Mohammad Assarzadegan, the founder of Jerreh Flour Manufacturing Company, was born in 1949 (1328 SH) into a religious family in the city of Isfahan. Like many great figures of the world, he entered the business environment from a very young age, beginning the family’s ancestral trade alongside his father. However, a turning point in his adolescence gradually pushed him toward greater independence.
“Our family has been engaged in production for generations, and as our surname suggests, we were oil extractors. In the old days, when cities had not yet been electrified, people used lamp oil for lighting, and this oil was extracted in ‘Assarkhaneh’ workshops. In these workshops, mustard or flax seeds were ground and kept beneath the heavy millstone of the Assarkhaneh for 24 hours. The pressure would extract the vegetable oil, which was used both for lighting and in painting the wooden doors of houses to prevent rust.”
“Alongside this work, the millstone of the Assarkhaneh was also used to crush and grind wheat, producing flour. This trade has been passed down from generation to generation, continuing in our family for at least two centuries—from the time of my father, grandfather, and our ancestors.”