Decorations for the season are in place, and rows of shelves display an assorted range of food products used to observe the holy month. Hypermarkets in Qatar are all set for Ramadan.

Store officials who spoke to Gulf Times collectively said early preparations were made to cater to the needs of their respective customers during the holy month, such as importing large volumes of consumer products sourced from local and international suppliers.

Krishna Kumar R, general manager of LuLu Hypermarket along D-Ring Road said aside from the 418 discounted consumer products announced by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, LuLu is also offering products at “reduced prices” to support the MEC’s initiative.

“We are also offering a wide range of imported items that can only be found in LuLu stores. These include baking and special fresh items, sugar-free, gluten-free, organic foods, and other healthy foods that address the needs of diabetics,” said Mohamed Rasheed al-Hashmi, who manages LuLu’s D-Ring Road hypermarket.

Kumar also said LuLu has also launched several promotions, including a raffle draw for 10 cars, and appliances and diamonds promos. He said LuLu is also offering novelty products like a large incense burner set and the Sanjana hot pot, a popular item for many Qataris.

Sayed Emam, Security, Fire & Safety manager, added that LuLu has increased the number of its security in preparation for the influx of many customers during Ramadan, and “to improve service level and shopping convenience of customers.”

B M Kasim, senior purchase manager at Safari Mall, said the hypermarket is offering iftar combo kits for QR12 during Ramadan. Safari offers around 200 to 500 iftar combo kits (with food, water and juice), a day, on top of the 20 varieties of snacks available at the hot food section.

“We make sure to prepare our food according to our customer requirements,” said Kasim, who noted that 80% of Safari’s customer are Asian expatriates. During the holy month, Kasim said Safari expects a 20% to 25% increase in customer footfall.

“We are constantly trying to come up with innovations to further serve our customers better considering that our customer base is growing each year. We always study our customer profile and their requirements to immediately address their needs. That also helps us when sourcing high-quality products from our local and international suppliers to guarantee customer satisfaction,” he added.

As part of its Ramadan campaign, Al Meera Consumer Goods Company is offering 1,438 consumer goods at cost price in 35 branches across the country, in addition to its Géant Hypermarket.

In a statement, Al Meera said 1,438 high-quality products have been selected to cater to specific needs of shoppers during Ramadan. The products are strategically-placed on “special shelf talkers.”

“As part of our unwavering commitment towards the welfare and prosperity of the community we serve, every year, Al Meera makes sure to run massive promotions on hundreds of food and non-food items catering to the needs of all families celebrating every iftar and suhour,” Cobus Lombard, Al Meera acting CEO, Sales and Operations Director, said.

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