Hassani Group of Companies

About the Founder and Founding Story

In 1912, Baba Hassani founded a convenience store in Souk Murshid in the Deira area of Dubai. The small store offered basic commodities such as rice, flour, coffee, and tobacco.^[8] In the early 1900s, Deira was one of Dubai’s three main districts, hosting about 2,000 residences and 350 shops. The main economic activities locally were fishing and pearl diving, illustrating the importance of Dubai Creek.^[9] Mohammed Hassan Hassani, Baba Hassani’s son, joined his father’s business at the age of eight, where they regularly worked daily long shifts to provide for the family’s livelihood.^[10] The store was one of the first officially registered companies at what later became Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism.^[11] Upon the founder’s retirement, Mohammed took charge of the store.^[12]

During the 1950s and 1960s, modern infrastructure began to take shape in Dubai as Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Limited, which held the concession to explore for oil in all the Trucial States and Oman, intensified its activities.^[13] The discovery of oil in Dubai’s offshore Fateh field led to significant social, geographical, and economic changes in the emirate, including improvements to port facilities, the construction of the first airstrip, an airport extension, and a bridge across the creek.^[14] As the economy and urban development flourished, Dubai experienced unprecedented population growth, especially as an international workforce began to flood in.

In 1954, the increasing demand for basic commodities prompted Mohammed Hassani to expand his family’s store into one of the first supermarkets in Dubai, which was visited by His Highness Late Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum. The following year, Mohammed founded Hassani Trading Company, establishing the foundation for what is now the Hassani Group of Companies.^[15]

Observing the demand for quality international products in Dubai, Mohammed wrote to Kellogg’s  – a leading American brand known for breakfast cereals – requesting to supply the Dubai market, but his request was rejected due to concerns about the limited customer base. Determined to prove the market’s potential, he began importing long-life milk from the UK in 1958, believing it would create complementary demand and lay the foundation to introduce Kellogg’s cereal.^[16]

Following the seven emirates’ unification and the official establishment of the United Arab Emirates in the early 1970s, the Hassani Group, much like the entire country, experienced remarkable growth.^[17] Founded in 1982, Hassani Food Industries initially processed nuts and soon introduced other products such as oats and instant juice. Launched six years later, the Hassani Tea and Herbs factory swiftly garnered the group a leading position in the UAE’s tea and herbal beverages market.^[18]

The Hassani Group’s diversification continued throughout the following decade. In the 1990s, the Hassani Group expanded into key industries including food manufacturing, packaging, real estate, and furniture production. They launched the UAE’s first milk powder packing facility, established Crown Food and Cans Industries, entered the real estate sector, and founded Ugarit International to produce kitchen and interior solutions to support the real estate boom across the UAE and internationally.^[19]

The Hassani Group has continued strategic diversification and expansion in the 21st century. In 2002, the group founded Lamia Garments, specializing in textiles and embroidery with exports across the Middle East as well as France, Japan, and Canada. Hassani Group also successfully entered the dairy market with the 2004 establishment of Crown Dairy Industry. The group further expanded the same year with Technoman Contracting and Al Abraaj AL Wataniah, and in 2005, with Pastalini Food Processing, which spearheaded the group’s entry into burgeoning African markets. To increase logistical efficiency, the group established a transportation company, Transistor. The Hassani Group continued expanding internationally, acquiring shares in Roofico and further amplifying its presence in the West African market. In 2017, the group acquired Dhofar Seafood and later Prime Fisheries, making it a major regional player in seafood processing and packaging. Venturing into still other new industries, the group’s Element 26 Engineering DWC-LLC, incorporated in 2019, manufactures equipment and machine parts for the aviation, oil and gas, and defense industries.^[20]

Today

Today, Hassani Group of Companies, still headquartered in Dubai, UAE, operates across more than 70 countries throughout the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific,^[21] with over 6,000 employees.^[22] The group comprises over 40 subsidiaries^[23] across diverse industries, including food manufacturing, packaging, real estate, and contracting.^[24] As of 2025, the business remains under the leadership of the family’s second and third generations, with Mohammed Hassan Hassani as chairman and other family members on the board of directors.^[25]