To tap into the huge fruit juice market, in Benue State, the Benue Investment and Property Company (BIPC) has concluded plans to revive the moribund Teragro juice concentrate facility in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
This is even as BIPC is set to take over Ben Fruits Company Limited, Teragro’s parent company.
The takeover of the juice processing factory is a strategic move to expand its businesses, generate employment opportunities, and boost the economic development of Benue state, BIPC said in a statement.
The Teragro facility is a 26,500 metric tonne capacity Benfruit plant.
It has the potential to offtake thousands of metric tones of fruits often wasted annually across Benue state with losses in hundreds of millions of naira.
Analysts and farmers put fruit post-harvest losses at over 50 percent worth close to a billion naira annually aggregated on different fruit types.
Transcorp Group has invested in Teragro nut and has since divested its investments due to what it described as unfair competition from cheaper imported concentrate brands, the absence of government protection for local manufacturers, as well as the socio-political environment in which the company operated..
Our correspondent cannot independently say if these operating environments have improved.
However, BIPC, is taking the bold step to unlock the opportunities in Teragro that have been dormant since 2015.
To kickstart the process, BIPC Managing Director Dr. Raymond Asemakaha, CFA, has now stepped in to revive the operations.
Dr. Asemakaha and his team inspected the Ben Fruits equipment at the industrial layout in Makurdi and directed the engineering team to resume work today July 25th, 2024, to test the equipment and ascertain their functionality.
The managing director noted that the equipment at the facility is top-notch and directed an asset audit to determine how best to utilize the plants.
Once the necessary checks are completed, BIPC plans to run a juice production line that will enable the company to produce a variety of juices for consumption in the state.
Kennedy Igyor, Assistant Director, the Ministry of Commerce, Trade, and Industry, and Tseeshom Mannaseh, Chief Security Officer, who conducted the BIPC team, expressed enthusiasm about the company’s plan to revive Ben Fruits.
They lamented the past vandalism and security incidents that have affected the factory but are confident that BIPC can successfully revamp the facility to serve the people of Benue State.
This takeover aligns with the vision of His Excellency Rev. Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia to drive economic development in the state through strategic investments and job creation.
