Harina P.A.N.—abbreviation for Producto Alimenticio Nacional (Spanish), or National Food Product (English)[1]—is the first brand of boiled maize flour in Venezuela.

The traditional preparation of arepa flour is very labor-intensive, requiring soaking, dehusking, and drying maize before pounding it in a large mortar.

Precooked arepa flour was invented in the 1950s by Dr. Luis Caballero Mejías, a Venezuelan engineer who used the profits from his patent to finance a Technical Schools system.

[3] In 1954, the Venezuelan beer and malted drinks company Empresas Polar developed an industrial production method, launching the brand in 1960.

[4] Its spokesmen said that had been the idea of Czech master brewer Carlos Roubicek, one of the first employees of the Polar Brewery, and Juan Lorenzo Mendoza Quintero, son of the founder Lorenzo Mendoza Fleury, taking advantage of the Remavenca machinery and the corn flakes manufactured in that plant to improve the beer flavor.

In fact, Empresas Polar does not accredit Luis Caballero Mejías, for the development of the process that served for the production of maize flour.

[citation needed] For decades, Harina PAN has been an essential ingredient for Venezuelans, and also in Colombian cooking, with websites dedicated to locating the nearest distributor in several countries in the world.

To Venezuelans, Harina PAN forms a part of their national identity by making up a large portion of their diet.