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Food and Agriculture

The food and beverage processing industry is the 2nd largest industry of Pakistan after textiles, accounting for 27% of the value-added production and 16% of employment in the manufacturing sector.

  • Food processing accounted for an annual average of $223.5m in FDI from 2012-2018.
  • Pakistan’s food processing industry is broadly categorized into the following 4 sub sectors:

          1. Value-added and frozen food processing sectors, including canned foods

          2. Edible oils and Fats manufacturing/processing units

          3. Beverage production units

          4. Bakery and confectionary manufacturing unit

  • Food processing companies are further categorized into either informal/cottage establishments or formal establishments.
  • The three major industry groups are (1) frozen food (2) value addition in major food crops and (3) fruits, vegetables and intermediate products.
  • Most of the food industry in Pakistan is concentrated in Punjab (60%) followed by Sindh (30%), KPK (6%), Baluchistan (2%) and ICT (2%). In total, there are approximately 2500+ food processing units in Pakistan.
  • Pakistan was awarded the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus Status (Zero to Low Duty) by the European Union in 2014 which has the potential to greatly uplift the exports of processed food products.

Opportunities for Danish companies:

There is immense potential for Danish companies in several categories which include:

  • Animal Genetics
  • Ingredients for food and feed
  • Feed & Nutrition- Feed, fodder, grasses, feed premixes, young animal nutrition etc.
  • Animal health- disease diagnostics, animal health and hygiene solutions
  • Farm mechanization/automation- rotor, silage making machines, milking machinery
  • Food additives- food colors, enzymes, preservatives, flavors, etc.
  • Training and education
  • Financial and insurance services
  • Bulk milk chillers (BMC), solar powered coolers
  • Equipment for poultry farms, analyzing and testing feed, process lines for dairies and dairy products, packaging of dairy, fruit and vegetable products and handling, storing and processing of grain and fruits & vegetables