3F Industries, Fuji Oil to set up `100-cr non-dairy cream plant

Hyderabad: City-based 3F Industries Ltd, which has significant presence in edible oils and fats, has joined hands with Japan’s Fuji Oil Co Limited to jointly set up non-dairy cream plant with an initial investment of Rs 100 crore. The plant which will initially produce 500 tonnes of non-dairy cream every month will come up on the city outskirts at Burgul in Mahbubnagar district.

Fuji Oil will have 55 per cent stake in the joint venture called 3F Fuji Foods Private Limited while the remaining stake will be held by 3F Industries.

“We will employ close to 120 people for running the plant while an additional 250 to 300 people will be involved in the marketing activities. We have already acquired 15 acres of land for the facility which is likely to commence operations from March 2015,” Sushil Goenka, Director, 3F Industries, told media persons here on Friday after signing of the joint venture agreement. Formerly known as formerly Foods, Fats and Fertilisers Ltd, 3F industries generated

Rs 1,339 crore in revenues and Rs 38 crore in profits last fiscal.

Pointing out that Fuji Oil would provide world-class technology to the plant, he said 3F Industries would take care of distribution and marketing of the product besides setting up the plant. The facility is expected to produce high-quality non-dairy whipping cream to suit the Indian tastes and tap the huge potential the country presents in this space. “The demand for cream in the country is estimated to be around 90,000 tonnes per annum. The market for non-dairy cream which constitutes around 20 per cent of the total size is expanding rapidly at 15-20 per cent,” Geonka said. Besides non-dairy cream, twelve more related products such as softy ice cream, cooking cream will be launched subsequently.

The company will initially tap the demand coming from bakeries, hotels, restaurants, confectioners as well as retail outlets..

“We are delighted to partner with 3F. This joint venture is Fuji Oil’s first foothold in India, where high growth of the market is expected. We are confident that the JV will grow rapidly and make sustainable growth,” Yoshitaka Ebihara, Chairman, Fuji Oil.

Listed at Tokyo Stock Exchange, Fuji Oil is a leading producer of oils, fats, food ingredients and processed foods, with marketing footprint across the globe. Fuji Oil reported a sales turnover of $2.3 billion and a profit of $130 million for the year ended March 2013.

“With support and help from 3F and our parent company, we will make our best efforts to construct our plant as soon as possible and start production of cream, introducing Japanese quality control systems,” said Tomoyuki Yoshida, Managing Director, Fuji Oil Asia Pte Ltd.