History

The Mezzan Group legacy began in the 1940s, when the company’s late founder, Jassim Mohammad Ali Al Wazzan, opened the first Al Wazzan retail store in “Altararih” Souk, Kuwait. The store specialized in basic household necessities such as canned and preserved food products among other commodities.

This humble start enabled Al Wazzan to cultivate key relationships with foreign manufacturers. He introduced internationally recognized brands such as Claire Ghee, Pillsbury Flour, Baird’s Vinegar, and Crystal Hot Sauces into the Kuwaiti marketplace.

Click Here to Learn More About the Life of the Late Jassim Al Wazzan.

In the 1960s, Al Wazzan’s business ventured into food manufacturing. He built the GCC’s first factory for mincing, mixing, and sharia-compliant meat products, which is currently recognized today as “Khazan”.

Thereafter, Al Wazzan acquired a majority stake in one of the region’s pioneering potato chip factories, KITCO. KITCO quickly became a key component of the group’s portfolio and encouraged the development of Mezzan’s operations under a long-term, sustainable business strategy.

This approach attracted world-renowned international brands including Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly Clark, Reckitt Benckiser, General Mills, and GlaxoSmithKlein.

In the 1980s, the second generation of the Al Wazzan Family was integrated into the business. The company’s leaders adopted the same key fundamentals and values instilled by the late founder Jassim Mohammed Ali Al Wazzan. The group continued to evolve with the market’s needs, develop its operations, and maintain fruitful partnerships to provide quality products to consumers.

The Mezzan Group witnessed rapid growth through its vertically integrated business model, including food manufacturing and distribution, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distribution, catering, and other services. It developed an industrial service business division that plays a vital part in Mezzan’s business model.

By the 21st century, the second generation of the Al Wazzan family focused on upholding the strong legacy built over the last six decades. Mezzan continued to evolve, grow, and further institutionalize. In 2009, the company introduced a new mandate to improve operational efficiencies, adopt an effective corporate governance policy, and increase profitability. This fueled the group’s growth strategy and has enabled Mezzan to expand its margins, optimize efficiencies and scale up as it upgraded its IT infrastructure, which included the adoption of a Systems Applications Product (SAP) process to audit internal operations and ensure security and data integrity.

In 2010, Mezzan Holding expanded its operations regionally following the company’s success in Kuwait’s consumer market. The group enjoyed near-full access to Kuwait’s cooperative supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets, convenience stores, and baqalas and subsequently entered the food and FMCG sector in Kuwait’s neighboring Gulf countries.

Following the establishment of Mezzan Saudi Trading & Distribution, the group launched a distribution platform in Saudi Arabia and manufacturing plants in Qatar and Jordan. Mezzan’s acquisition of the UAE’s leading distribution company, Unitra Mets Group (UMG), in January 2014, enabled the company to successfully grow out of its home base. Mezzan operates a vast regional distribution network consisting of trucks, lorries, and vans.

Mezzan Holding was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange in 2015. And in 2019, Mezzan acquired a majority stake in Kuwait’s only manufacturing pharmaceutical company, “KSPICO”, which set a precedent for the company’s expansion into the healthcare manufacturing industry.

Embarking into the next decade, Mezzan continues to expand into new markets and product lines. Following the acquisition of a majority stake in KSPICO, the group restructured its main, operational business lines from ‘Food’ and ‘Non-food’ into ‘Food’ and ‘Healthcare & Consumer’.

The acquisition of Kuwait Pharmaceutical Industrials Co (KSPICO) marked a significant addition to the group’s core consumer-driven healthcare business. Operating a new 8,657 m2 pharmaceutical manufacturing facility, Mezzan now handles the research and development, manufacturing, and distribution of various pharmaceutical products, including tablets, syrups, and ointments such as Clovirax and Diclofast.

Mezzan’s diverse portfolio of manufactured and distributed products are easily accessible at various retailers throughout the region, including the UAE, KSA, Qatar, Iraq, Jordan, and Afghanistan. Looking forward, the group will continue to focus on growing its scale, footprint, and market share for decades to come.