Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Company Background

1.1.1 Background
A sister concern of Akij Group, Akij Corporation Limited is the most organized distribution
company in the country. Akij Group is countrys one of the leading business conglomerates.
Initially Akij Corporation Limited was known as Amin Enterprise and started its operation in
1992. In June 1997 Amin Enterprise was renamed as Aminuddin Enterprise Limited and in
2001 Aminuddin Enterprise Limited was again renamed as Akij Corporation Limited. Akij
Corporation Limited is responsible for the marketing and distribution of three industries of
Akij Group namely Dhaka Tobacco Industries, Akij Match Factory Limited and Akij Zarda
(chewing tobacco) Factory.

1.1.2

History of Akij Group

History of Akij Group stretches back to later part of the forties. In its infancy, the Group
started in humble way with jute trading which was known as the golden fiber of the country,
earning highest amount of foreign exchange. Akij Group's ceaseless efforts with dynamic
management and support from their numerous clients have led their Group in diversifying its
business activities. In the second phase, the Group went into manufacturing handmade
cigarettes popularly known as bidis. This sector gave a real boost to the revenue earning of
the Group as well as making substantial contribution to government exchequer. With the
passage of time, the Group undertook new ventures and presently there are 15 units of
industries under its umbrella like cigarettes, handmade cigarettes, printing & packaging,
textiles, hand board, pharmaceutical, leather processing and real-estate business are in
operation, catering jobs for more than 35,000 people in various categories. The Group has
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plans for setting up more projects. The projects are already in pipeline. Foreign investors
have shown keen interest in joining with the Group for joint ventures. The matter is under its
active consideration and will hopefully soon mature. This will also help the nation's economy
growth and will create job opportunities to various professionals.

Akij Group is also involved in socio-cultural activities. The Group has been operating a
sizeable orphanage free of charge in district town. The Group has also acquired a modern
mother & children hospital previously owned by Save the Children (UK). The hospital is
being operated as a non-profitable concern by Ad-Din Welfare Trust.

1.1.3

Mission and Vision of Akij Group of Industries

In this era of mass production, as it is very hard to stand out with one product, Akij Group
focuses on making the best in all sectors. Any companys vision is actually the dream to
which the company always strives to reach where it may become possible or not. Akij Group
is not something different. Expanding the business in the abroad and becoming one of the
market leaders internationally are the visions of Akij Group. The mission of Akij Group is to
be the market leader through their best effort, suitable and competitive marketing strategy
and the consumers support. Now they are in the position of challenger and their vision
focuses on those missions, goals and objectives which will make them able to be the leader
from the challenger to the leader in the market.

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1.2 Growth Time Line of Akij Group

Table 1.1: Growth Timeline at a Glance
Serial

Factory Name

Time of

Focus

Establishment
1.

Akij BIDI Factory Ltd

1950

Hand Made Cigarettes

2.

Akij Transport Agency Ltd

1950

Transport

3.

SAF Industries Ltd.

1960

Crust & finished Leather

4.

Dhaka Tobacco Industries Ltd

1966

Cigarettes

5.

Akij Printing & Packages Ltd.

1974

Printing & Packaging

factory

6.

Dhaka Tobacco Industries Leaf

1981

Processing Plant

Leaf tobacco Leaf

Processing Plan

7.

Akij Corporation Ltd.

1983

Trading House

8.

Akij Housing Ltd.

1987

Housing

9.

Akij Match factory Ltd.

1992

Match

10.

Akij Jute Mills Ltd.

1994

Jute Yarn & Twine

11.

Akij Cement Company Ltd.

1995

Cement

12.

Akij Particle Board Mills Ltd.

1996

Particle & Hardboard

13.

Akij Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

1996

Medicine

14.

Akij Computer Ltd.

1997

Hardware-software

15.

Sonar Bangla Cement Ltd.

1998

Cement

16.

Akij Textile Mills Ltd.

1998

Cotton Yarn

17.

Akij Online Ltd.

2000

Internet Service Provider

18.

Akij Transport Agency Ltd

1950

Transport

19.

Akij Jarda Factory Ltd.

2000

Flavored Chewing Tobacco

20.

Akij Institute of Technology Ltd.

2001

IT Education & Training

21.

