Hosur (Tamil Nadu), Nov 2 (IANS) India’s leading $7.2-billion business conglomerate Bharti Enterprises will produce and hard-sell the global Del Monte range of fruit juices and culinary products in the growing domestic branded processed food and beverage market.
To process the food products, Bharti formed FieldFresh Foods Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture with Manila-based $380-million Del Monte Pacific Ltd and unveiled Tuesday an automated plant here, about 40 km from Bangalore, with an upfront investment of Rs.115 crore.
‘Eating and consumption habits in India are fast changing with an increasing number of youth and a growing consuming middle class eating out and preferring convenience of carrying food that is custom ready,’ Bharti vice-chairman and managing director Rakesh Bharti Mittal told reporters on the occasion.
When fully commissioned in coming months, the high-tech plant will produce 10,000 cases of fruit juices per day in pet bottles, and 15,000 cases per day in cans.
The facility will also roll out culinary products like ketchups, sauces, mustard sauce and mayonnaise in the form of glass bottles at the rate of 48 tonnes per day, in squeezy pack 36 tonnes per day, in 10 gm sachets 8.4 tonnes per day and in 1000gm packets 12 tonnes per day. About 1,500 kg of mayonnaise will also be produced per hour.
In beverages, juices include mango, orange, green apple and pineapple with permitted flavours and other ingredients.
‘The processed food and beverage products segment we are entering is a $1 billion market (Rs.4,500 crore) in India and growing at 20-25 percent per annum. Going forward, the segment is projected to grow at 35-40 percent due to changing consumption patterns and preference for quality products,’ Mittal said.
The three-year-old joint venture will also produced packaged foods such as pineapple slices and peaches and pasta, which are currently imported from Del Monte in Philippines.
‘Our target is to make the 118-year-old Del Monte one of the top 10 brands in the Indian processed food and beverage industry by 2014, with world class products and taste for the discerning consumers,’ Mittal said.
As a b2b (business-to-business) player, FieldFresh supplies Del Monte ketchups, sauces and mayonnaise in the north Indian market by sourcing their production from third-party vendors.
‘We have entered into contract farming with about 3,000 farmers in Punjab and Maharashtra to source tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables for sourcing the raw material,’ Mittal said.
The Hosur plant, spread across 21.4 acres of land in Krishnagiri district on Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border, will essentially cater to the southern and western regions of the country.
‘Juices from this plant will be supplied across the country and ketchups and sauces in southern and western markets,’ FieldFresh chief executive Sanjay Nandrajog said.
With a research and development (R&D) centre at the plant, the company plans to bring out a variety of innovative processed food and beverage products for catering to the different tastes and palates of the people across the country.
‘India is one of the most exciting consumer markets to be in. Our global brand with its commitment to taste and quality has had a great journey so far and I look forward to many more milestones in our India story,’ Del Monte Pacific chief executive Joselito D. Campos said.
