By Onome Amuge
Julius Berger Nigeria Plc recently joined leading organisations at the just concluded Food and Beverages (FAB) West Africa Exhibition 2023 in Lagos, where it showcased Mighty Kashoo, its premium brand of processed cashew product.
With about 5000 attendees at the 2023 edition of the exhibition, the event maintained its matrix as the stimulant of growth in the burgeonning cashew sub-sector of the agro-processing Industry of the Nigeria economy.
A statement by the renowned engineering company which recently diversified into the cashew processing sector, said more than 250 exhibitors from across the world took part in the exhibition with stakeholders underlining the potentials of the show to deepen the food industry in Nigeria and the West African sub-region.
Julius Berger’s internationally-benchmarked and top quality-driven Cashew processing plant, located in Epe, Lagos was commissioned in September, 2022 and aims to be a leading player in the Nigerian food and beverage sector,estimated to grow annually by 5.50 per cent with revenue in the food market amounted to $191.40 billion in 2022.
Being refreshingly new to the food production market ,the company noted that the arrival of Mighty Kashoo elicited business excitement, consumer curiousity and understandable thrills from visitors to the Julius Berger Mighty Kashoo exhibition pavilion.
Commenting on the product, Funke Abidoye, the Julius Berger Mighty Kashoo Plant’s commercial manager,said Mighty Kashoo’s introduction into the market via the exhibition was a great interface with the business community and the market,adding that more varieties of the product will soon be added to the current tasty one.
According to Abidoye, “visitors are excited to see our Mighty Kashoo product. Some even wondered how Julius Berger Nigeria became linked to cashew production. By the time they got to know, there was more excitement that the product can be very safely trusted given the trustworthy name, substantive professional integrity and enduring reliability of Julius Berger across the entire spectrum of its business, product and service offerings.”
Speaking in the same vein, Clinton Kaiser, the plant’s technical manager, said Julius Berger’s first innovative, semi automated cashew processing factory in Epe marks the beginning of the company’s journey to achieve the best and healthiest of processed cashew for everyone locally and internationally.
“With the capacity to process up to 60 tonnes of cashew per day, our factory is operating to be a significant contributor to the local cashew industry. Working in accordance with international best practice, the Mighty Kashoo plant is home to state of the art processing systems,“ he said.
Kaiser noted that Nigeria is amongst the top 10 cashew producers globally, yet only a nominal percentage of its total cashew output is fully processed in the country. To this end, he stated that Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, via its mission led cashew brand, Mighty Kashoo, is filling the processing gap on Nigerian soil through innovation and investment, opening up new horizons that promote a more sustainable processing chain, higher quality standards, a self sufficient industry and greater opportunities for the cashew world, consumers, farmers factory workers.
Philip Hermannsdoffer, the coordinator of the agro processing unit of Mighty Kashoo plant, explained that the purpose of the company partaking in the global exhibition was to formally introduce the top grade Mighty Kashoo brand to the market, to get retailers and real contact with other investors. He added that it is also to let people know the benefits of cashew to the body and other helpful and profitable things cashew can be used for.
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