KARACHI, March 20: Engro Foods (Pvt) Limited -— the wholly owned subsidiary of the Engro Chemical Pakistan Limited, the urea producing company — launched packaged milk by the brand name of “Olper’s” on Monday.

Earlier on May 27 last year, an Extraordinary General Meeting (ExGM) of shareholders in Engro Chemical Limited had given approval to the company to invest Rs1 billion in the subsidiary for introducing the milk project.

At a press briefing held on the occasion of the launch of the packaged milk (in Tetra Pak) packaging, the company described it as first step in its food business.

Engro Foods CEO Sarfaraz Ahmed Rehman said that the product was being launched in 20 cities of the country simultaneously. The plant in Sukkur had been established at a cost of Rs1 billion which was said to provide direct employment to 750 people.

The plant was stated to have the raw milk reception capacity of 300,000 litres per day and UHT milk capacity of 200,000 litres per day. It was claimed to be the “only third generation UHT unit in the country so far”.

Rehman observed that the company planned to become globally competitive with multiple product line extensions with creation of valuable brands. As a part of expansion and diversification strategy, the company was looking for joint ventures with international renowned brands. Engro Foods was stated to be planning to invest another Rs1 billion in the next 4 years in expansion of the milk plant.