Akij Food starts up new fruit drink production line

Akij Food & Beverage Ltd. (AFBL) has installed a most advanced production line in its factory recently with an investment of around Tk 3.0 billion to produce soft drinks in a more safe and healthy manner.

The company has already started producing its flagship mango fruit drink 'Frutika' on a limited scale at the new production facility in November last year. It will go into full operation next month (February).

AFBL set up the state-of-the-art machinery manufactured by Krones AG, a leading German packaging and bottling machine manufacturer, at its factory in Krishnapura of Dhamrai, some 36 kilometres away from the heart of Dhaka city.

The new production line will raise the company's beverage bottling capacity three times to 54,000 units of 250ml PET bottles per hour, totalling around 1.29 million bottles of Frutika in a single day.

Officials of AFBL said they have also integrated aseptic processing technique into the new facility to ensure better quality in terms of food safety. As a result, no preservatives are needed for the drinks, mitigating health risks further.

The company sources mango pulps produced at its own factory, Akij Agro Processing Farm (AAPF), in Chapainawabganj which is also processed using the aseptic technology.

First, mangoes are collected from the company's own orchards and local farmers and then pulps are extracted from naturally ripe mangoes at the factory in Chapainawabganj, they said.

Aseptic processing is a technique wherein commercially thermally sterilised liquid products (typically food or pharmaceutical) are packaged into previously sterilised containers under sterile conditions to produce shelf-stable products that do not need refrigeration.

The technique involves three primary steps: thermal sterilisation of the product, sterilisation of the packaging material, and conservation of sterility during packaging. The FE correspondent observed the process during a recent visit to the factory.

Md Noor Ferdous, senior general manager (head of plant) of AFBL, said: "The company has invested around Tk 3.0 billion to set up the new plant at its factory on 80 acres of land in Dhamrai."

Talking about the benefits of aseptic processing over conventional system, he said the drinks produced through aseptic process ensure extended shelf life maintaining nutritional values.

Hence, Frutika is preservative-free and contains no artificial colour, he added.

Mr Ferdous also claimed that the plant is the first of its kind in Asia that can process 134,000 litres of fruit pulps every three hours.

The current aseptic fruit drink machine can blow, sanitise, disinfect, fill, seal and finally label 54,000 bottles per hour, he added.

On January 7, AFBL officially launched rebranded Frutika with new labelling at a ceremony at a city hotel. Frutika was first introduced in the market in 2007.

Akij Group, one of the largest industrial conglomerates, has been doing business in the areas of textiles, tobacco, food & beverage, cement, ceramics, printing and packaging, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products.

AFBL has been exporting its various products to 22 countries around the world, especially to the Middle East and Africa.

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