Overview
Hunter Foods is a leading company manufacturing and packaging innovative and “Better for You” snacks and foods in the Middle East, with a strong presence in Asia, since 1985. Hunter Foods produces a wide range of specialty and gourmet snacks and foods, i.e. Hand Cooked Potato Chips, Vegetable and Fruit Chips, Quinoa Chips, High-Protein Lentil Chips, Organic Superfoods, etc. all under its own brands. With a focus on Quality, Innovation, and Customer Centricity, Hunter Foods has a robust distribution in all major retail, wholesale, food service establishments and e-commerce platforms, in the UAE and GCC, and exports to 45 countries in 5 continents.
MEET THE TEAM
Much like the cultural melting pot that is Dubai, the Hunter Foods tight-knit team is made up of individuals from all corners of the globe with each member contributing his or her own unique experiences, expertise and perspectives but with a shared belief in good food, good ethics and good people. As a Dubai-based, family-run business with a vast global reach, innovation and flexibility is key and Hunter Foods is a thought-fueled environment that welcomes new challenges.
Bharat Narayan
Late Founder & Chairman
BHARAT NARAYAN
Late Founder & Chairman
Bharat, originally from India, had a wealth of knowledge and experience and remained an active member of the family business, encouraging the second generation of leaders. Inspired by close family links with Mahatma Gandhi and Sheikh Rashid, his values remain the backbone of Hunter Foods.
Mountaineer, adventurer, anthropologist, animal conservationist, mechanical engineer, entrepreneur and business magnate are just a few of the ‘hats’ worn by our late Founder and Chairman.
Ananya Narayan
Managing Director
ANANYA NARAYAN
Managing Director
His love of discovery and innovation along with his natural ability to build business relationships has helped Hunter Foods to flourish and grow while retaining the legacy and values that underpin the business. Having seen Dubai expand and develop Ananya is only too aware of the need for flexibility in business and is always mindful of ever changing customer needs.
The son of Founder and Chairman Bharat Narayan, Ananya grew up in Dubai but has travelled extensively throughout the world during his career in hospitality.
Yan Gao Narayan
Marketing Director
YAN NARAYAN
Marketing Director
As a busy mother of two young children she is driven by a healthy, wholesome approach to food, superior ingredients and minimal processing. With a passion for people and building relationships, Yan holds a strong belief shared by her husband Ananya that the business is only as successful as the people working within it and she takes great pride in her ‘Hunter Foods family’ and their ongoing list of achievements.
The creative force behind Hunter Foods, Yan, originally from China, has a natural flair for design and an eye for quality and detail.
Binu Gevarghese
Head of Operations
BINU GEVARGHESE
Head of Operations
Originally from Bombay, Binu joined Hunter Foods in 2003. He progressed steadily through the company and after a two-year relocation to Egypt with his family, he returned “home” to Hunter Foods as Operations Director. A self-proclaimed ‘foodie’ who is driven by quality, Binu credits the teachings of Founder and Chairman, Mr. Bharat Narayan, with instilling a determination to work hard, never take short cuts and never stop kaizen, continuous improvement.
Binu’s positive outlook on life and tremendous sense of team spirit are appreciated by all of his colleagues. He is proud to be a part of Hunter Foods’ family, a company that always puts quality first.
CERTIFICATES
- FSSC 22000 version 5
- ISO 22000
- Halal Certificate
- Verified Exporter for Dubai Exports
- Earth Kosher Certificate
STANDARDS & CERTIFICATION
Hunter Foods has been HACCP compliant since 2006 and Halal Certified since 2017. In 2018, we were first among few in GCC countries to proudly receive FSSC 22000 VER 5 compliance certificate in snack food manufacturing segment, in addition to the received compliance certificates of ISO 22000 and Verified Exporter by Dubai Exports under Government of Dubai and SGS.
We apply internationally recognized Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and TACCP/VACCP/HACCP in our entire food production process to ensure quality, food safety and value addition to our customers and consumers.
Our current standards and certifications include the following:
STANDARDS
- Quality Management System
- HACCP
Our Capabilities
Manufacturer
Exporter
Export to 35 countries all
over the world
Importer / Distributor
Distribute our products to more than 2000 locations in the UAE
Packer
CSR
Bharat Narayan, the late Founder and Chairman of Hunter Foods, was born into a family of intellects, politicians and freedom fighters. So it is no wonder then that when he launched the company in 1985, he did so with a determination to build a successful business with strong social and ethical values at its core.
When the business began production, Bharat’s love of animals led him to create a brand of potato snacks under the name “Safari”. Mr. Narayan hand-wrote newsletters and sent them to children around Dubai as a part of the Anipal (Friends of the Animals) Club to educate them about the environment and the need for animal conservation, with a portion of the chips sales going to the World Wildlife Fund.
This legacy of giving back has been continued and we go to great lengths to ensure that we use the most environmentally responsible methods of production and waste management, and we are constantly looking for new ways to minimize our carbon footprint.
We pride ourselves on our innovation and that extends to our own CSR initiatives in line with our ‘Better for You’ commitment. In 2015 we began to use internationally certified sustainable palm olein oil in a bid to be more environmentally friendly. In 2019 we began the transition process of using sunflower oil to make all our newly launched snacks, to further reduce our carbon footprint and impact on the environment. We are now also looking at how we can reduce plastic usage in our production and packaging wherever possible.
Hunter Foods have been proud to sponsor and partner with a number of external CSR initiatives, including: Dubai Exports Goodwill Campaigns, Women’s Heritage Walk, A Smile on The Face, Darkness into Light Walk, and many more.
HISTORY
In 1985, having worked alongside Sheikh Rashid for 10 years helping to build the foundations of Dubai and housing for Dubai’s early Government members, Bharat Narayan, with the help of his wife Madhulika, opened the first food production factory in the then sparse, now sprawling Jebel Ali Free Zone, under the name Hunter Foods.
Driven by his close family relationship with Mahatma Gandhi and the lessons of trust and honesty learnt from his work with Sheikh Rashid, Bharat worked hard to instill his personal values into the foundations of his business, and began to lovingly produce high quality snacks. Even in those early days, the focus was always to grow the company, but to do so organically and with a social conscience.
As Dubai has thrived and become an international hub of trade and tourism, Hunter Foods has also flourished to satisfy an ever-growing need for good, quality, healthy snacks. Bharat’s son Ananya, his wife Yan along with their tight-knit team moved Hunter Foods into a new era with its launch of two gourmet and health conscious ranges; Hunter’s Gourmet, a niche selection of snacks and supplements, and Hunter’s Collection, hand-picked, unique and healthy products from their travels around the world and Hunter, which bridges the gap between the two to offer customers, simple, bold and honest food that is high in quality at a competitive price.
Hunter Foods is proud of its heritage and the values that are its foundation and it remains traditional in spirit but modern in outlook with a focus on thoughtful innovation and exceptional quality.
