AGT Food president awarded international prize by Nobel laureates

Saskatchewan's 'lentil king'is the first Canadian to receive the Oslo Business for Peace Award, aninternational prizeselected by a group of Nobel laureates.

Murad Al-Katib, president of AGT Food and Ingredients Inc.,is in good company: The former CEO of Ikea AndersDahlvighas also won the award, along with Virgin's RichardBranson.

• Saskatchewan's lentil king named Canada's top entrepreneur

The Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce nominatedAl-Katibbased on his getting 700 million refugee meals made ofSaskatchewan lentils, chickpeas and wheat into the United Nations Syrian refugee program.

"It's an excellent thing that Canadian and Saskatchewan products are contributing to the food security we need," saidAl-Katib.

"We recognized that if we could innovate, we could help by bringing a lower cost to their program, which would allow them to feed millions more people."

Asense of social responsibility

You can't get more Saskatchewan than Al-Katib.

Hewas born to Turkishimmigrantsin Davidson, Sask. His mother, who went on to becomethe community's mayor, learned English by watching Sesame Street with her son in the1960s.

He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan, and runs a food production company that works with farmers across the province.

But when Al-Katibfirst started his company,he said a farmer mistook him for a newcomer to the province, telling him, "Boy, you speak English well."

It was his family's involvement in the community and mother's perseverancethat inspired Al-Katib to run a business with a strong sense of social responsibility. His passion for Saskatchewan is at the heart of his company.

Compassionate entrepreneurism

Al-Katib said he believes business has an integral role to play in the most complicated societalissues, like pollution control. He calls it"compassionate entrepreneurism."

He putthe call out to all businessesto incorporate social responsibility as part of their corporate mandate.

The business for peace award will be presented to Al-KatibinOslo, Norway, in May.