Bharti's JV firm opens processed food R&D, manufacturing unit

FieldFresh, the 50:50 joint venture of Bharti Enterprises and Filipino firm Del Monte Pacific Ltd formed in 2007-end, has inaugurated its R&D and manufacturing unit at Hosur, Tamil Nadu, set up with an investment of Rs 115 crore. The facility is spread over 21.4 acres.

The unit will produce fruit drinks as well as culinary products like ketchups, sauces, mustard sauce and mayonnaise. It will also process fruit drinks at the rate of 300 cans and 200 PET bottles per minute and over 4 tonnes per hour of culinary products. The facility will have packaging capabilities in squeezy, glass and flexible pack options for culinary products.

 

Since the formation of the processed food and beverage business JV, some 68 SKUs (stock keeping units) were introduced. Till now while many of the products were being imported, the unit will allow for many of the products to be packaged and processed here.

With processed food market which is estimated to be around $1 billion, is growing at 20-25 per cent now and the company is betting big on its future prospects. An Ernst & Young study had predicted in 2009 that the Indian processed food market would grow at a fast clip of 30-40 per cent for the next decade.

“Going forward our vision is to make Del Monte one of the top 10 brands in the processed food and beverage industry,” said Rakesh Bharti Mittal, vice-chairman and managing director, Bharti Enterprises.

FieldFresh’s Hosur facility has 200 people manning it with some 25 involved in R&D. “The unit is a fully-integrated unit, with capabilities ranging from product research to processing and from packaging to warehousing. The facility would give the company in the speed to market advantage,” said Sanjay Nandrajog, CEO, FieldFresh Food.