The 17-day festivities were inaugurated last week with the cutting of a giant-sized cake by Gen. Abdul Aziz in Alkhobar. Nearly 1,500 visitors turned up to celebrate the event. It took 40 members of the Lulu bakery team to bake the largest and longest cake in Saudi history. They worked for 12 long hours to prepare the 101-meter cake.
The giant cake weighed 1,896 kg. The Lulu bakers, led by Fresh Food Manager Siddik, used 1,085 kg of flour, 593 kg of cream and 150 kg of sugar among other essential ingredients. “It cost the hypermarket between SR95,000 and SR110,000 to make this mother of all cakes,” said Abdul Basheer.
The cake was distributed among guests and customers after the inauguration.
The festivities include food preparation demonstrations, raffles, contests and competitions for young and old.
Basheer said the Lulu chain decided to repeat the event because of the festival's success last year. He said business has been brisk at the Alkhobar store, which is now in the top 10 of the chain’s 89 stores across the Middle East, and that the new Riyadh store was selling well.
“Within a year and a half, the hypermarket has not only achieved its intended target but has gone far beyond all expectations,” he said of the Alkhobar store.
Various competitions and contests for men, women and children have been organized on the sidelines of the festival. “We have kept the entire family in perspective while designing these entertainment activities,” Basheer said. "We are getting a huge response."
Customers are enthusiastically taking part in a number of raffle draws because a large number of gift vouchers are being distributed. There are coloring contests and a pencil drawing contest for children along with salad-making and cooking competitions for women.
Basheer said the current festivals, which runs for two more weeks, were a way to show the hypermarkets’ appreciation of their customers.
“This is a phenomenal achievement, and we are thankful to our loyal customers who believe in us and our products,” he said. “We are constantly updating our services and increasing our food product range.”
