History
Two decades and five years ago Mr. Hussain Ismail Khatri, who had come to Dubai some forty years ago and started the business of importing tobacco from India, felt the need to meet the demand for fresh produce and setup a company to import fresh fruit and vegetables into this market. Thus was born Kibsons International in 1980 as a different entity from the parent company Ibsons General Trading Company.Mangoes were the earliest fruit that Kibsons imported. Prior to that ginger and garlic under the brand name "Ibsons" had become much sought after in the market place. Kibsons was located in Deira Fruit and Fish Market, which is now the bus stand near the Gold Souq. Around 1985, the company shifted to the Hamriya vegetable market and from there in 2004 to its present facility at Al Aweer.
There were just a couple of companies including us who imported air freighted vegetables and fruit from the subcontinent and other countries including the US, the Netherlands, Spain, Kenya, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand etc. at that time. Our suppliers have been with us for over two decades and the relationship continues. South African imports started at the end of the apartheid, informs Jamal Hussain, General Manager of Kibsons International.
In 1991-92, during the First Gulf War when all flights were cancelled to the region, Kibsons brought in vegetables and fruit in aircraft piloted by the vegetables exporter from the Netherlands. There were queues of people in front of the shop to buy the fresh vegetables and fruit as the supply was short and the demand exceeded expectations.
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