Venus targets global market with IQF products

Venus Processing and Packaging Ltd (VPPL), a member of Primlaks Group, has unveiled its Sympli brand of Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) fruits and vegetables at the ANUGA 2013 food expo held recently in Cologne, Germany. IQF technology involves quick freezing of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables to lock in all their vitamins, nutrients and natural goodness.
VPPL, the only company from Nigeria to exhibit at the Fair, showcased various Sympli products that included Nigerian chillies, local delicacies like 'Yam Fries', 'Yam Chunks' and 'Dodo', as well as fruits like pineapple, papaya and mango, which were packaged in consumer-friendly standard pack sizes and were delivered in ready-to-use state for frying, steaming, micro waving or any other method preferred by customers.
Group Chief Executive of Primlaks Group, Mr. Ravi Hemnani, said the company chose to unveil its various products at ANUGA 2013 because of the desire to showcase Nigerian products in the international market.
"ANUGA, being the world's largest food and beverage fair with nearly 7,000 exhibitors from 100 countries and about 155,000 visitors from 185 countries, gave us the ideal platform to fulfillour export objectives. We are particularly focused on reaching the large population of Africans in the Diaspora, especially in Europe, America and the Middle East who present huge potential for foreign exchange earnings," he said.
IQF offers a lot of benefits, particularly because they give high levels of vitamins and anti-oxidants. Prior to participating at ANUGA, VPPL had made heavy investment in research and packaging and secured local and international certifications to achieve the delivery of products that meet world-class standards.
"We pioneered fruit and vegetable IQF production in Nigeria because we observed that Nigeria suffers from an estimated 40% post-harvest loss that should not be allowed to continue and we know that IQF has the potential to stop this unacceptable waste," Hemnani said, stressing, "We believe that our efforts will help in achieving the objectives of the Federal Government's Agricultural Transformation Agenda and offer Nigeria a huge revenue earning opportunity."
Hemnani said he was excited at the turn out of visitors and potential business partners to VPPL's stand at ANUGA, saying "The cooking station that we set up at the venue encouraged them to try yam fries, plantain chips and 'dodo' with Nigerian chili sauce that we proudly displayed as 'Product of Nigeria'." He further said that enquiries have been pouring in from leading local supermarkets and department stores and that the company has plans to also meet the needs of the local market in Nigeria.