‘Tomato paste industry needs to be protected’

Nnamdi Nnodebe, managing director and chief executive officer of Sonia Foods Industries Limited, says the local tomato paste/puree industry should be protected and allowed to grow.

According to Nnodebe, retail stores, super and hyper markets in Nigeria have no business importing locally available tomato pastes.

He said he has invested over N5 billion in his tomato paste factory at Asese, Ogun State, stressing that the present situation in the economy demands that governments at all levels assist local manufacturers by ensuring they have easy access to single-digit loans.

While commending the policy of President Muhammadu Buhari on import restriction, he said unless importers from China and other countries pay the right duty to the Customs, they will keep de-marketing locally produced goods.

“I know how much these products are sold in China. If they pay the actual import duties they are supposed to pay, there is no way they can sell at the prices you see in the market,” he said.

“Protecting the industry will help the economy, because we need to create jobs and increase manufacturing GDP contribution,” he also said.

“ I have a lot of partners who want to come in here and make it bigger, but they are afraid of policy somersault,” he said.

Sonia Foods is a 100 percent indigenous tomato producer. The company currently imports concentrates (raw materials used in making tomato pastes), but is currently investing between $6 and $7 million at the factory.

The company has entered into partnerships with a number of states in the northern part of the country, with a view to taking the backward integration policy to the next level.

“Our quality can compete with that of exports and I want to export to other countries. You see, there is no reason why we cannot produce what we have here in the country, and there is no reason why these shops you see here and there should not be patronising us. This is where legislation comes in. This is where the government comes in to assist us indigenous manufacturers,” he pointed out.

“Presently with the machinery we have in Nigeria, we do not need influx of tomato pastes in retail packs,” he said.

He further pointed out that he has devised measures with which to ensure proper storage of tomatoes, adding that he will create a lot of jobs for farmers and others in the value chain.

ODINAKA ANUDU