President Bola Tinubu has commissioned a fruit juice concentrate plant in Benue State, a project designed to give the state's fruit farmers a guaranteed buyer and turn produce that once rotted in the open into a marketable product. The Benfruit Concentrate Plant was built through a partnership between the Benue Investment and Property Company and Bensono Fruit Processing Company under the SONO Group, according to The Sun.
Tackling Waste at the Source
The Group Managing Director of the Benue Investment and Property Company, Dr Raymond Asemakaha, said the plant was created to address long-standing post-harvest losses by building a sustainable value chain for the state's abundant fruit, positioning Benue as a competitor in the global fruit concentrate market, The Sun reported. Governor Hyacinth Alia urged residents to plant more oranges and other fruits, noting the factory now serves as a ready market for them.
Part of a Wider Industrial Push
The government framed the plant as a job creator that would stimulate economic activity, boost foreign exchange earnings and cut Nigeria's dependence on imported fruit concentrate, according to Economic Confidential. Alia listed the Benfruit Concentrate Plant alongside a fruit juice factory and a brewery among industries completed in the state over the past three years, presenting them as evidence of a deliberate move to add value to local produce rather than ship it out raw.
Processing fruit close to where it grows keeps value and jobs in Nigeria and trims the waste that pushes up the effective cost of food. FoodPrices Nigeria tracks verified retail prices across Lagos markets and follows the investments that turn raw harvests into shelf-ready products.