In a bid to popularise its 'Daawat' brand of rice in Europe, LT Foods on Wednesday commenced operations of its first rice processing plant at Rotterdam, Netherlands, which has been set up with an investment of $15 million.
"Company plans to make its most popular 'Daawat' brand a household name in Europe using raw material from India. The move will benefit 5,000 farmer families in India with brown rice supply increasing from India," LT Foods said here in a statement.
The development comes on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to that country, as part of his three-nation tour. Modi and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte held talks on boosting bilateral cooperation during his visit to Amsterdam.
The plant has an initial capacity of 60,000 tonnes and scope for further expansion in the future, it said.
"This would be our first plant in Europe and we are very excited about the opportunity. The plant would generate new job opportunities in the country and help us expand our geographical footprint across Europe and UK," Vijay Kumar Arora, Chairman and Managing Director, LT Foods said.
Ashwani Arora, CEO and Managing Director, LT Foods said, "Europe and UK are critical markets for LT Foods for our future growth and we intend to make deep inroads in these markets by making our most popular rice brand 'Daawat' a household name."
LT Foods has collaborated with Rotterdam Partners, The Port of Rotterdam Authority and Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) for this initiative.
The company has already launched 'Daawat' brand in six new countries this year and plans to expand its product offerings and portfolio globally.
"LT Foods plans to expand its geographical footprint in important markets of Europe and UK through this plant by increasing its sales from the current 5,000 tonnes to 60,000 tonnes over the next three years," the statement said.
The company would be manufacturing a wide range of rice, including popular varieties like Basmati, Thai, Jasmine and American rice from the new plant, it said.
"Rotterdam, which is popularly known as the gateway to Europe will be a critical geographical location as it will give the company easy access to the whole of Europe and UK for its expansion plans," it added.
--IANS
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