The processed food sector in Pakistan is witnessing a significant growth in demand, spurring investment in both the food processing and packaging material industries.

National Foods has invested Rs7 billion to establish its largest state-of-the-art production plant in Faisalabad, and International Packaging Films, a subsidiary of International Packaging Films Ltd (IPAK), has enhanced its flexible packaging film production capacity in Lahore, bringing its total investment in its three manufacturing facilities to Rs13.5bn. Moreover, both companies plan to vigorously explore export markets for their products.

“We plan to export $15-20 million worth of flexible packaging films this year, which is roughly 20 per cent of our total production capacity of 152,000 tonnes,” IPAK CEO Naveed Godil says.

Food packaging is an important growth driver, enabling consumers to look for different options and compare the value offerings before making a purchase. “Packaging also helps enhance the portability of products, preserves taste, and increases shelf life,” he notes, adding that his company holds a 38pc flexible film packaging market share in the country.

‘The total local market size is Rs80-100bn, and we expect an annual growth of 7-8pc in flexible packaging films by food companies in the country’

Pakistan’s demand for flexible packaging films is approximately 200,000 tonnes against a total production capacity of 300,000 tonnes, leaving a surplus of 100,000 tonnes for export.

The company’s revenues have grown at a compound annual rate of 41pc in the last three years. The rapid growth in its revenues, fueled by enhanced production capacity, has encouraged the company to conduct book building on May 8-9 for its Initial Public Offering (IPO) through the sale of 70.1m shares, representing 10pc of its post-IPO capital, in a new stock issuance.

A quarter of the shares being offered on the market will be sold to retail investors. The IPO — the 14th in the last five years — will help it raise Rs1.47bn at a floor price of Rs21 per share to partly repay its long-term debt of Rs4bn acquired in recent years for capacity expansion.

Mr Godil explained, “The total local market size is Rs80-100bn, depending on the dollar value, and we expect an annual growth of 7-8pc in the usage of flexible packaging films by food companies in the country. We want to work on a complete import substitution by helping and supporting the downstream industry in Pakistan, which can easily be produced locally, saving around $25m annually.”

The company offers a diverse portfolio of packaging solutions, producing Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene, Cast Polypropylene, and Biaxially Oriented Poly-Ethylene Terephthalate films. It is the first group in Pakistan to provide one-window flexible packaging solutions.

According to him, the flexible film packaging industry in general, and his company in particular, are working extensively to encourage investment in recycling flexible packaging films.

Likewise, National Foods’ new manufacturing facility, part of the company’s plan to reduce the nation’s reliance on imported raw materials through its ‘Seed To Table’ initiative launched in partnership with progressive farm-managing companies, will help it cater to the domestic market, significantly increase its export volume, and create over 600 jobs.

“We have launched our ‘Seed to Table’ initiative to reduce the country’s dependency on imported raw materials, particularly the annual import of tomato paste amounting to $10m.” He says the tomato project results have exceeded his expectations, and his company intends to double the acreage to 1,000 acres next year.

He says the same model will now be replicated with other key ingredients like red chillies, further strengthening domestic agriculture and reducing reliance on imports. Pakistan produces approximately 144,000 tonnes of red chillies annually, yet over 20,000 tonnes have to be imported per year to meet specific industry requirements.

“The new production facility is equipped with cutting-edge technology and production capacity of 6000 tonnes/month for production of spices, recipe mixes, ketchup, mayonnaise, Chinese sauces, seasonings and Kasuri Methi,” the company’s global CEO Abrar Hasan told this correspondent at the Pakistan Agriculture Connection Expo & Conference in Lahore.

Currently, the food company exports its products to 40 countries across five continents. It has subsidiaries in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and North America and has recently expanded its supply chain to Canada.

Regarding hurdles in increasing processed food exports, Abrar Hasan notes that Pakistani companies could not expand their presence in the international export markets because of various issues, including restrictions on their investments abroad.

“Our dilemma is the same one that is being faced by the country: the dollar crunch. Companies must invest abroad to ensure their presence in foreign markets and boost their exports. But the State Bank doesn’t allow you to invest abroad because we do not have dollars for that.

“Strangely enough, individuals have greater and freer access to foreign exchange than the corporates. The exporters are allowed to retain 10pc and invest 10pc of their export revenues, and this facility is available only to the existing exporters for setting up their shop outside the country.

“This amount is not enough to make your presence felt in the foreign markets. This also means that a new investor who wants to venture into the export market cannot do so because they don’t have foreign exchange,” he says.

He believes that the country’s exports cannot increase unless foreign exchange is freely available to companies.

“We export our products through distributors sitting in foreign markets. But this model isn’t very successful. If we want to boost our exports and display our products on large supermarkets’ shelves, we need fulfilment centres and warehouses in those markets,” Hasan argues.

According to him, the effort to raise exports requires companies like this to invest in raw material supply and the forward distribution chain in foreign markets. “That is the only way of guaranteeing the quality of products according to international standards and ensuring a continuous, uninterrupted supply to the international buyers,” he urges.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, May 6th, 2024