The carton packaging specialist is describing the new Lahore plant as its biggest factory in the Middle East.
It announced the opening just a month after investing €100m in a new factory in neighbouring India. The expanding middle class in both countries is the target for Tetra Pak and its customers.
Growing market
Although the Pakistani economy has begun to falter since the global financial crisis, it has delivered consistently strong growth over the decade from 2000, swelling the number of middle income households.
“More urban and young consumers as well as an emerging middle class are transforming the food and beverage industry in Pakistan, demanding new, safer and more convenient products,” said Azhar Ali Syed, managing director of Tetra Pak Pakistan.
In concrete terms, this has prompted healthy double digit growth in the market for packaged milk and soft drinks. According to Tetra Pak, demand for dairy beverages over the past six years grew at a 15 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and juice, nectars and still drinks grew 16 per cent.
Production capacity
The new factory in Lahore is spread over 150,000 metres and has an initial production capacity to produce eight billion packages.
Tetra Pak has built the site in anticipation of the need to expand production to meet future demand; production capacity can potentially be doubled to 16 billion packages.
The factory will focus on the domestic Pakistani market but it will also export to neighbouring countries in the Middle East. Initially Tetra Brik Aseptic, Tetra Fino Aseptic and Tetra Classic Aseptic will be produced there but Tetra Pak said the factory has the facilities to produce “many new products”.