Pakistan’s largest pulp production plant to begin operation in June

SARGODHA: A local fruits processor is poised to kick-start the country’s largest pulp and concentrate production unit in June this year, a company official said.
“The installed production capacity of the plant is 12 tons/hour and it will begin operation before the start of this mango season,” said Nadeem Ahmed, chairman of Iftekhar Ahmed & Company.
Ahmed said the pulp processing plant set to produce pulp and concentrate of mango, apple, tomato, peach and guava is being built at a cost of four million Euros.
“The cost excludes the value of 25-acre land for the plant. The portable structure of the plant was imported from Dubai, while other allied equipment will arrive by April 25,” he added.
The horticulture firm is already operating a pulp processing plant with 10 tons/hour capacity in Karachi, supplying its products to a number of beverage companies across the country and to Singapore, UK, Turkey, Belgium, Italy, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Thailand.
Pakistan has three to four hi-tech nectar production facilities with a total output of 30 tons/hour. The two popular food companies Nestle Pakistan and Shezan are also operating their production plants in Sargodha, an agriculture district in Punjab.
The country has a meager share in the world’s fruits concentrate market, Ahmed said.
An international report estimated that fruit concentrate market would hit $34.6 billion by 2019. “The market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.3 percent from 2014 to 2019,” it said.
Preference of consumers to buy processed food is increasing world over. “The food manufacturers have started focusing on the emerging Asian and Latin American markets as potential drivers of the industry. The market growth is also attributed to an increase in the demand for convenience food. China is one of the largest markets for these types of concentrates,” said the report.
Ahmed said with the addition of his company’s new plant, it’ll become one of the world’s largest producers of pulp and concentrate. “We may include strawberry and other fruits in our production line, depending on the demand,” he added.