Mane Kancor launches its largest manufacturing facility
Image: Mane Kancor
Mane Kancor launched its biggest manufacturing facility on 20 May at Byadgi, Karnataka, India. The opening was initiated jointly by Jean Mane, president of Mane Group and Dr Geemon Korah, executive director and CEO of Mane Kancor. The facility, which covers around 50 acres, will generate more employment and create indirect opportunities for many people, including farmers.
While talking about the features of the new facility, Mane elaborated, ”Our vision is to consolidate the bulk production in a single location to simplify processes and ensure efficient management. We are all the more glad about the launch as it will raise the production capacity of the company fourfold along with a 50% rise in direct employment. Also, will be generating opportunities for more than 10,000 people including farmers across four states – Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala. Interestingly, the new plant occupies just one-third of the land in Byadgi. Hence, our scope for expansion is higher.”
The new facility in Byadgi, the main growing belt for high colour varieties of chilli, will fall under the Make-In-India programme of the government of India. The continuous extraction facility and the modern technologies incorporated here will ensure process efficiencies. Additionally, the facility contains a super-critical fluid extraction plant that uses carbon dioxide as an extraction medium. This is a greener process and is organic compliant, the company says.
“Mane Kancor was the first company to set up a spice extraction unit in India, in 1969. Today, we have the new infrastructure covering 150,000 square feet around 50 acres of land, in Byadgi. The new plant supports both the development of our scientific manufacturing techniques and the addition of cutting-edge technologies to our business continuity strategy thereby stretching our manufacturing potential. Our focus on segments like natural colours, natural antioxidants, personal care ingredients and so on, will be enhanced with the new addition,” said Dr Korah at the launch event.
The completely eco-friendly site is based on the company’s strategy of putting manufacturing facility closer to the growing regions. Apart from chilli, the facility at Byadgi, is also capable of handling processing of wide varieties of raw materials such as rosemary and other spices. Another speciality of the facility is its zero waste management system. The entire biomass generated during production is converted to the fuel used in the boilers, while the gas generated from the effluent treatment is used in the industry canteen. The water from effluent treatment is used for irrigation purposes.
The expansion of the existing Byadgi unit by setting up a totally new green field project is a part of expansion plans announced during the golden jubilee celebration of Mane Kancor in 2019. Mane, the parent company, has invested more than 200 crores in this project as foreign direct investment. Mane is the world’s fifth largest flavour and fragrance house based in France. The facility in Byadgi is now the largest manufacturing site of Mane Kancor in India.
Mane Kancor Ingredients, formerly known as Kancor Ingredients, was founded in 1969, but its roots in the spice trade date back to 1857 in Kochi, the world’s spice capital. Forerunners in the field of spice extracts, the company is part of France-based Mane Group, one of the largest flavour and fragrance companies in the world.