GBfoods builds $51m tomato processing factory in Kebbi, Nigeria

Global culinary product manufacturer GBfoods has built a tomato processing facility in Kebbi, Nigeria.

The N20bn ($51m) processing facility was built in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kebbi State Government and the Emirate of Yauri.

GBfoods Nigeria manager Vincent Egbe said: “It further demonstrates the company’s commitment towards helping Nigeria achieve its food security ambitions, in this case, of self-sufficiency in tomato concentrate production.

“We will continue to work with the federal government towards food security and local production and processing of fresh tomatoes. The company is dedicated to reducing pre and post-harvest losses, and also developing the value chain so as to improve revenue streams for tomato farmers.”

Apart from being the second-largest factory in Nigeria, the tomato processing facility is claimed to be the only fully backward integrated plant in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Upon completion of all project phases, the processing facility is expected to become the largest fresh tomatoes processing factory in Sub-Saharan Africa.

An investment in the farm located adjacent to the factory will also see the installation of drip irrigation and fertigation infrastructure, greenhouses, seed planting robots, incubation chambers and agricultural machinery.

The farm will be used for growing industrial tomatoes and soya beans in the dry and rainy season respectively.

The tomato processing facility will produce tomato concentrate used for manufacturing Gino Tomatoes Paste and Gino Tomato Pepper Onion Paste while the soya bean will be used to process soya-bean oil, which is a key ingredient for GBfoods’ Bama and Jago Mayonnaise.

GBfoods’ facility is said to have created more than 1,000 jobs, which includes 500 farming jobs, 150 factory jobs and 150 construction jobs.

During the next tomatoes season, the factory will be engaging more than 5,000 smallholder farmers as out-growers to grow fresh produce.