Himalaya Industries opens food processing plant in India

Indian frozen food company Himalaya Industries has opened its Rs2bn ($37.54m) food processing plant at Vadnagar, in the western state of Gujarat.

The new plant, which is spread over an area of 22.25ha, will produce mushrooms, vegetables, processed potatoes, french fries, frozen yoghurt, mozzarella cheese sticks and cottage cheese.

The plant’s mushroom division has an installed capacity of 60,000t of compost per year, and will produce 2,000t of mushrooms annually, with a yield of 20% at 100% operating capacity.

The facility will also produce 6,000t of mozzarella cheese, 9,000t of yoghurt, 27,000t of appetisers, 27,000t of french fries per annum.

The plant, which will employ nearly 2000 people, has a total production capacity of 270t per day and a storage capacity of 2,000t of frozen products.

The company has entered into tie-up with 10,000 local farmers, through contract farming.

Himalya International chairman and CEO Manmohan Malik said the company plans to soon supply french fries and other processed food to restaurant brands like McDonalds and Subway.

“We also plan to start ‘hydroponic farming’ and produce lettuce and strawberries at the plant as well,” Malik added.

The facility will produce its products under the ‘Himalaya Fresh’ brand, which will be launched in major cities of India.

In addition, the company has set an export target of Rs6bn ($112.63m) every year to countries such as Singapore, US, Malaysia and Dubai, among others.

Himalya International has another plant spread over an area of 6.07ha in Himachal Pradesh.

Gujarat is witnessing a growing number of food projects in the region – in January, Anil Group announced its plans to start the construction of a $39.18m mega food park in the state next month, and last month, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation said that it will open four milk processing plants in the region.