Dina Foods will be celebrating its journey from humble beginnings to a multimillion-pound concern at IFE, which will be taking place from 21-23 March at the ExCeL centre in London.
The London-based company is the leading supplier of Mediterranean flatbreads in the UK – in fact, it claims to be the first to introduce Lebanese flatbread to the country’s high street.
Today, its portfolio includes baked goods ranging from Pitta to Naan to its signature Paninette wraps; savoury snacks like Falafel (including a vegan sweet potato version), Kibbe, Sifha, hummus and dips; and traditional confections like dates (plain, stuffed, chocolate-covered) and Baklawa, light filo pastries filled with walnuts and drenched in sugar syrup.
From humble beginnings
Dina Foods has come a long way since the Haddad family first brought Lebanese food to the UK in the 1980s. Brothers Fadi, Samir, Sunehil and chef Amin (now deceased) opened the country’s first Lebanese restaurant in London’s trendy Mayfair district.
The 220-cover Fakhreldine soon became a destination restaurant, with queues for tables every night and a long waiting list. The brothers then opened Lucullus, specialising in seafood.
This was followed by the founding of Dina Foods by Suheil (MD), Fadi and Samir in 1992, originally manufacturing from a factory in Hackney before moving to a BRC AAA+ certified facility in Park Royal in north west London.
The privately-owned company today boasts a 160-strong workforce and a mulltimillion-pound turnover, supplying the foodservice and retail channels both in the UK and internationally. It is also firmly focused on working towards its mission to achieve a zero-carbon footprint by 2030.