Afil Toiletries Ltd.

2003

Toiletries

22.

Akij Food & beverage Ltd.

2006

Food & beverage

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1.3 Akij Food and Beverage Ltd. (AFBL)

Brings Quality in Life.
Akij Food & Beverage Ltd (AFBL) a big name in food processing & marketing sectors
started their journey officially in 2006 with three products but within next six years the
company was able to add a lot of products on its rosters. Akij Food & Beverage Ltd sectors
are a result of visionary concept of Mr. Sk. Akij Uddin and its owner is Mr. SK.
Shamimuddin. AFBL is a manufacturing type of business and its main products are CSD,
Soft Drinks, Energy Drinks, Juices, Dairy Products, Snacks, Chips, Drinking Water. AFBL
manufactures a wide range of Snacks and Beverage for both national and international
market like Southeast Asia, Eastern Asia, Middle East and Africa. AFBL is a project worth
$70 million and is funded by the parental company Akij Group. Its total annual sales volume
is US $5 Million US $10 Million. Its export percentage is 21% 30%. AFBL factory is
located 50 kilometers outside from capital Dhaka in Krishnapura, Dhamrai. The factory area
is above 100,000 square meters. The total number of employees is about 2000 people. And
among them the number of R&D staff is above 50 people and number of QC staff is 21-30
people. To bring the vision of this visionary entrepreneur into reality AFBL has been built
with most modern operating facilities of European origin for processing & packing including
aseptic filling line which is lone example in the entire subcontinent. AFBL started its
production at 400 bph in the carbonated soft drinks line and 300 bph in the juice line. In a
span of one and a half years they have increased their capacity to 1800 bph. At present their
capacity is at the groundbreaking rate of 1900 bph. During this same period most of their
brands became either number one or are almost on the verge of becoming number one in
their respective categories. Most of their machineries have been imported from world famous
brands as Krones, Tetra Pak, Alfa Laval, and Husky to achieve the best quality. Most of their
Raw materials come from various foreign countries. The quality is very strictly controlled. At
every stage, non standard products are rejected. Quality was the main object of the founder
Mr. Sk. Akij Uddin. His saying "Uncompromising quality even in adverse situation" is the
main force behind the success of Akij Food & Beverage Ltd.

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1.4 Business Philosophy

Akij Group diversified their business in Food & Beverage industry because in Bangladesh
there are 15 crores people. It is a large market size to serve and food is required continually
for the population. Akij Food and Beverage Ltd. want to serve quality food for their target
market. In chips industry, there are many local & foreign companies. Akij wants to be a local
unique chips producer with the same quality of foreign company. For this purpose AFBL
produces chips for young target group who like to live stylish life. Main slogan of AFBL is
Brings Quality in Life. While working in harmony with their consumers, employees and
business partners, they try to discover and understand the desires & needs of the community.

1.5 Products of AFBL

The products which are offered now by AFBL are given in the following table.
Table 1.2: Foods and Beverages of AFBL
Product Category

Brand Name

Cola

Mojo

Cloudy Lemon

Lemu

Clear Lemon

Clemon

Energy Drink

Speed

Drinking Water

Spa

Juice / Fruit-drink

Frutika

Milk

Farm Fresh Pasteurized/ UHT/ Flavored Milk

Malt Beverage

Wild Brew

Cheese Flavored Snacks

Cheese Puffs

(Crackers)
Real Potato Chips

O Potato Spicy Cocktail

Yogurt

Farm Fresh Yogurt

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AFBL has its own marketing & sales department in Akij chamber. The functions of this
department are very wide and dynamic.
Main functions performed by this department are:
Product development
Raw material sourcing
Find out or create market for its product
Price set up
Packaging development
Developing communication strategy
Preparing sales forecast
Maintain sales management in the field
Keeping record of sales and stock
Collection and analysis of competitors information
Besides these, it performs a number of activities to conduct their day-to-day business.

1.6 Conclusion
During our one month of internship at AFBL, we were under the supervision of Mohammad Ali
Amzad Khan who happens to be the Deputy General Manager of the Dairy Development Sector.
We studied all the lines under the dairy development. The following chapters of this report are
designed in such a way that they will focus on our findings and knowledge gathered during the
period of our industrial practice.

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