Ali Shaihani Group is the pioneer in the Sultanate of Oman’s food and beverage industry. Established in 1979, with modest beginnings, it has since grown in size and stature to earn recognition as the market leader in the sector - in Oman as well as the Gulf region. It continues to dominate the market with a wide range of products and brands that have become synonymous with Oman – mainly, ‘Chips Oman’ and “Pofak Oman”
Conceptualised and founded by Mr. Ali Khudadat Ahmed Al Shaihani, a visionary businessman and a veteran in the soft drinks industry, the present-day Ali Shaihani Group of Industries began operations as ‘Ali Shaihani Trading & Contracting Establishment’ for marketing soft drinks and consumer products within the Sultanate of Oman. Driven by the need to fill the vacuum in Oman’s home-grown snack foods sector, Mr. Ali Shaihani acquired land in the then undeveloped Al Wadi Al Kabir industrial area and, in 1981, initiated the construction of a factory to produce snack foods from corn grits. This was a decisive step in curtailing the hegemony of foreign commercial snack foods, which had their heydays in the Oman market, devoid of any competition.
Over the years, the Group has diversified itself into an industrial house with multifaceted business activities, comprising the manufacture of snacks, soft drinks, facial tissues, and sanitary napkins. While the first snack food to come from Ali Shaihani Food Industries was ‘Pofak Oman’ - cheese-flavored corn chips, it was the ever-popular ‘Chips Oman’ - chili-flavored potato chips - that became the market leader from the time of its launch in 1983. Subsequently, the Company launched a series of similar products in various flavours, including popular brands like ‘Sohar Chips’ and ‘Salad Chips’. In 1989, to augment its strategic growth in the market and maneuver its diversified portfolio, the core business was divided into two units - Ali Shaihani Food Industries for the manufacture of snacks from corn grits, and Al Jufair Food Industry for Fresh potato chips and potato-based pellets chips.
Alongside the snack food range, the Group also launched Ali Shaihani Soft Drinks Industries LLC (initiated as Ali Shaihani Juice Filling Industry) in 1981, to produce fruit lollies, before venturing into carbonated drinks under the brand names ‘Fizzi’, ‘Shami’ and sweeten drinks ‘Lulu’. The decisive growth curve also saw the Group initiating tissue paper manufacture under Al Shaihani Paper Industries, producing prestigious brands like ‘Tissue Oman’, ‘Tissue Khaleegi’ and ‘Palace’, in addition to sanitary napkins and other personal hygiene products.
Today, as the leading producer of international quality snacks and beverages, Ali Shaihani Group is a household name, helmed by Mr. Ali Shaihani, who can be rightly called the ‘captain’ of the soft drinks and snack food industries in Oman.