 It was founded in 1979 as Saudi Vegetable Oils and Ghee Co., initially the company's business was importing and refining edible oil.Savola is the kingdom's biggest food company by revenue.According to Al-Waleed bin Talal, "This group was established by me and some of my allies...I'd created what you could call the 'Nestlé of the Middle East' – the Savola Group, which is a very dominant force in its field."