The company has entered into commercial manufacturing of infant formula products with investment over Rs5 million, a notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) by NutriCo Morinaga Private Limited, a subsidiary of ICI Pakistan Limited.
“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.
The Joint Undertaking of ICI Pakistan, Morinaga Milk Japan and Unibrands Private Limited was established by NuterCo Marinaga on 20 September 2019.
“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 had been a hybrid company operating in various food subfields, including food, pharmaceutical and animal vaccinations, which was why it showed signs of growth over a period of economic slowdown.
The local product Morinaga will replace the imported infant formula product of the company, which was imported into Pakistan for a long time. He added.
“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.
ICI Pakistan received a positive response from investors following the start of local production and the stock prices closed at the top lock.
