Infant formula product company kicks off local production

Commences commercial operations with investment of over Rs5m

KARACHI: People in Pakistan are likely to get Morinaga Milk products at relatively cheaper prices as the company has begun local production.

NutriCo Morinaga Private Limited, a subsidiary of ICI Pakistan Limited, has commenced commercial production of infant formula products with an investment of over Rs5 million, stated a notice sent by the company to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday.

"ICI Pakistan Limited is pleased to announce that effective from January 10, 2020, NutriCo Morinaga has commenced commercial operations of Morinaga infant and growing up formula products at its manufacturing facility in Sheikhupura, Punjab," said the notification.

The facility possesses the capacity to produce 12,000 tonnes of the formula products per year.

Formula milk producers left in conundrum

NutriCo Morinaga, which was inaugurated on September 20, 2019, is a joint venture of ICI Pakistan, Morinaga Milk Japan and Unibrands Private Limited. The joint venture has invested Rs5.5 billion in the project.

"There has been no remarkable development in the food sector lately, instead the food companies are struggling badly on account of taxation," said Next Capital MD Muzammil Aslam. "A year and a half ago, National Foods was active but it is not the case anymore."

He added that ICI Pakistan was a hybrid company operating in different subfields of the food sector including agricultural feed, pharmaceutical products and animal vaccination, which was why it showed signs of growth during a period of economic slowdown.

He added that Morinaga's local product would be a substitute for the company's imported infant formula product, which was being imported into Pakistan for a long time.

PFA to ban marketing of infant formula

"This will be a relatively cheaper product, which will be affordable by the common man," he said, adding that the imported product was well out of the common man's reach.

He said the company may cut down nutrition in the locally produced product to some extent to curb the cost to a point where the common Pakistani could afford it.

Following the notice of commencement of local production, ICI Pakistan got a positive response from investors and its stock price closed at the upper lock.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2020.

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