AHMED FOODS –

Brief history -

One of the pioneers of food industry in Pakistan Ahmed foods started their business way back
in the 50’s on a small scale. They were manufacturers of traditional sweets (MITHAI). They
owned a manufacturing unit in the SITE area – Karachi and initially that was their selling outlet
as well. The owner Syed Zamiruddin Ahmed who hailed from Delhi, realized there was a good
market for traditional sweets provided it was packed and presented nicely. He took the
initiative and Ahmed foods marketed tin packed HABSHI HALWA, SOHAN HALWA & KARACHI
HALWA along with other variety of traditional sub-continental sweets. The launching of tin
packed sweets proved a great success and by the start of the 60’s Ahmed foods had become a
fairly renowned name throughout the country. The only competitor they had in tin packed
sweets was FRESHWELL SWEETS.

Encouraged by the initial success Ahmed foods decided to diversify the product range. They
introduced Ahmed JAMS, JELLIES, KETCHUP, SQUASHES & ACHAR. There were already two well
established companies (SHEZAN and MITCHELLS) who were manufacturing and marketing
almost the same range of products. The management of Ahmed foods emphasized on quality
and within a short span of time Ahmed foods had become a force to reckon with and they were
giving a very tough time to Shezan and Mitchells. Ahmed foods further diversified their product
range when they decided to compete with the best selling local brand in the red syrup category
ROOHAFZA by introducing NAURUS. The marketing campaign of Naurus was really impressive
especially the TV commercial with a catchy jingle (bhoolnajanaphir papa Naurus le kargharaana)
which was very popular and on every one’s lips. Naurus was making its presence felt in the
market.

By the end of the 70’s Ahmed foods were not only confined within the local boundaries, they
were into the Middle East as well as England. One of their major competitorsShezan were
passing through a lean phase in the consumer market due to an issue pertaining to religion but
their export & institutional business was good.

The emergence of National Foods –

The year 1970 witnessed the emergence of National foods owned by Mr. WAQAR HASAN, who
happens to be a former test cricketer of Pakistan in its pioneering years. National foods started
out very systematically and were destined to become the market leaders in future. However
Ahmed foods despite increasing competition were still a force to reckon with. Their exports as
well as local businesses were thriving.
Beginning of the fall -

The slump in their business started when its founder Zamiruddin Ahmed passed away in 1988.
He was the master mind behind all their successes. He had controlled the organization in a very
autocratic and centralized manner. He was one and the only authority. From production and
finance to selling and marketing his word was taken as law. Since Ahmed was a family concern
his sons (ZAFAR & ZIA) took charge of the organization. But they were far behind their father in
business acumen and administrative skills. Zamiruddin Ahmed had resisted the pressure of the
workers and never allowed a labor union in Ahmed foods. But his sons couldn’t with stand the
pressure of the workers and succumbed to their demands. For the first time since its inception
a labor union was formed in Ahmed foods in the early 90’s. From that point onwards the
management became weaker and employees gained power.

THE COLD WAR& THE SPLIT -

To make the matters worse a cold war started between the two brothers. Both of whom
wanted complete autonomy and dominance over the other. Due to internal rifts business began
to shrink. Differences between the two brothers developed to an extent that ultimately they
parted ways. Zafar took charge of Ahmed foods inclusive of full product range except NAURUS
which was taken over by Zia.

AHMED FOODS today are a mere shadow of their glorious past. They have lost the footing and
the image they had held over such a long period in the local market. Employees are unable to
put in their best because of lack of interest from the management. There are so many surplus
employees unwilling and unable to work. Also there is lack of motivation among the workers
since there is no visible career growth. The employee turnover ratio has become high and the
highly skilled workers have left the organization and joined SHAN, NATIONAL, SHANGRILLA and
other companies. There are no proper marketing efforts and last but not the least, Ahmed
foods forget the basic principle that quality is the key to success. Quality, which was once their
hallmark deteriorated and owing to that they have lost their once solid footing in the local as
well as export market. All this has happened at a time when nearly all of their competitors are
thriving not only locally but many of them have expanded their businesses globally.

NAURUS FOODS have fared better as compared to Ahmed. To begin with they had only one
product (NAURUS RED SYRUP). When Naurus separated from Ahmed they only had ROOHAFZA
in competition. But in 1995 QARHI launched their red syrup JAM-E-SHIRIN in the market with a
bang. JAM-E-SHIRIN incurred heavily on promotion and their TV commercial was aired at prime
time slot of PTV 9PM news daily as there were no private TV channels till than in Pakistan. The
JAM-E-SHIRIN ad featured the most prominent celebrities of that era the legendary film star
NADEEM & TV star ATIQA ODHO, and their promotional efforts paid off. Since then Jam-e Shirin
has captured a big slice of the market.
Realizing it won’t be possible to survive in the market on the basis of just one product Naurus
foods expanded their brand portfolio by introducing JAMS, JELLIES, KETCHUPS, ACHARS and
SQUASHES etc and have opened a fair price shop in SITE industrial area as well. The competition
is quite intense but the management & staff of Naurus foods is determined to compete and
excel. Quite recently Ahmed foods has made some efforts to make their presence felt in the
super markets but how to regain lost glory remains an enigma for the management.