Mezzan Holding Co. K.S.C.

Mezzan Holding presents itself as one of the leading food and healthcare conglomerates in the Middle East, with a heritage of over 80 years and headquarters in Kuwait and the UAE. Its site says the business began in the 1940s, when the late founder Jassim Mohammad Ali Al Wazzan opened the first Al Wazzan store in Kuwait's "Altararih" Souk, and that he introduced international brands such as Pillsbury Flour to the Kuwaiti market; the company was listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange in 2015. Today the group operates through 34 vertically integrated operating companies in six countries, and its Food Business Line (manufacturing, distribution, catering and services) generates 64.4% of revenue. The company says its food distribution arm provides long-term retail and wholesale distribution services to over 100 global food brands in Kuwait, the UAE and other regional markets, and that it sells 2.9 million items daily from over 1,200 brands. The site states that it has near-full access to Kuwait's cooperative supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets, convenience stores and baqalas, depots in Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, a fleet of trucks, lorries and vans, and uses a mobile sales system, GPS vehicle tracking, route optimisation and reporting systems. It describes the Al Wazzan brand as a Kuwait-based regional food and healthcare distributor established for over 70 years, and its Kuwaiti food companies include Conserved Foodstuff Distribution Company, Jassim Al Wazzan Sons General Trading Company and Arla Food Kuwait. Its brands page names Mezzan as the leading distributor in Kuwait of Arla, The Three Cows cheeses (shredded mozzarella and white cheese), Lurpak butter, Green Giant frozen and canned vegetables, General Mills' Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Old El Paso and Nature Valley bars, Tilda and SunRice rice, Kikkoman soy sauce and Tabasco hot sauce, Puck creams and cheeses, Foster Clark's, Bayara nuts, dried fruit and spices, Coroli oils, Capilano honey, FIJI Water, Beyond Meat plant-based meat, Sara Lee frozen bakery, Maretti, Splenda sweetener, and Ben & Jerry's, Halo Top and Talenti ice cream. The distribution page also cites partnerships with Nestlé and Kraft Foods across the GCC. Alongside partner brands, the group distributes its own locally made brands, including KITCO chips and snacks (Mexita, Bliss, Stix, NICE, Bites), Khazan meat and poultry products, Sara Cake bakery, Aqua Gulf water, which it calls the only locally sourced water brand in Kuwait, Country XL rice, Daniah tomato puree and Want biscuits.