George Jreige, Procurement Manager of Traded Goods at Napco Trading, shares how procurement has become a strategic enabler of growth as the business expands across categories, partnerships, and markets.
The organisations willing to adapt are those that succeed. This is especially true at Napco Trading, which grew from foundations laid by its parent company in 1956 and has expanded from manufacturing into trading and distribution. That growth required moving procurement closer to market entry, regulatory readiness, and supply continuity.
George Jreige, procurement manager of traded goods at Napco Trading, explains: “Procurement is no longer a function of ‘get me three quotes, and we’ll go with the best price’. It is a strategic function that creates value through realising the five rights of procurement.
Legacy scale with entrepreneurial agility
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the wider organisation. “Napco National started as a small paper factory in the eastern province in Saudi Arabia in 1956, and it has witnessed exponential growth since then,” says Jreige. “We now boast a network of more than 19 factories distributed between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with a solid global export network.”
That legacy now sits alongside a more entrepreneurial model inside the organisation. “When I joined in 2021, Napco Trading was three years old,” explains Jreige. “Back then, our core was selling our own manufactured products and our private label. The biggest transformation was in 2024 when we stepped out of our comfort zone. This is when we introduced our cereals and pet food categories and started doing distribution agreements. From this came new partnerships — with Diageo, Panasonic, and Moet Hennessy , for example.”
For Jreige, partnerships like these are about more than adding well-known names. They also add operational complexity, exposing the procurement team to new categories and route-to-market demands.
The forward-looking mindset also shapes the company’s next phase, with expansion, innovation, and digital capabilities positioned as key to sustaining growth beyond its manufacturing roots. “We rely on a legacy,” says Jreige, “and we are already planning for the next 70 years…”