Amira Nature Foods Ltd is a food company best known for processing and distributing basmati rice and related food products. It is one of the largest sellers of basmati rice in the world.
History
Amira Nature Foods Ltd was founded in 1915 under the name Nav Bharat by B.D. Chanana, as a trading house buying and selling locally grown beans. The company was later taken over by B.D. Chanana's son, Karam Chanana. In 1968, the third generation of the family, Anil Chanana, joined the company, changed the name to Amira, and began focusing on exporting. Karan A. Chanana, the current chairman and CEO, is the fourth generation of his family to run the company. The company is headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with additional offices in India, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Amira Nature Foods Ltd is the parent company of Amira Pure Foods, the Indian subsidiary that operates a 310,000 square-foot processing and milling facility in basmati rice paddy-producing regions of North India. Since 2008, the company has been selling products under its Amira brand. Amira Nature Foods Ltd went public on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2012. In December 2013, in an effort to further expand into the European market, Amira announced a deal to purchase Basmati Rice GmbH, a Germany-based distributor of rice, primarily basmati. It was the company's first acquisition since going public. In 2014, Amira Pure Foods announced an e-retailing partnership with Snapdeal to sell its basmati rice online. Throughout 2015 and 2016 Amira Nature Foods Ltd announced a number of new retail distribution wins in the US including Amazon.com, Cost Plus World Market, Jewel Osco, Publix and Shaw's Supermarket. Amira Organic rice products also launched in the US in 2015 and are stocked at retailers including Costco and Whole Foods Market.
Products
Amira sells rice grown at the foothills of the Himalayas, purchased from smallholder farmers in India. Following harvest, the rice is typically aged for a year in burlap sacks to help bring out the rice's aromatic flavor, after which the grain's husk is removed. The rice is then processed in Delhi, India, before being distributed, marketed and sold at retail and wholesale chains worldwide. The company's basmati, sold in metallic gold packaging, is said to have "a strong floral, nutty scent and flavor after cooking." Other products include specialty and organic rice, cooking oil, spices, flour and organic wheat, barley and legumes.
Financial allegations
In February 2015, a short-selling firm alleged that Amira had overstated its revenue. Amira filed a lawsuit against the short -selling firm later in 2015, calling its reports factually inaccurate and false. In April 2017, Amira announced a settlement was reached in the lawsuit filed against the short-selling firm, related entities and individuals. Following the allegations in 2015, two proposed shareholder class action lawsuits were filed against Amira in the United States. The company contested the allegations in the Class Action and filed a motion to dismiss the Class Action. On 22 August 2016, Amira announced that the United States District Court for the Central District of California had granted the company's motion to throw out the lawsuit.
