Fruit juice maker Manpasand Beverages invests US$25m in new Uttar Pradesh plant

ASIA – India’s fruit juice maker Manpasand Beverages Limited has invested US$25.69 million in a new manufacturing facility in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh it seeks to expand its product portfolio.

The facility will lead to the capacity addition of 45,000 to 50,000 cases per day from its existing capacity of around 225,000 cases per day.

Apart from the existing range of products, this unit will also focus on new product segments like milk based drinks and protein based drinks, noted the company.

“The new facility is located in Varanasi. We propose to focus on manufacturing our existing range of products.

With this, we will be better positioned to cater the markets of North and East India,” Manpasand Beverages said in a BSE filing.

This is the company’s second plant in Varanasi with a total of seven manufacturing units in Vadodara, Varanasi, Dehradun and Ambala.

“We have set-up this facility with an intention to further strengthen our position in the Indian and global fruit drink industry.

The two facilities in Varanasi will provide strategic leverage in catering to the key markets of North-West, East, North-East and part of Central India,” Manpasand Beverages chairman and managing director Dhirendra Singh said.

The maker of the iconic mango juice brand, MangoSip said earlier this month that it plans to invest about US$215mn in ten new manufacturing plants in the country by 2020 in its effort to drive volume.

Manpasand said it was planning to enter new product segments over the next three years, including milk based drinks, fruit based sugar free drinks, glucose drinks and protein based drinks which would provide a significant boost in its growth journey across local and global markets.

With a focus on growing a stronger distribution footprint, the company recently signed a ten-year joint distribution agreement with Parle Products as part of this strategy.

For the first quarter ended June 30, Manpasand Beverages’ net profit rose 1.32% to US$5.19 million attributed to a focus on expansion and product development during the period.