From Dubai to the world, take a look into our gourmet journey.
Here’s how it all began…
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 with brands SAFARI, ALADIN and ALI BABA.
Driven by his close family relationship with Mahatma Gandhi and the lessons of trust and honesty learnt from his work with Sheikh Rashid, Bharat Narayan 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 our hometown Dubai was in the process of becoming a metropolitan city, Hunter Foods also flourished to satisfy the ever-growing need for good, quality, healthy snacks. It meant that as a local brand, we had an opportunity to create and grow a category in the region with a growing demand for something #SimplyBetter.
A lifestyle shift was happening, and Dubai was growing to be more international, more luxurious and more cosmopolitan and Hunter Foods wanted to take the brand in sync with where Dubai was going. Bharat’s son Ananya, his wife Yan together with their knowledge of 18 years of travel, luxury and adventurous eating, along with their tight-knit team moved Hunter Foods into a new era and created new brands.
Hunter’s Gourmet – a niche selection of gourmet, innovative, better for you snacks and superfoods.
Hunter, which bridges the gap to offer our customers simple, bold and honest food that is high in quality at a competitive price.
Hunter’s Collection – a finest collection of hand-picked, unique and healthy products inspired from Ananya and Yan’s travels around the world.
Hunter Foods isn’t just a family business. It’s a family, a family of employees, a family of brands, of innovators, of international foodies and very loyal fans
Ananya and Yan Narayan never saw themselves running the family business. But perhaps that’s why it has grown to be so much more than that. Hunter Foods isn’t just what Bharat started. It has grown. It isn’t just the local brand that created snacks, the Anipals and great memories for kids in Dubai. It isn’t just the ever-widening range of products making gourmet every day, in over 55 different countries. It isn’t just the number #1 Asian brand, that started a global Black Truffle flavoured chips frenzy.
It isn’t just the innovative powerhouse that developed snacks and flavours that are world firsts.
It isn’t just the ideas that were inspired by personal experiences and a passion for ‘Better for You’ snacks.
Hunter foods has grown from being merely a family business. It’s a harmonious union of not only our dedicated employees, but also a diverse family of brands, visionaries, global food and gourmet enthusiasts and a community of loyal fans.
From the early days of Safari to the latest Hunter’s Gourmet flavour of hand cooked potato chips, the decision to find a way to make food that’s ‘Better for You’ has been at the core of everything we create.
This is a story of a gourmet journey, but not just for Hunter’s Gourmet.
We bring our passion for the gourmet approach and our belief in the Better For You Promise to every product in the Hunter Foods family. The same care and consideration that goes into making White Truffle and Porcini flavoured chips, goes into making a packet of 1 Dirham chips you pick up at the convenience store.
All of our snacks and superfoods are 100% Vegetarian, 100% MSG free, 100% non-GMO and 100% no trans fat or cholesterol.
They were made that way, not just because no one else was doing it yet. Not just because the region hasn’t caught up to alternative, gourmet snacking trends.
We created products with better quality ingredients, better processes and better flavours because it’s what we want for ourselves. It’s what a mom would rather give to her family.
It’s what we believe every one of our customers deserves.
The Better For You Promise is
Something that is cooked into the Hunter Foods brand.
Mr. 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, Mr. 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 at Hunter Foods, 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.
