IG International, one of India’s leading fresh fruit import and export traders, has invested in a new packing facility to cater to the growing demand it sees for pre-packed and fresh convenience products in the country.
Packing Station – IG’s new pre-pack operation – opened its doors in Navi Mumbai in mid-January to offer packing services and fresh fruit in cut-fruit formats.
Currently undergoing testing, the facility is expected to be fully operational by the time the New Zealand kiwifruit season gets under way.
The 10,000m2 facility is fitted with automatic packing line machinery with the capacity to handle around 3 tonnes of kiwifruit per hour, as well as cold room facilities, according to IG’s chairman GC Arora, who said that Packing Station had been six months in the planning.
The initial focus of the operation will be on kiwifruit pre-packs, which have been scoring success with Indian consumers. “Packing Station will offer punnet-packaging of kiwifruit in a quality-controlled, temperature- controlled environment,” the company said, while adding that it expected to add other products to the mix in the future.
“We’re confident about the pre-packing cut-fruit concept in India as we foresee huge demand,” said Tarun Arora, director of IG International.
