The Vazhakulam Agro and Fruit Processing Company (VAFPCL) located at Muvattupuzha, considered the pineapple heartland of India, is getting ready for a leap in producing value-added products from fruits, having renovated its entire production machinery.
These machines were imported from Italy over two decades ago when the European Union-funded unit began functioning. The company has three production lines, including one to process and pack pineapple, apple, orange, guava and mixed fruit juices (under the brand name Jive), said Shibu Kumar, MD of VAFPC.
The second is a line dedicated to preparing pineapple concentrate, for which it recently began procuring the fruit for Horticorp at ₹15 per kg from farmers hard hit by the steep fall in its price.
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The third is its candy line, where fibreless ginger and pineapple candies are manufactured. The firm also ventured into manufacture of pet bottles, for which the State government allotted ₹5.50 crore. The machinery here can roll out 90 pet bottles a minute having fruit juices or bottled water, under the Jive brand name. The firm is also readying to manufacture jams.
“Furthermore, we have plans to procure a pair of refrigerated vans. Proposals have been submitted to the government seeking permission to manufacture value-added projects. They include wine and nutraceuticals from pineapple and biodegradable cutlery items made using pineapple leaf. The second wave of the pandemic played spoilsport with our plans, although we staged a comeback with our pet bottle plant in February,” Mr. Shibu Kumar said.
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The company began operations in 1998 under Kerala Horticulture Development Project (KHDP) as a fruit processing factory for the uplift of pineapple farmers. In 2000, 70% shares were given to farmers when it was named Nadukkara Agro Processing Company Limited. The government regained control over the firm in 2012 after it got entangled in severe financial liabilities and tax burden. The imported machinery also needed repair works. Currently, the government has 51% share, while VFPCK and farmers have 19% and 30% share respectively.