Japanese food group Ajinomoto intends to "accelerate the expansion of its frozen food business in North America" and is investing JPY3bn (US$25m) to open a frozen noodle plant in the US.
Ajinomoto operates a joint venture with Toyo Suisan Kaisha to supply frozen noodles to the North American markets. The company, which acquired ethnic food maker Windsor Quality Holdings last year, said that the frozen noodles would be fed into its North American operating unit, Ajinomoto Windsor Inc (AWI).
Go deeper with GlobalData
"Ajinomoto will bring together the high-level noodle manufacturing technology of Toyo Suisan Kaisha, the production technology of Ajinomoto Frozen Foods Co., and the product development technology of AWI to provide the North American market with high-quality frozen noodles with specialty backed by technology," Ajinomoto said in a statement.
Ajinomoto observed that demand for Japanese-style ramen noodles is "booming" in North America and added that the market for frozen noodles is witnessing "double-digit growth". By extending its frozen food product portfolio to include frozen noodles, Ajinomoto expects to step-up the growth rate of its frozen food operations.
"The current line up of Asian frozen foods centres on products such as gyoza, spring rolls and fried rice. By enhancing the product line up with the addition of Japanese-style ramen and other new frozen noodles, Ajinomoto intends to rapidly expand its entire frozen foods business through the powerful sales network of AWI, which covers all of North America."
The facility will have an annual capacity of 8,600 tonnes. Construction is scheduled for completion in June 2016 and the company expects to begin production at the site the following month.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData
