by NR INDRAN / INT
The Commerce & Industries Minister, Government of West Bengal, Mr Partha Chatterjee, today inaugurated EFRAC, the largest integrated food testing laboratory in Eastern India set up by the Keventer Group, a Rs. 1,800-croreKolkata-based business conglomerate. A manufacturing unit of ITC’s Yippee Noodles, a Keventer and ITC manufacturing partnership venture, was also inaugurated by Mr Chatterjee. Both the facilities are located at the state-of-the-art Barasat campus of the Keventer Group.
The Chief Guest was Dr (Mrs) Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, MP from Barasat Constituency. The Guests of Honour included Dr Sudarshan Ghosh Dastidar (Minister-in-Charge, Environment Affairs, Govt. of West Bengal), Mr Arup Roy (Minister-in Charge, Agriculture Marketing Department & Chairman, West Bengal Marketing Board& Paschim Banga Agriculture Marketing Corporation, Govt. of West Bengal), Mr Ujjal Biswas (Minister-in-Charge, Food Processing Industries &Horticulture Department, Govt. of West Bengal), Mr Rathin Ghosh (MLA& Chairman, Madhyamgram Municipality) and Mr Kurush Grant, Executive Director, ITC.
Mr M.K. Jalan, Chairman, Keventer, said, “Food safety is a major concern today and it’s the need of the hour to havefacilities like EFRAC to fight against the monstrous food safety issues today like Nutrition, Hygiene, Adulteration & Quality of Food products. Our vision is in line with the Government of India’s initiative towards Food Safety – it has recently enforced a much-awaited stringent Food Safety Law called Food Safety Standards Act, 2006 to ensure the availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption. EFRAC, set up at an investment of Rs. 35 crore, will offer independent, high precision, cost-effective Analytical & R&D services to Food & Allied sectors and support the Government’s noble vision on Food Safety.”
“We are also delighted to partner with ITC to set up the second manufacturing unit for ITC’s Sunfeast Yippee Noodles at our Barasat factory,” added Mr Jalan.
Mr Kurush Grant, Executive Director, ITC said, “West Bengal has been home to ITC’s headquarters for over a century, and we have also established several manufacturing facilities that create value for the State. ITC’s branded &packaged food products with brands such as Aashirvaad, Sunfeast, Bingo! And Yippee! are increasingly gaining market share. This investment is part of ITC’s overall plan for developing West Bengal’s economic capacity through our vibrant and high quality driven Foods Business. We would also like to wish Keventer the very best as we embark on this journey together.”
EFRAC, Eastern India’s most sophisticated and ultra-modern facility, is on a par with laboratories of international standards and will operate under the name of“ Edward Food Research and Analysis Centre Limited” (EFRAC). It is an approved project by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, under the 11th Five-Year Plan Scheme for setting up / up gradation of Quality Control / Food Testing Laboratories. An array of food testing and certification of products will be performed at this facility.
Dr Balwinder Bajwa, Spokesperson for EFRAC, said, “With state-of-the art customized equipment, competent manpower, essential accreditations and infrastructural exclusivity including three separate departments (Food and Water Lab, Residue analysis Lab and Microbiology Lab) to avoid cross-contaminations, this laboratory will cater to the R&D and Analytical needs of sectors like Food Processing, Beverage and Juice Manufacturing Units, Packaged Drinking Water, Milk and Milk Products, Spices, Canned and Frozen food, Poultry, Meat, Fruit and Vegetables, etc.”
The launch of the second manufacturing unit for ITC’s Sunfeast Yippee Noodles has also added another feather in Keventer’s cap. Mr Saurabh Jajodia, spokesperson for the Keventer Group for this facility, said, “This is the second ITC Sunfeast Yippee noodles plant in the country after ITC’s own unit in Pune. With an investment in excess of Rs. 50crore, the plant capacity is 50 tons of instant noodles per day.”
With ITC investing in state-of-art technology sourced from Japan and Taiwan, the plant is capable of packing450 packets per minute.
The Keventer Group is a leading agro and food processing company of West Bengal over the last two decades. Founded by Edward Keventer, the group has been in the forefront of food innovation for 125years now. Under the brand name of Keventer, the group has three separate business verticals, namely, Keventer Agro Limited, Keventer Food Park and Keventer Projects with almost 40 brands under the Group name.
Led by the visionary M.K. Jalan, the Group is a leading business conglomerate with interests in steel, agro business, retail, hospitality and real estate. With a vision to add value to the lives of customers, the Keventer Group has been built on the firm foundation of quality, in-depth understanding of customer needs and transparent business practices.
The laboratory, the largest and most advanced food testing laboratory in Eastern India, has a built-up area of around 21,000 sq ft and houses five different wings, namely, Trace Analysis Lab, Ultra Trace Analysis Lab, Food Lab, Water Lab & Microbiology Lab. It will be the first-of-its-kind laboratory in Eastern India capable of doing multi-parameter & multi-product testing incompliance with national and international standards. This unique facility will offer services as varied as Pesticide Analysis, Heavy Metal Analysis, Chemical Analysis, Microbiological Analysis, GMO testing, Dioxin Analysis, Antibiotic Analysis, Mycotoxins Analysis, Food R&D, Training & Consultation, all under one roof. The facility will extend its services to sectors like Fruit& Vegetables, Fruit Concentrates, Beverages (alcoholic & non-alcoholic),Spices & Condiments, Pulses & Cereals, Sugar & Confectionery, Meat& Marine Products, Egg & Poultry products, Milk & Milk Products, Potable & Non- Potable Water, Edible Oils, etc. In fact, EFRAC is the only facility in Eastern India to perform Dioxin analysis.
Farmers in West Bengal can now benefit from EFRAC’s special package for Soil Bio-remediation & Soil Fertility Testing, which will help increase crop productivity by knowing in advance the required amount of minerals to be used in the field.
The laboratory boasts ofhigh-end, highly automated and accurate instruments like GC QQQ MS, GC HRMS, GCMS, LC MS/MS, HPLC, ICP MS, FTIR, AAS, IC, TOC Analyzer, Biochemistry Analyzer, Automated Kjeldahl & Soxhlet extraction systems, GPC, CHN Analyzer, RT PCR,etc. By incorporating and using sample tracking LIMS software, the laboratory will of ferits services at exceptionally low prices by reducing the time to get results.
This project is expected to benefit all stakeholders including domestic industry, exporters, entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises, existing academic and research institutions, food standards setting bodies and concerned Government organizations.
The manufacturing unit for ITC’s Sunfeast Yippee Noodles, set up in a manufacturing partner ship between the Keventer Group and ITC, is the second such plant in the country after its first plant at Ranjangaon, near Pune. The facility, spread over 65,000 sq ft covered area, boasts of the latest machinery imported from Japan and Taiwan. The total investment pumped in by KAL (the contract manufacturer of the product) and ITC together is in excess of Rs. 50crore.
The plant has a capacity to produce 50 tons of instant noodles every day and the manufacturing line is capable of packing 450 packets per minute.
At full capacity, the plant will provide direct employment to about 150 people spread across three shifts, and indirectly to many more.
You can contact author @ nr_indran@rediffmail.com
