Saraf Foods to tap Latin America and Australia

The Vadodara-based Saraf Foods Ltd, which specialises in premium food preserving technology, is eyeing Latin American and Australian markets.

The company has recently bagged orders from Mexico and Chile, and plans to expand to the Latin America and Australia in a big way, said Suresh Saraf, managing director, Saraf Foods.

Saraf Foods is among the few companies in the world having specialised in the high-tech feeeze drying technology known as lypholisation. The proposed expansion would also increase the plant capacity to four metric tonne per day from the existing two tonne per day. And in next five, Saraf Foods is aiming at a capacity of 10 tonne per day.

"The company will be investing Rs 3 crore in the next financial year in order to give effect to its expansion plans." said Saraf. The company was started in 1991, with promoters holding 60 per cent stake and the rest by the Gujarat Venture Finance Ltd, which invested more than Rs 2 crore.

The company's 100 per cent export oriented unit in Vadodara makes it an ideal location for sourcing prime quality fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Major products of Saraf Foods include freeze dried onions, bananas, okra and sweet corn, which are used as a premium food ingredients by the leaders in the food industry in most of the developed countries including the US and Europe.

The company is operating at 100 per cent capacity utilisation, which has helped the company maintain its top place in the western markets.

Unable to meet with the increasing demands, the company has increased its production capacity to around 225 batches per month from 105 batches in 2000. "In fact, in order to keep up with the demand, for the last two years, we are also operating another plant in Ahmedabad on a use-only basis." said Saraf.

The company had a major setback in 1998, when the government banned the export of onions, due to its high prices in the domestic market. The company suffered a loss of more than Rs 90 lakh.

For the year 2002-2003, Saraf Foods recorded a turnover of Rs 3 crore, while the turnover in the first nine months of the current fiscal has already surpassed the last year's figures and it expects to close the year 2003-2004 at Rs 4.5 crore, with a profit of Rs 50 lakh.

"We have registered a 40 per cent increase in production inspite of effecting a 45 per cent decrease in the manpower. We are confident that even if we double our output, we will have ready buyers." Suresh Saraf added. Saraf Foods is Kosher certified by the Orthodox Union of the US.