KARACHI: Iftekhar Ahmed and Company has announced that it will invest another $15 million in food and beverages sector during the next four years. So far, the company has invested $10 million in the sector.
Iftekhar Ahmed and Company, a leading exporter of fresh fruits and value-added products, has announced the launch of Pakistan’s first ABC Juice that has been introduced under its fastest growing brand ‘Fruit Nation’ to promote health and nutrition by providing premium quality juices, nectar, fruit drinks and food products.
Prepared from the pure pulp of apple, beetroot and carrot, ABC juice makes the human immune system strong and makes the body agile and energetic by providing rich nutrition along with the elimination of toxins from the body.
The launch event of Fruit Nation's ABC Juice was held at a local hotel on Wednesday. Renowned singer and social worker Shehzad Roy attended as the special guest while a large number of prominent business and social personalities also attended the event.
Speaking at the event, Shehzad Roy said IAC has always put quality first and has kept its promises to customers and its business partners. He said that in today's competitive era, no business can thrive without innovation and meeting the demands of the market and IAC has maintained its identity as an innovative and socially conscious business organization for the past 60 years.
He said that any product is successful only when it fulfils the promise made to the customers and I have strong believed that IAC will fulfil its commitment by providing pure and healthy products to its customers.
Addressing the ceremony, Waheed Ahmed director IAC highlighted the unique properties of juices, nectars and fruit drinks produced in Pakistan under Fruit Nation and Lush brand and the specially introduced ABC Juice for health improvement.
He said that Iftekhar Ahmed & Company (IAC) is among the 200 companies in the world that has supply of fresh fruits and vegetables from its own gardens, it has state of the art processing, facility and food and beverages consumer products.
He mentioned that by leveraging its 62 years of experience in the international trade of fresh fruits and its distinguished position in fruit value addition, IAC has introduced a wide range of nutritious and pure-ingredient juices, nectars and fruit drinks in Pakistan.
IAC’s Fruit Nation and Lush brand have emerged as the fastest growing and most diverse brands in Pakistan, introduced 7 fruit drinks, 7 nectars and a special Juice in the last two years.
He said that some specific juices and nectars introduced under the Fruit Nation brand are free from sugar and artificial food colours, while natural food colours have been used in other juices, nectars and fruit drinks. All juices, nectars and fruit drinks are made from natural sweeteners and locally grown fruit pulp and no preservatives are used to ensure health of the consumers.
All the flavours are developed as a result of intensive research on taste and quality in the company's own state-of-the-art R&D laboratory. Fruit Nation and Lush brands are gaining attention in the export market due to meeting international standards and soon will be exported to European countries, Australia, Middle East and Caribbean countries.
Waheed said that in the next four years, Fruit Nation will be among the top five brands in the country. The company is enthusiastically working to achieve this goal. Fruit Nation and Lush brand juices, nectars and fruit drinks are available in more than 30 cities of the country.
Along with a range of juices, nectars and fruit drinks under Fruit Nation, the Pure Ingredients Tomato Ketchup, Chilli Garlic Sauce under the Lush brand has also been introduced in different pack sizes. Along with tetra pack packaging of juices, nectars and fruit drinks, packaging in cans and PET bottles will also be introduced soon. Fruit Nation Brand is also developing Pakistan's first date syrup brand which will be marketed soon.
He said that despite the Coivid-19 pandemic and tough economic conditions in the country, IAC has invested 10 million dollars in the food and beverages sector fulfilling its deep commitment to Pakistan.
An additional 15 million dollars will be invested in the next four years to include Fruit Nation and Lush brand among the top five brands of Pakistan, after which IAC's new investment in Pakistan's food and beverage sector will reach 25 million dollars. This is in addition to the investment of $15-20 million for pulping, concentrate, cold storage and other infrastructure, he mentioned.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022