Rahnuma Ahsan Raima, Managing Director of AG Agro Foods Ltd. has brought dramatic revolution in the frozen food sector, not only locally, but also internationally. The accuracy of her work and professionalism has made her a person of admiration and inspiration.
Rahnuma completed her schooling from Scholastica and completed her graduation from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka in 2019. Then her educational path led her to more than 5000 miles away from home, at The University of Manchester, UK where she completed her MSc in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship. In between her studies, she used to help with her family business but in November 2020, she took the full-time responsibility as the Managing Director of AG Foods Ltd.
AG Agro Foods Ltd., is a frozen food company, a sister concern of Ahsan Group. AG Agro Foods Ltd. makes quality frozen products, not just for the local market as well as for the international market.
The world food market is an ever-growing market and it is not limited within the boundaries of Bangladesh. Though price is an issue, foreign clients are mainly concerned with quality. Keeping this in mind, Rahnuma did not want AG Agro Foods Ltd. to be just a local brand, she wanted it to be an international brand as well. With this vision, AG Foods Ltd has covered almost all the continents except Africa, providing continuous service to the markets of USA, Canada, UK, Australia, South Korea, many European countries as well as Japan.
Rahnuma faced a lot of difficulties while expanding the business. It took her more than two years to gain FDA approval for starting operations in the USA. Then there were cultural barriers. After a lot of communication with the customers, Rahnuma concluded that some products must be in accordance with culture. So, AG Agro Foods Ltd. tries to incorporate all those demands, makes different products as per the requirements and delivers them.
Rahnuma said that the strategy they follow to penetrate each market is having good communication and giving the customer the best customer service possible. The establishment of a relationship is more important to her. Losing something now for greater things in the future is Rahnuma’s business policy. As per her father’s advice, Rahnuma never compromises with quality. Rahnuma believes that If AG Agro Foods Ltd. can deliver a quality product, it will last in the long run and her strategy worked because during COVID-19, not only were their sales really stable, but they also grew. She also added that all these things would not have been possible without innovations. Innovation is really important. AG Agro Foods Ltd. has a full-time active R&D department who are continuously working to develop new products for both local and international markets. They do not only focus on innovating new products but also focus on improving the existing ones.
Rahnuma believes in employee empowerment and internal promotion. That is why she allows career progression. She wants her employees to climb the ladders high with their experience. She encourages her employees’ enthusiasm for necessary training or education and even provides monetary support & has explained how AG Agro Foods Ltd. along with Ahsan Group participates in different CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilities). Their participation in helping the employee who has been diagnosed with cancer is remarkable.
She shared her future vision with AG Agro Foods Ltd. She wants to expand the business in the local market through different channels. She also wants to focus on expanding the product line. She also shared her willingness to work with dry foods as dry foods has a big market internationally. She believes that building good relationships, communication, and maintaining product quality are the factors that set AG Agro Foods Ltd. apart from its competitors. She also thinks the behavior, and how one is with their stakeholders is very important in today’s business environment.
Rahnuma believes in delegation. She likes giving power to her employees. She said, “If you don’t give them the freedom to work they cannot actually show you what they can do”. After coming back to Bangladesh, she saw that most of the companies are very bureaucratic. Rahnuma believes that time is an asset, and time is money. So, she encourages fast decision-making and believes that the faster the decision is, the quicker the implementation is, and it helps the company to grow beyond.
