FieldFresh Foods, a joint venture between telecom-to-retail major Bharti Enterprises and the Del Monte Pacific arm, DMPL India, is looking to invest Rs 200 crore in setting up its first manufacturing plant in India as well as getting into backward integration.
Sanjay Nandrajog, CEO, Field Fresh Foods, said, “We are investing Rs 100 crore in setting up a manufacturing unit in Hosur in Tamil Nadu. We are also investing in increasing yield of fruits and vegetables in Ludhiana in Punjab and Maharashtra.”
The plant will produce the company’s entire functional processed foods’ range of canned juices, sauces, mayonnaise and mustard. It will also take care of the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles for their fruit juices, which it will be introducing in India for the first time. The company currently imports the entire product line.
Among other plans, Field Fresh is looking at technology tie-ups for pineapple research in Siliguri. Nandrajog claims that around 25 per cent of the world’s processed pineapple comes from the Phillippines where the company is headquartered.
“We intend to have a local technology partner in India to improve apple yield, among other fruits. In Kashmir, apple yield per tree is as good as it is in any Western country. But apple yield in Jammu and Kashmir per acre is just 10 tonnes, whereas in China and New Zealand, the yield is double that of here,” Nandrajog said.
As for distribution, Field Fresh products are currently available in 25 cities, across 15,000 outlets, of which 10,000 outlets are in modern trade. “We plan to double the distribution this year,” said Nandrajog.
