Where the world comes to shop

An exceptionally large selection of freshly made sweets at Lulu

If you are used to getting all your grocery needs in one location, and you live in the Middle East, there's a high chance that you are shopping at Lulu.

I first came across the word hypermarket when associated with this group. Larger than life department stores with aisles and aisles of goods from around the world, all under one roof.

In February this year Deloitte, in its Annual Global Retailers Report, ranked the LuLu Group as the top retailer in the Middle East and 27th among the top 50 fastest growing retailers in the world. The group currently operates 136 stores across UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, with more stores in the pipeline.

Products from pomegranate to electric kettles are sourced from 21 countries including UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Brazil, apart from local sources. A select group of media were invited to the large warehouse located in Dubai Investment Park. We were offered a rare sneak peek in to the workings of the warehouse. LuLu Central Logistics is a fully integrated logistics and warehouse management unit of the group. In UAE, LCL has more than 2.4 million sq. feet warehouse space to serve the needs of UAE residents.

Some unique features of the unit are:
• Its 24 hour and 7 day a week operation.
• The whole logistics chain is integrated & paperless – receiving, storing reorder
from store, picking and loading, dispatch to store, receiving at the store.
• 1st in Middle East to start a “voice picking” system.
• 200+ trailer trucks deliver goods into LCL (DIP) each day.
• 12 containers of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables are received each day.
• 350 truck-trips each day between the LCL (DIP) & stores in UAE
• All LCL trucks are temperature controlled and fitted with GPS to enable quick,
safe transport to the stores
• The LCL (DIP) also has food repacking and central kitchen for UAE
o 2.5 tons assorted sweets produced and sent to stores each day
o 400 varieties of items are made in the central kitchen
o 100 chefs from 8 countries to cater to the needs of LuLu’s diverse customers
o 7 tons of rice is sent to the stores each day
o 3 tons of pulse is sent to the stores each day

Part of the tour included a viewing of the many fresh sweets prepared in the unit. Sponge cakes, cookie and cashew nuts, Emirati, Indian and Phillipino sweets and treats are all prepared from scratch. There are sugar free and organic foods as well. There is also a wide selection of pickles. My personal favourite was the beetroot pickle. It feels nice to know where one's lemons are packed and purchased. They are trying to encourage visitors to use less plastic bags. If only more of us adopted this it would be super.