A plant for deep processing of 70,000 tons of fruits and vegetables per year has opened in the Almaty region. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
This enterprise, which has no analogues in Kazakhstan, is designed to play an important role in the development of the processing industry and increasing the export potential of the country's agro-industrial complex. The project was implemented on the basis of a partnership between Alpecon Group and Turkey's leading company Göknur Gıda.
The total investment in the project amounted to 9.5 billion tenge. The production complex is located on an area of 30 hectares.
"The project is being implemented in two stages. In the first stage, the enterprise will process up to 70,000 tons of fruit and vegetable raw materials per year and produce 13,000 tons of fruit and vegetable juice concentrates, purees and pastes. The products are mainly export-oriented, including to the Turkish market," the Ministry of Agriculture said.
The second stage involves the production of pectin from apple waste. This is considered one of the most promising sectors of the global food industry and is currently developed only in a few countries such as China, Germany and the USA. According to the plan, the enterprise will annually produce up to 1,000 tons of pectin and 3,000 tons of apple fiber, exporting them to the markets of South Korea and Japan.
To date, more than 100 permanent jobs have been created at the enterprise. As production capacity increases, the number of employees will also grow.