Japanese Fuji Oil and Hyderabad based 3F Industries invest Rs 100 crore in joint venture
HYDERABAD, JAN. 17:
Fuji Oil Co of Japan has formed a joint venture with Hyderabad-based 3F Industries to produce non-dairy cream
and other food ingredients. Bakeries, hotels and confectioners consume this product. Both companies engage in
vegetable oils and fats business.
The 55:45 joint venture will initially invest Rs 100 crore to set up a plant at Burgul in Mahabubnagar district in
Andhra Pradesh. Production is expected to commence in March 2015. While Fuji Oil would bring in technology,
3F (formerly known as Foods Fats and Fertilisers Ltd) would take care of establishing the plant, distribution and
marketing of the product.
The privately-held 3F reported a turnover of Rs 1,339 crore in 2013 and employs 1,500 people. Tokyo Stock
Exchange-listed Fuji Oil reported a revenue of $2.3 billion and a profit of $130 million last financial year.
The demand for cream in the country is pegged at 90,000 tonnes a year. It is growing at 15-20 per cent annually.
Non-dairy products have a share of 20-25 per cent in the overall market. “This segment is growing much faster,”
said Sushil Goenka, Director of 3F Industries.
The company plans to sell 2,000 tonnes in the first year. “We could reach 5,000-tonne mark in three years. After
addressing the Indian market, we might look for exports,” he added.
Fuji Oil Chairman, Yoshitaka Ebihara, said the JV was the company’s first foothold in India, where high growth of
the market was expected. Company’s managing director, Tomoyuki Yoshida, said Japanese production control
systems would be introduced in the plant, which will make non-dairy cream suitable to the requirements of Indian
consumers.
3F director, Sushil Goenka, told media persons here on Friday that the production plant, being set up on 15-acre
land at Burgul in Mahabubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh, would start with an installed capacity of 500 tonnes
per month. The capacity would be doubled within a couple of years and the company was acquiring an additional
10 acres of land for the unit.