INDIA – IFFCO, the UAE-based mass manufacturer of food products, has announced plans to build a major global manufacturing base to service customers across various markets.
The move is part of the FMCG major’s new initiative to achieve more flexibility in meeting its customers’ needs.
It also follows a recent acquisition of 3 F Fuji Foods- a joint venture of Fuji Oil Group of Japan and the South India-based 3 F Industries which specialises in manufacturing and distribution of a range of cream products across India.
IFFCO, whose brands such as Tiffany, Igloo, London Dairy and Quanta are household names across the Gulf Cooperation Council market, currently has operations in 40 countries through about 80 ventures.
With the 3 F Fuji Private Limited under its control, Arzu Alibaz, global CEO for out-of-home business at IFFCO speaking during an interview with Arabian Business, said the next plan was to have the food giant consolidate its portfolio and explore new opportunities to strengthen its manufacturing base.
Alibaz further noted that 3 F Fuji which will be renamed Pristine Ingredients Private Limited and will become an important platform particularly in growing cream foods category in India- which is one of its key market.
The recent expansion by IFFCO comes at a time when hopes of an early rebound for the ‘out-of-home’ food sector in the Gulf region to the pre-pandemic sales levels have been dashed with the second wave of the virus infection.
The segment, which mainly caters to restaurants, pubs and airlines, among others, has suffered a decline of about 40 percent over the last nine months, although this represents an improvement from the 80-90 percent losses suffered in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Alibaz, despite the headwinds brought about by Covid-19 IFFCO’s out-of-home business unit only experienced a single digit decline and recovered sales lost after August of last year.
“We have strong capability in developing tailored solutions to meet specific customer needs,” Alibaz said when explaining how the company was able to quickly recover from the pandemic.
“Our vertical and horizontal manufacturing integration, agile organisation, and our flexibility to serve our customers with custom based solutions help operators adapt to changing circumstances.”
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