Al'Ard Group

Al'Ard Group presents itself as a Palestinian family group active in food, agriculture and investment, headquartered in the Western Industrial Zone of Beit Iba in the Nablus governorate. Its website traces its origins to 1963, when a small grocery called "Palestine Grocery" opened on Martyrs' Square in Nablus; the business then moved into wholesale trade and secured distribution rights for international brands before growing into a group of companies, each specialised in a field such as trade, industry, agriculture, logistics and investment. The group is chaired by engineer Ziad Anabtawi, who describes it as a pioneer in the distribution of food supplies and the production of traditional Palestinian products. The group says its trading arm, Near East Industries & Trade, packs and distributes essential food products in Palestine from its headquarters in Nablus and a branch in Gaza, ensuring wide market coverage and serving both consumers and industries. It states that it started with a single distribution vehicle and now owns a modern fleet of cars and trucks that supports its geographic expansion, with the aim of delivering trusted, high-quality food products to every Palestinian home. According to the site, the distribution portfolio covers vegetable cooking oils (corn, sunflower, soybean and canola), sugar, rice and tuna. The group says its partnership with Savola enabled it to import Savola's Afia and Al-Usra brands into the Palestinian market, and it lists among its current products Al-Usra sugar and Abu Kass basmati rice, alongside its own oil brands: Safi (corn, sunflower, canola and olive oils), Al-Khayal (soybean and sunflower oils), Al-Joud and Jawaher, plus Safi sugar. The site adds that the group entered vegetable-oil bottling and trading in the 1970s and over its history built relationships with global companies including Nestlé, Unilever, Del Monte, Barilla and Mondelez. The group also includes Al'Ard Palestinian Agri-Products, founded in 2008, which produces Palestinian olive oil, olives and za'atar and markets them locally and exports them under the Al'Ard, Zatoun, Jirrar and Al-Quds brands to markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Gulf, the Far East and Australia; it says it is a certified Fairtrade company with 1,000 tons of olive-oil storage capacity. A further company, Al'Ard Investment, operates in retail, real estate and insurance. The group sums up its vision as empowering the Palestinian economy through innovation and sustainability, and says it applies Total Quality Management and key performance indicators.