78-80 Wigmore Street
London, W1U 2SJ, UK
Company No. 02592636
Tel: +44 (0)20 7935 5859
AJWA Group for Food Industries
Rice & Grain Processing, Storage, and Distribution
AJWA was established in 1992 with a vision to create revolutionary commodity reserves; introduce high quality rice & grain processing facilities; and increase commodity distribution across Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
At the strategically located Islamic Port of Jeddah, the group built the largest storage facilities outside of the USA, offering a capacity of 150,000 metric tons per year; and constructed a range of state-of-the-art processing facilities alongside it. This, in turn, allowed the group to corner the Saudi Arabian rice market, and replace sub-standard, pre-packaged imported rice, with Saudi processed, high-quality products.
East & West Coast Logistics
As part of the group’s ambitious expansion plans, and to complement its west coast operations, AJWA acquired the Nabati vegetable oil storage and processing facility at Al Khobar. This enabled the company to import, process and distribute high quality food products – including rice, cereals and vegetable oils – through a wide-reaching logistical network on both coasts of the Arabian Peninsula.
Port Operations & Distribution Networks
Following privatisation, AJWA was granted a license to operate port management and operations at both Yanbu Commercial and Jeddah Islamic Port. The group invested heavily in both ports and acquired dozens of new cranes, two of which allowed for a production capacity of 400 tons per hour. These cranes are connected to AJWA’s rice silos and processing facility, increasing discharge rates from ships from 3,000 tons per day to over 20,000 tons per day.
In addition, it also acquired a multi-purpose crane with a load capacity of 100 tons, allowing any ship in the world to
be unloaded at Yanbu, thus increasing the operating rate; and active movement in the port to 1.5 million tons annually, at a rate of 13 ships per week.
Consumer Products & Brands
AJWA further expanded its network of distribution, processing and storage operations by constructing two of MENA’s largest manufacturing and processing facilities, in Cairo and Suez. These plants currently produce over 50,000 tons of food per year, and are looking to further increase production throughout the coming months.
To capitalise on an enlarged global reach, AJWA launched a range of leading own brand products, including Basma Frozen vegetables; one of the top-5 food brands in the MENA region, with a 61% market share throughout its operating base.
Along with selling its products direct to consumers around the world, AJWA also has contracts with a selection of private and public sector institutions, including schools, hospitals and government bodies.
Brands owned, produced and distributed by the group in Saudi Arabia and Egypt include, Basma Rice, Ruzzana Rice, Basma Frozen Vegetables, Mahaseel Rice, Zahi Vegetable Oil and Nabati Sunflower Oil.
