INDIA – Parle Agro, the largest beverage company in India, has announced plans to update the internal infrastructure and building capacities of its fruit processing partners across India to meet the growing demand for fruit beverages.
Through the renovation and modernization agenda, the company is extending investment to its local partners to help them extract their potential.
Parle Agro said that it has completely stopped the importation of apple juice from China and through the investment of the local partners, it is confident that it will cover up the imports that were supplementing its supply to the markets.
Certain challenges were being faced by apple processors in India that led to issues with procuring this fruit 100% for beverage manufacturers like Parle Agro from the locals and therefore were being imported.
These challenges included limited availability of apples and outdated technology in the processing abilities of Apple Processing Units in India while nationally fruiting regions have poor road infrastructure, low-quality fruits, high transport costs, political turmoil, erratic weather, and shortage of skilled labor.
The company noted that the update is going to help the company to run its lines at full capacity and negate losses that they were facing before as they are planning to start procuring quantum of fruit pulp from processors.
Additionally, Parle Agro has taken steps to improve the overall process of procuring which will add more efficiency to their system, enabling the processors to function to their optimum capabilities by investing in a new procurement team.
Parle Agro is upgrading its fruit processing facilities in four regions that include Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
Since its inception in 1985, Parle Agro has grown exponentially to currently procuring around 1,50,000 MT of mango fruits from 1,000 MT (million tonnes) of mango procured at its start, from their local fruit processing partners to create the company’s popular mango-based drink, Frooti.
Over the past decade and a half, the company’s consumption of fruits has increased five-fold, which means approximately one-third of the fruit pulp produced in India is consumed by Parle Agro, the company said.
In the future, Parle Agro seeks to consistently work closely with all stakeholders like fruit growers, its partner processors, and the Government to minimize the shortcomings faced over time and increase yield and output, as It aims to be able to fulfill its apple requirements sufficiently by the year 2023.
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