Plant Manager
Next Generation — Anabtawi Family
Every great brand is ultimately built on the factory floor. At AFI, that responsibility belongs to Basil Anabtawi.
Representing the next generation of Anabtawi family leadership, Basil brings to AFI’s manufacturing operations something that combines the best of two worlds, the academic rigour of a Mechanical Engineer holding both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Florida, and the hard-won, hands-on experience of someone who has built and optimised real production environments in the field. He does not simply understand how world-class manufacturing works in theory. He has delivered it in practice.
Before joining AFI, Basil led major operational initiatives at Al Arz Ice Cream Co. in Palestine, the legendary family brand that is the very foundation of AFI’s heritage. There, he delivered projects of genuine scale and complexity: the development of a centralised refrigeration plant, a comprehensive preventive maintenance programme, and the successful rollout of an integrated ERP system that enhanced production control, traceability, and operational efficiency across the facility. Each project reflected the same discipline and ambition he now brings to Dubai.
As Plant Manager at Anabtawi Food Industries, Basil oversees the full operational heartbeat of AFI’s world-class facility in Dubai Industrial City, production, maintenance, and quality control, ensuring that every product manufactured meets the highest standards of quality, food safety, and sustainability. His leadership style is grounded in continuous improvement, lean thinking, and a relentless focus on operational excellence that is both modern in its methods and deeply rooted in the family’s 75-year commitment to quality.
In a company where heritage and innovation must work hand in hand, Basil Anabtawi is the leader who makes that happen, every shift, every line, every day.
