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Food Industrial Park Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding with Best Engineering Technologies based in Hyderabad, India to offtake essential oils produced by the park.
The offtake agreement covers over 500 tonnes of essential oils from various plants and spices yearly.
Speaking with newsmen after the inspection of existing facilities in selected locations, Pavan Kumar expressed optimism on the high level of potential and opportunities he had seen.
According to him, “We have visited Abeokuta, Tede, Ofodo, and Lokoja. I am really impressed by the readiness of our partners here in Nigeria, and I believe the results will be great,” Kumar said.
He added that his company would not only offtake the oils but would support with both technical expertise and training.
Michael Anibi, the Chief Executive Officer for Food Industrial Park Limited, said that the partnership became possible because of collaborations and strategic alliances among several indigenous companies.
He said that the stakeholders involved in Nigeria include; farmers, processors, and technical professionals.
He said that 3,000 hectares of aromatic plants and crops will be cultivated across three states of Ogun, Oyo, and Kogi and that 1,250 youths and women will be engaged across the value chain with each earning over one million naira yearly.
Speaking further he said that the main crops and plants include lemongrass, basil, thyme, ginger, and turmeric.
He pointed out that preliminary work has commenced at the locations involving Food Industrial Park Abeokuta (FIPA), Tede Agri Industrial Cluster (TAIC), and Food Industrial Park Lokoja (FIPAL).
Also, Abisola Keke, the Director of Business Analysis for Nardus Limited, expressed confidence that the alliance would achieve the set goals of returns on investments, employment generation, and more prosperous value chain players.
“We have successfully processed lemongrass, basil, bamboo leaves, and water hyacinth in the past. We are scaling up as the distillation equipment is expected by mid year,” she said.
Abisola also explained that Nardus Limited already has over six natural products, including fragrance, soap, body powder, haircare oil, shampoo, and body cream from the essential oil.
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