Mahmoud Nasreldin: From A Sweets Kitchen At Seven To 30 Tonnes Of Chocolate A Day

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Mahmoud Nasreldin Mohamed Ali, founder of Ajman-based BCC Group of Companies, on turning a childhood craft into a group spanning confectionery, retail and construction

Published: Wed 4 Nov 2026, 9:20 AM

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At an age when most children are learning to read, Mahmoud Nasreldin Mohamed Ali was learning how sugar behaves.

He was seven when he first stepped into the world of confectionery. "I didn't know it was the start of a career," he says. "I just knew I loved watching something simple become something that made people happy. That feeling never left me."

His path to running his own company was far from instant. Nasreldin moved to the UAE in 2006, aged 23, and started out as an assistant chef. He worked his way up through the kitchen and into management, learning production, quality and day-to-day operations from the ground up before founding his own business.

More than two decades later, that feeling has become BCC Group of Companies, a UAE business group headquartered in the Jurf 3 industrial area of Ajman. Its flagship, Bone Crepe Chocolates , now has the capacity to produce 30 tonnes of chocolate a day for retailers, distributors and private-label customers in local and international markets.

Small batches, big ambitions

Bone Crepe did not start big. Production began in very limited quantities, and growth came step by step: refining recipes, widening the product range and sourcing ingredients from different parts of the world.

"Chocolate is unforgiving," Nasreldin says. "If the cocoa is wrong, the taste is wrong, and the customer knows immediately. So we never compromised on materials, even when we were small. The volume came later. The standard came first."

Technology, he says, was the turning point. Investment in modern production lines allowed the company to meet daily demand without losing the craftsmanship he learned as a boy. Alongside chocolate, the group now makes authentic Arabic sweets under the Bone Crepe Arabic Sweets brand, as well as handcrafted cakes.

From making to selling

Where many manufacturers stop at the factory gate, Nasreldin kept going. Big Mart General Trading, the group's retail and wholesale arm, runs hypermarket operations selling groceries, household essentials, personal care, electronics and everyday goods.

"Owning both production and retail teaches you things you can't learn from one side alone," he says. "On the shop floor, you hear exactly what customers want. In the factory, you can respond to it. That connection is a real advantage."

The group has also expanded beyond the food sector. Nexora Construction has completed two projects and has seven more under development, with an ambition to become one of the UAE's leading construction and real estate development companies by 2028.

Asked why a chocolatier would move into construction, Nasreldin laughs. "People think they are different worlds. They are not. Both need quality materials, a clear process and a team you trust. If you get those three right, the product speaks for itself, whether it's a praline or a skyline."

Crossing the border

The group's first move outside the UAE took it to Saudi Arabia, where Bone Crepe Sweets & Chocolate operates a manufacturing facility built to the same standards as its Ajman plant.

"The UAE gave us everything a manufacturer needs: infrastructure, access to the world, and a market that rewards quality," he says. "Saudi Arabia is the natural next step. The demand is enormous, and we want to be there as a producer, not just an exporter."

The next chapter

The targets ahead are concrete. BCC plans to expand Arabic sweets production from three tonnes to 15 tonnes a day by 2027, a fivefold increase aimed at making Bone Crepe a leading producer of premium Arabic sweets in the GCC. Big Mart is adding a new hypermarket this year, with five more branches planned by the end of 2027.

For Nasreldin, scale is only part of the story. "Growth is good, but growth without people is empty," he says. "I've been lucky to build a team that cares about the product as much as I do. My job now is to give them room to grow with the company."

Advice from the kitchen

He is open about the fact that his education in business came on the job, not in a classroom. His advice to young entrepreneurs in the UAE reflects that.

"Learn your craft first. Really learn it, with your hands," he says. "Money and investors come when people trust what you make. And be patient. I started at seven. Some things simply take time."

It is a lesson he still lives by. Decades on from that first kitchen, the man behind 30 tonnes of chocolate a day still describes his work in the simplest terms: making something good, and making people happy with it.

For more information, contact BCC Group of Companies at Jurf 3 Industrial Area, Ajman, UAE, call +971 52 547 5711, email ... or visit .

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