Al Ghurair Foods has made tremendous progress over the past three decades, growing from a small flour mill to a technologically advanced, world-scale, multi-product manufacturing enterprise.

With over a billion-dollar turnover, manufacturing facilities in a number of countries and a market presence in over 50 countries, the company today is among the leading names in the food business with a large brand portfolio spearheaded by its premium brand Jenan. It produces and markets different kinds of flour, pasta, noodles and edible oil while also dealing in rice, soyabean, maize and pulses.
Most of its manufacturing facilities are located in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, near the port. When Jebel Ali was established, Al Ghurair Foods was one of the first companies to move in, says Razi Ansari, its CEO.
“We have six plants operating in Jebel Ali, including one of the largest soyabean crushing facilities in the world, a flour mill, a maize mill and an edible oil refinery. We have our own berth and storage facilities for over 150,000 tonnes of grain and oil,” says Ansari.
“Being close to one of the most technologically advanced ports in the world allows for quick and easy loading and unloading of both bulk and packaged products. As a result we are able to serve over 50 countries around the world. 
“And being located in one industrial complex also helps us provide common services to our plants such as maintenance and technical support. We also have a central logistics department and a central purchase and supply chain service.”
The company started in 1976 in Dubai as National Flour Mill (NFM) with a vision to contribute not only to the industrialisation of UAE but also to bring fresh bread to the tables of UAE residents. There were no flourmills in the UAE at the time and NFM was the first to set up one.
Capacities were doubled and tripled within a short span. Today the mill produces 800 tonnes of flour every day. Its other mill, located in Jebel Ali, with a capacity of 1,300 tonnes per day, was set up in 1997. Together the mills produce 50 different types of flour. The Jebel Ali mill caters mainly to export markets.
Besides, the company has flourmills in Algeria and Lebanon and is currently in the process of establishing one plant in Sri Lanka. It also has a rice mill in Pakistan.
The company has the vision of being the number one food company in the local market and a preferred supplier overseas, towards which end it is working. 
Its main markets include the Middle East, Africa, the Subcontinent and the Far East.
Part of Al Ghurair Group of companies, Al Ghurair Foods is the largest division and contributes substantially to the group’s earnings.     
“The company has been growing in leaps and bounds. This year we registered a growth rate of 40 per cent and last year we achieved 65 per cent,” says Ansari.
“The high growth rate has been mainly due to the opening up of new markets and also because of the new plants we have set up. The latest plant to come on stream was a soybean crushing facility at the oil mill – Dubai Oil Mills. With a capacity to crush 4,000 tonnes of soybean and 2,000 tonnes of canola everyday, it is one of the largest plants in the region and we are very proud of it.”
The company is also setting up a flourmill in Sri Lanka, which will be operational in a few months.
“The success of any company lies in visionary leadership and in the values adopted to run the company.  Honesty and integrity guide our business,” says Ansari. “Another important factor has been our people. Most of our employees have been working with us for many years and are an asset to the company. Our chairman, Essa Abdulla Al Ghurair, instills a sense of belonging among the staff, makes them work hard and perform tasks beyond their call of duty.”
The official underscores that quality is of the essence for any business to be successful. Staffed by food technologists and scientists, AGF Technical Centre located in Jebel Ali has been continuously developing through research and innovation quality systems and processes that enhance the nutritional value of products.
 “Our business model is based on a few simple guidelines like tailoring our products to suit customers’ needs; providing human and technical expertise to help each customer get the best of our products and establishing long-term relationships with our customers to ensure timely supply of product, expertise and innovation,” says Ansari.
One of the major challenges the company faces today is pricing the flour as wheat prices fluctuate as in other commodities. This the company tackles in a way that should make the customer happy. “We cannot just increase the cost of flour so we create better blends,” says Ansari.
Besides NFM, manufacturing facilities operated by Al Ghurair Foods are:
• Bustan Macaroni and Noodles plant.  Set up in 1993, it has the capability to produce 45,000 tonnes of pasta every year.
• An edible oil manufacturing facility for corn, sunflower, soybean and palmolein oils. Capacity is 90,000 tonnes per year. The company produces two brands – Jenan and Tala. It also supplies edible oil to over 50 brands across the region.
• A pulses and legumes processing and cleaning plant called Gulf Legumes Company (GLC). According to Ansari it is the only plant of its kind in the GCC to utilise the latest process technology and follow the highest hygiene standards. With an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes, GLC is one of the largest pulses plant in the world employing the latest automated technology to remove impurities.
• To cater to the growing snack food industry in the region, the company set up National Maize Mills in 1999 to produce high-quality corn grits and corn flour. Its annual capacity is 90,000 tonnes and it produces different sizes of corn grits and corn flour.
• The company has a poultry division, which markets Bustan eggs. It also operates Gulf Feed Mill for producing high-quality animal feeds.