US-based Universal Corporation will establish a new subsidiary, Carolina Innovative Food Ingredients, marking its foray into fruit and vegetable food ingredients market.
The new unit will engage in the development of food grade dehydrated and juiced fruit and vegetable products, and will initially focus on ingredients derived from sweet potatoes.
Over the next two years, Carolina Innovative Food Ingredients plans to establish a juice and dehydration facility in Nash County, North Carolina, with an investment of $20m.
The business will have 64 employees, and is expected to commence production during the first quarter of 2015.
Universal Corporation chairman, president and CEO George C Freeman said, "With this new business, we will be able to offer high quality food ingredients to the food and pet food manufacturing industries while providing tobacco growers with a new market for sweet potatoes."
Carolina Innovative Food Ingredients president Jim Nagy said, "We look forward to providing top quality innovative food ingredients to clients in the food and pet food industries both in the United States and internationally."
Universal Corporation operates in more than 30 countries, and generated $2.5bn revenues for the year ended 31 March 2013.
