MONTE CARLO: Canadian Murad Al-Katib, whose lifetime cause is food security and food aid, was crowned the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year (WEOY) 2017 here on Saturday evening, beating 58 other EY country winners across the globe.

The president and chief executive of AGT Food and Ingredients Inc, Murad is a first-generation Turkish immigrant who has built, from scratch, what is today the largest vertically integrated supply chain for lentils, chickpea and peas.

It all first started 15 years ago when Murad quit his steady government job in 2001 -- when his wife was six-months pregnant with twins, no less -- and moved to the basement of his house to write a business plan to start a lentil company.

Capitalising on the rising global demand for protein that is driven by population and income growth in emerging markets, and supported by the desire of Canadian farmers to diversify their crops, Murad’s business went public in 2007. Today, it has over US$1.4 billion in revenue, with more than 2,000 employees on five continents.

In a brief winning speech on being declared the WEOY of 2017, Murad said:

“Many of you have been hearing me talk all week about the things that are just so important to me, about available protein, about the food opportunities in the world. 

“We all have to face the fact that we are going to grow to 10 billion people. We need to change the way we produce food in the world [to feed everyone]. We need to change agriculture, we need to recognize that the environment needs to be protected, [and] we need to recognize that protein needs to be available to the world. I think the thing that I have really taken away from this week is that [being] entrepreneurs -- we are the solutions.”

Murad, who doesn't believe in social entrepreneurship, also stressed that given the world’s problems today, there is “only entrepreneurship and the imperative of us putting our work towards changing society".

“This is no longer optional. Corporate social purpose is the reality of what we as entrepreneurs must deliver to the world, for us to have a proper world for our children, grand-children, and our future generation."

So saying, he urged all entrepreneurs to keep working hard and vigilantly to help change the world, even if it’s one life at a time.

Bryan Pearce, EY global leader for EOY and venture capital advisory group, said a large part of Murad’s win was because he has really revolutionized the supply chain of many parts of the Canadian agricultural industry.

“In addition to his successes, he has never forgotten where he come from and gives back to society. He has contributed millions of meals to Syrian refugees and built operating and emergency rooms, and has built schools in Turkey. And he just continues to be a great believer in using changes in agricultural techniques to sustainably develop the world,” Pearce added.

Among the contenders for the highly competitive WEOY this year, which came from 49 countries in all, were Malaysia’s Goh Miah Kiat, CEO of condom-maker Karex Bhd; China’s media tycoon, Li Ruigang, who is chairman of CMC Group; South Korea agrifood specialist Harim Group’s chairman Hong-Kuk Kim; and hotelier J.W. ‘Bill’ Marriot, Jr, executive chairman of Marriot International Inc.

All those who vied for the WEOY title were the respective EY Entrepreneur of the Year country winners of 2016, who participated in the final, global competition that is held annually in Monte Carlo, Monaco, since 2000.