Founders · Sri Lanka
Ameena Ziauddin is taking a 30-year Sri Lankan frozen-food business beyond the island
Her parents founded Norfolk Foods in 1994 after 25 years in the UK. The manufacturing engineer who took over from her father now runs a 500-product retail range, a chain of Hurry Up stores and a partnership with one of the world's largest food groups, and has a ten-year plan pointed at the Middle East and South Asia.
In short
Norfolk Foods is a Sri Lankan maker of specialised frozen foods, founded in 1994 by food technologist Mohamed Ziauddin and his wife, a microbiologist, after 25 years in Britain. Their daughter Ameena Ziauddin, 38, is now President. Under her, the company has launched more than 350 products, built the Crescent retail brand to over 500 products, opened Hurry Up stores, and deepened an eight-year partnership with Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Foods that includes a joint venture in India.
The story
Norfolk Foods was the Ziauddins' fifth business together. Mohamed Ziauddin had trained in Britain as a food technologist and served as a director at Bernard Matthews, the poultry group. When the family came home to Sri Lanka in 1994, they set up Norfolk Foods as a British-Sri Lankan joint venture with Bernard Matthews, making frozen products for hotels and food service. Bernard Matthews later withdrew and its shares returned to the family.
Ameena grew up inside the business. She started food-industry internships at 16, and her first job was in a Hilton kitchen cutting chicken and preparing fruit. She studied Manufacturing Engineering and Management at the University of Nottingham, then a Master's in Food Production Management, and later qualified as a chartered management accountant.
She came back to Sri Lanka straight after her Master's, earlier than planned, and joined through research and development rather than management. That department is still where she is most at home. She jokes that Norfolk Foods provides free research and development for the rest of the industry, because the products it pioneers in Sri Lanka, the mini Kiev and Kochchi Bites among them, tend to be copied.
Two decisions shaped the company she now leads. About 15 years ago it moved deliberately into retail with the Crescent brand, which has since grown past 500 products. And more than eight years ago it took on Charoen Pokphand Foods of Thailand as a strategic partner, a relationship that produced the CP Norfolk India joint venture. Norfolk runs what the company describes as Sri Lanka's only spiral-freezing plant, certified to ISO 22000 and HACCP, and exports to the Maldives, the Seychelles, Australia, Dubai and India.
The handover from father to daughter was formal and mentored, and happened when Mohamed Ziauddin turned 75. Her mother still oversees quality every day. When Covid-19 shut the country down, an essential-service permit through PickMe let Norfolk deliver to homes within the first week, and its products went on sale through the PickMe Marketplace.
Ameena also chairs the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors' Young Directors Forum and is Vice President of the Council for Business with Britain. Her ten-year plan for Norfolk is the Middle East and South Asia, starting with market development in Riyadh and five more countries within the next few years.
Timeline
- 1994Norfolk Foods founded in Sri Lanka as a joint venture with Bernard Matthews, after the Ziauddins' 25 years in the UK.
- Age 16Ameena starts internships in the food industry. First job: a Hilton kitchen.
- University of NottinghamManufacturing Engineering and Management, then a Master's in Food Production Management. She returns to Sri Lanka immediately after and joins Norfolk through R&D.
- About 15 years agoNorfolk moves into retail with the Crescent brand.
- More than 8 years agoCharoen Pokphand Foods becomes a strategic partner. CP Norfolk India follows.
- Father turns 75A planned, mentored succession makes Ameena President.
- 2020Covid-19: home delivery through PickMe within the first week of lockdown.
- Next 10 yearsMiddle East and South Asia, starting with Riyadh.
Norfolk Foods in numbers
Questions people ask
Who is Ameena Ziauddin?
President of Norfolk Foods, a manufacturing engineer trained at the University of Nottingham, Chair of the SLID Young Directors Forum and Vice President of the Council for Business with Britain.
What does Norfolk Foods make?
Specialised frozen foods for hotels, food service and retail. The Crescent brand has more than 500 products. Norfolk pioneered the mini Kiev and Kochchi Bites in Sri Lanka.
Who owns Norfolk Foods?
The Ziauddin family. Bernard Matthews was the original British partner and later withdrew. Charoen Pokphand Foods of Thailand has been a strategic partner for more than eight years.
Where does Norfolk Foods export?
The Maldives, the Seychelles, Australia, Dubai and India, with clients in Bangladesh, plus the CP Norfolk India joint venture.
What is Hurry Up?
Norfolk's own retail store format. The flagship is on Chithra Lane in Colombo 5, and there have been as many as 10 stores.