Kuwait retail group Mezzan marks 75 years of success
KUWAIT CITY, November 14, 2020
Mezzan Holding, one of the Gulf region’s largest manufacturers and distributors of food and beverage, healthcare, and consumer products, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
Founded by the late Jassim Mohammed Ali Al Wazzan, Mezzan began its journey in the 1940s. An ambitious Kuwaiti entrepreneur, Al Wazzan opened the company’s first retail store in the capital selling consumer-ready imported products such as rice, sugar and other food staples from neighboring Gulf countries, and later from Europe, the US, and Asia.
Today, it is a 8,500-strong company that manufactures various products from food to pharmaceuticals in over 190,000 sq m of manufacturing facility space.
It also distributes over 34,000 SKUs from over 1,200 local and international brands in the consumer goods, healthcare and services sectors, selling over 2.9 million items daily.
On its key achievement, Chairman Abdel Rahman Jassim Mohammad Al Wazzan said: "This anniversary marks a significant milestone for Mezzan Holding whose origins date back to the 1940s before Kuwait’s ‘golden era’ and the end of the British protectorate."
"Starting out with a small shop and a single employee, today Mezzan is proud to be recognized as one of the largest companies in the GCC with over 8,500 employees across 7 countries," he added.
"On this special occasion, we would like to thank our customers and shareholders for their loyalty and continued support, our partners for instilling their trust in us to ensure their brands have an extensive regional reach, and our employees for their hard work and unwavering commitment to bring Mezzan Holding to this important milestone," he added.
CEO Garry Walsh said over the last few decades we have played a significant role in the development of the F&B, consumer goods, and healthcare sectors in Kuwait.
"We are proud to distribute many of the world’s most renowned brands such as Johnson & Johnson, Reckitt Benckiser, Medtronic and Hartmann, and manufacture products that are beloved staples in every household including Khazan, Kitco and Aqua Gulf" he noted.
"With the acquisition of a majority stake in KSPICO in 2019, we now manufacture pharmaceutical products to treat diabetes, cough and cold, allergy, and other medications that treat many more therapeutic areas," he said.
"Mezzan is dedicated to the commitments we’ve made to our partners, families, and the environment in the last 75 years, and look forward to further strengthening our presence as one of the region’s most reputable and trusted groups in the decades to come," he added.
Mezzan Holding was listed in Boursa Kuwait in June 2015 and operates under strict corporate governance standards and regulations.
The company is currently managed by an executive management team that works together hand-in-hand with the Al Wazzan family’s second and third generation who are actively involved in the business.-TradeArabia News Service
