PoultryWorld: Japanese car manufacturer Suzuki targets Indian egg market

Japanese car manufacturer Suzuki Motor has entered the Indian egg market after teaming up with ISE Foods.

Suzuki and Ise Foods will set up a joint venture, with Ise contributing 60% of the 100 million yen (USD$879,556) capital and Suzuki holding the remaining 40%.

Nikkei Asian Review reports that Ise Foods will control the management of poultry farms and production, opening a 1.2m chicken farm and a processing plant in the Indian state of Gujarat.

The burgeoning middle class market in Mumbai and Hyderabad are the key target cities but liquid and powdered eggs will also be produced. Eggs are likely to be sold at a premium, fetching 20 rupees (€0.30) each – three times the common egg price. In time, the joint venture hopes to take around 5% of the market.

Much of the logistics and possibly the transport for delivering the eggs will be provided by Maruti Suzuki India, which controls nearly half of India’s passenger car market.

The paper reports that advanced technologies, such as automated egg collection systems will be adopted with eggs reaching store shelves within 3 days of being laid.

In addition, solar panels will be set up at the plants to provide electricity in case of power outage to help control temperatures in the often oppressive heat.