New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) Telecom-to-agriculture group Bharti Enterprises and its partner El Rothschild Friday announced the induction of the Philippines-based Del Monte Pacific as a strategic partner in their joint venture FieldFresh Foods Pvt Ltd.
Del Monte Pacific, which is listed on the Singapore stock exchange, would hold an equity stake of 40 percent, while Bharti will continue to hold 50 percent and Rothschild stay on in the company as a minority partner.
“Having created the basic building blocks of the business in the fresh produce category, we are looking at up-scaling our operations through processing and value-added products,” Rakesh Bharti Mittal, vice chairman, Bharti Enterprises, said in a statement.
Recently incorporated FieldFresh Foods Pvt Ltd has been exporting fresh fruits and vegetables to key markets, including Britain, Middle East and Europe.
According to Joselito D. Campos Jr., managing director, Del Monte Pacific Ltd: “India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world but with an insignificant percentage of processed foods. Currently, about 20-25 percent of fruits and vegetables are wasted due to spoilage. The potential in both fresh and processed segments is tremendous.”
FieldFresh Foods also has plans to strengthen its presence in the domestic market through a wide range of value added products and evolve a comprehensive strategy for serving the needs of the business-to-business segment.