Gulf Food & Beverages Exhibition: IAC succeeds in attracting foreign investors

PESHAWAR: Iftikhar Ahmed and Company (IAC), one of Pakistan’s leading fresh juice and pulp producing company, attracted international clientele at the five-day Gulf Food and Beverages Exhibition that ended on February 24.

“Our company, IAC, which also has the credit of producing Pakistan’s first energy booster juice prepared from pure pulp of apple, beetroot and carrot, has attracted investors from different countries participating at the international show of food and beverages,” said Waheed Ahmed, the director of IAC.

Talking to a group of reporters here on Tuesday, Waheed Ahmad who is also patron in chief of Pakistan Fruits and Vegetable Importers and Exporters Association (PFVA), said businessmen from 125 countries attended the exhibition where products by more than 5000 companies from across the globe were displayed.

From Pakistan, he continued, around more than 100 companies have participated in the exhibition which has become an annual event being held on a regular basis.

Established in 1960, IAC has been regularly participating in Gulf Food & Beverages Exhibition for the last 13 years and receiving orders from international buyers, he added.

This year, Waheed continued, IAC is expected to receive orders for supply of different items to the tune of US$2 million.

Businessmen from different countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Italy, United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Mauritius, Honk Kong, New Zealand, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait have visited the stall of IAC and shown interest in different products.

He also expressed the hope of more business by finding some new markets where Pakistan’s pulp and concentrates are not exported yet but would start in near future.

About IAC’s products that are displayed at the exhibition he said these included our energy booster, ABC Juice produced under the brand of `Fruit Nation’.

While other exportable products of IAC included pulps of guava and mango, tomato paste, apple juice concentrate and dates which are used in juice industry and ice creams are supplied to local as well as international industries.

Some products which were totally imported like tomato paste and apple juice concentrate, IAC successfully produced them locally and now are exported, ending the import bill of these items in the country.

Our company is among the 200 companies in the world that has a supply of fresh fruits and vegetables from its own gardens, state of the art processing, facility and food and beverages consumer products, he claimed.

“IAC has been in the business for 62 years and made an investment of US$10 million to export the company’s brands to more than 25 countries,” Waheed apprised.

He expressed hope of better business through participation in the Gulf Food and Beverages exhibition because our country is in need of US dollars to bolster its foreign exchange reserves and IAC will play its effective role in this regard.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023