FieldFresh Foods plans for a plant and technology tie-ups

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.