3F, Fuji Oil of Japan to set up non-dairy cream plant

Hyderabad-based 3F Industries Limited, formerly known as Foods, Fats & Fertilisers, is setting up a non-dairy cream manufacturing facility in a joint venture (JV) with Fuji Oil Co Ltd of Japan.

The JV, involving an initial investment of Rs 100 crore, is expected to commence production by March 2015. It will be partnered 55:45 with Fuji Oil having the majority share. The Japanese company will provide the technology while 3F will be  involved in setting up the project and marketing of the product.

Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Fuji Oil posted a sales turnover of $ 2.3 billion and a profit of $ 130 million for the year ended March 2013. The 50-year old 3F is an unlisted company whose turnover and profit in 2012-13 stood at Rs 1,339 crore and Rs 38 crore respectively.

3F director, Sushil Goenka, told mediapersons here on Friday that the production plant, being set up on 15-acre land at Burgul in Mahabubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh, would start with an installed capacity of 500 tonnes per month.  The capacity would be doubled within a couple of years and the company was acquiring an additional 10 acres of land for the unit.

According to Goenka, the demand for cream in the country at present is estimated to be around 90,000 tonnes a year. Of this, 25 per cent comprises non-dairy whip cream. The demand for non-dairy cream is currently growing at 15-20 per cent per annum. The sales of JV are expected to touch 5,000 tonnes a year in a span of three years.

Fuji Oil chairman, Yoshitaka Ebihara, said the JV was the company's first foothold in India, where high growth of the market was expected. Company's managing director, Tomoyuki Yoshida, said Japanese production control systems would be introduced in the plant, which will make non-dairy cream suitable to the requirements of Indian consumers.