New Delhi - India's Bharti Enterprises have teamed up with Philippine-based Del Monte Pacific Ltd. to launch a wide range of Del Monte food products, including beverages, packaged fruits and ketchup.
The 50:50 joint venture - FieldFresh Foods - will invest Rs.100 crore to set up a food processing unit at Hosur in Tamil Nadu where it would produce beverages and processed food from 2010. However, packaged fruits, like pineapple, will continue to be imported from Del Monte till the Hosur unit can be expanded.
The venture will also invest in research and development (R&D) in a 300-acre company-owned land in Punjab.
"We are geared to break new ground in the food and beverage (F&B) market in India. Besides establishing a strong retail presence, we plan to leverage growth avenues in the B2B segment. I am optimistic that our plans will propel us to be one of the top two F&B companies in India by 2014," said Sanjay Nandrajog, CEO, FieldFresh Foods.
The F&B market in India holds great potential. While AT Kearney estimates the market sales of food and beverage retailing in India at $135 billion and growing at 10-15 percent annually, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has come out with a vision document that lists out a plan to double the market size of the food processing industry to Rs.8,20,000 crore by 2009-10 and trebling it to Rs.13,50,000 crore by 2014-15.
"We are delighted to bring Del Monte to India. This is a significant milestone for the company as we make our entry into the processed food and beverage segment. We will invest much more as we outline other products in future growth. Our plan to bring in significant investment to set up a modern production facility underlines our commitment to the development of the processed foods sector in India and our intent to emerge as a leading player," said Rakesh Mittal, vice chairman and managing director, Bharti Enterprises.
"India's fast expanding economy, evolving consumer needs, and the emergence of organized retail offer tremendous opportunities for growth. We want to be in top 10 (Indian processed food) companies in the next five years," he said when asked about the joint venture's growth plans. "The journey has just begun."
"We take great pride in being associated with a company like Bharti which will help us establish a strong foothold and penetration in the Indian market. Our endeavor is to provide world class products in all our markets including India and we have taken the first steps into the Indian retail market with a clear vision of capturing the consumer's imagination with our range of innovative products. Indian consumers will be able to experience international quality products, for which Del Monte is known the world over. We look forward to leveraging our skill and knowledge and also draw from the experience that Bharti has gained in creating a great business in India," said Joselite D. Campos Jr., managing director and CEO, Del Monte Pacific, which holds exclusive rights to produce and distribute food and beverage products under the Del Monte brand in the Indian sub-continent.
Initially Del Monte products would be sold in 15 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Pune by the end of this year and later be expanded into 25 cities across India.
The unlisted FieldFresh Foods was set up in 2004 to supply fresh fruits and vegetables and counts food retailers and supermarkets such as Easy Day, Big Bazaar, 24/7, More and Big Apple among it clients.
Source: http://www.ibtimes.co.in/
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