds a year maintaining the biggest share in the Kingdom and the rest of the Gulf. The farm won the Quail Quality controlled award from Italy in1995.
Established in 1989, The ASTRA Grain Trade Division engages in general trading of a wide variety of processed and non-processed commodities, such as dry foodstuffs including rice, pulses, spices, nuts, edible oils, dried fruit, coffee, tea, sugar, food additive and ASTRA-labeled imported products. The branch has steadily increased its market share and is considered to be a leader in the Kingdom’s commodity market.
The company is the sole agent, dealer and distributor for many leading multinationals in the farming sector of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East, and North African countries. These reputed suppliers include: DeRuiter Seeds, Agrico, Frenzo Seeds, Bejo Zaden, Astrachem products (in both fertilizers and pesticides), NSI, JH Biotech, Degussa, Heliopotasse, Nufarm, FMC, Cerexagri, Crompton (Uniroyal), Labortoire Mure, Cenavisa, Upjohn, Kekkila and Jordan Greenhouses.
The company’s trading business includes open field and controlled seeds, pesticides, agrochemicals, fertilizer, greenhouses, irrigation systems, farming tools, fogging machines, and veterinary products as well as handling sales, exports and distribution of ASTRA Industrial Complex for Fertilizers & Agrochemicals.
The company also has a Special Projects Division specialized in the design and construction of large landscaped areas including gardens, theme parks and palaces.
This company was established in 1982 to form one of the leading home textile importers and distributors in the Kingdom. Its wholesale business ranges from bedsheets to blankets, comforters to pillows, towels to bathrobes, bath mats to coordinates and tablecloths to kitchen textiles. These are imported from suppliers in the US, Brazil, Europe and the Far East. The company is the exclusive authorized local distributor for the brands that include: Royale, Classic, American Home, Dan River, Dream, Capri, Artex, Karsten, Savoy and Cannon. All this is in addition to ASTRA’s own household textiles.
Masri & Khalaf Company is renowned for its high quality products in fashionable household textiles, supplying considerable demand in the Saudi market. The company has a loyal customer base throughout hyper and supermarkets, shopping centers, boutiques, local shops and residential compounds.
ASTRA Construction, established in 1976, has helped build self-sufficiency into ASTRA from the very start by handling the construction requirements of each new ASTRA project. Since 1976, it has executed numerous projects, including many of Tabuk region’s most prestigious projects.