Lao cannery eyes export of pineapple juice
Lao cannery eyes export of pineapple juice
Laos' only fruit and vegetable canning company, Lao Agro Industry Company (LAICO), hopes to export its new product, pineapple juice, to neighbouring countries in the next two years after enjoying good consumption levels on the local market.
“We don't export it now because we will have to take time and see if the raw materials and the pineapple supply from local farms is stable,” a senior company official, Mr Chanin Awakulpanich, said yesterday.
Currently the product is supplied only to the local market, mainly at minimarkets in Vientiane, at a cost of 5,000 kip to 6,000 kip per 330ml-can.
The price at the company is around 4,000 kip per 330ml-can.
The supply started in the middle of last year after the company planned to produce pineapple juice for a number of years.
“I have seen that people like the product because of its natural flavour. An expert from Thailand also loves it,” Mr Chanin said.
He explained that the product has a natural flavour because the raw material supply depends on the farming season.
“It means that the farmers produce their pineapples naturally; they don't use chemicals to force breeding quickly as other countries have done,” he said.
The company buys the pineapples at a cost of about 1,200 kip per kilo from farmers in the northern provinces, such as Luang Prabang, Xieng Khuang and Vientiane.
Last year the company processed about 100 tonnes of pineapples to test the market. “We expect to process 1,000 tonnes this year,” Mr Chanin said.
The company produces the pineapple juice because it has seen the large production of pineapples locally each year.
“This aims to help the farmers when there is significant production of pineapples and an overload on the local markets. The presence of the processing facility will also ensure the pineapple price will not drop too much locally,” he sai d.
Besides its canned pineapple juice, LAICO also produces pickled garlic and cabbage, rambutan in syrup, baby corn in brine, bamboo shoots, canned sweetcorn, sweetcorn milk and palm seeds at its five hectare factory in Thoulakhom district.
It sources most of its raw materials from forests and local farms, although some vegetables are imported.
LAICO's factory employs 300 people when there is a large supply of corn, its workforce comprising both permanent and temporary staff.
The company can produce an average of 3,600 tonnes of canned or bottled fruit and vegetables each year. About 5 percent is sold on the domestic market while the remaining 95 percent is exported.
The company has a large number of foreign buyers in both the EU and Asean countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Vietnam and Thailand. It is currently focusing on finding more buyers in Asia.
It has three international accreditations which certify production and product quality, namely Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and British Retail Consortium (BRC).
