Agrana invests 22m euros to open new fruit preparation site

Fruit, starch and sugar producer Agrana has invested €22 million to open a new fruit preparation facility in Changzhou, China, its third production facility in the country.

According to Agrana, the new site will be capable of producing 30,000 tonnes of prepared fruit a year, including strawberries, blueberries and peaches for the fruit yoghurt, bakery, ice cream and foodservice sectors.

The construction of the new facility was made necessary by the projected growth of the yogurt market in China and the subsequent increase in demand for fruit ingredients.

Statistics provided by research agency Euromonitor International estimate that the Chinese yogurt market has nearly doubled in the past five years, and will grow an average of 7.9% annually until 2023.

Agrana CEO, Stephan Büttner said: “We are delighted to be opening this new site after just one year of construction work. China is the world’s largest yoghurt market and is growing fast.

“Their locations mean that our production facilities are in close proximity to major dairy product customers. The construction of a second fruit preparations site in the Shanghai region was therefore a logical investment in order to consolidate our market leadership.”