Americana Group (Kuwait Food Company), one of the Middle East and North Africa’s most successful food companies, made a net profit of KD48.02 million ($172.7 million) for 2011 against KD46.22 million in the previous year.

Total income for 2011 was given as KD132.9 million against KD132.6 million in the year before. Earnings per share were 123 fils (a Kuwait dinar comprises 1,000 fils).

The Americana Group is traded on the Kuwait Stock Exchange and operates manufacturing firms for consumer foods and food-related products while also running food and beverage outlets.

Established in Kuwait in 1964, the group operates 17 factories in the region and employs some 45,000 people from 21 nationalities.

In the food manufacturing and processing sector, it is recognised as the Middle East’s leading purveyor of quality food products. With a portfolio spanning high-quality brands, its food products find their way into millions of households every day.

Its consumer food brands include Americana Meat, Koki, California Gardens, Americana Cake, Greenland, Americana Olives, Lion Chips, Farm Frites and Gulfa mineral water.

The Americana Meat brand was launched in 1972, while Koki was introduced in the Egyptian market by Americana Group in 1992, becoming Egypt’s fastest-growing chicken brand. 

California Garden, launched in the early 1990s, is the leading canned food brand in the Mena region.

Overall, the group’s brands include KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardee’s, TGI Friday’s, Costa Coffee, Krispy Kreme and, most recently, Signor Sassi.