Benue establishes Benfruit Juice to cut Nigeria’s N3.5trn post-harvest losses

As part of measures to cut the nation’s post-harvest losses, put at about N3.5 trillion in 2025 by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Benue State Government is pulling strings to ensure that the post-harvest losses are reduced, especially on fruits and vegetables, accounting for 60 percent of the losses.

…Moves to off-take fruits across country

…Reduces capital flights on concentrates, juice imports

…Creates thousands of direct, indirect job opportunities

Consequently, the Benue State Government, through Benue Investment and Property Company (BIPC) is constructing a multi-billion-naira Benfruit Juice Company meant to off-take and process fruits grown in Benue State for the production of various juice variants, including orange, pineapple, watermelon, apple, mango, guava, tomato, among others.

Speaking on the establishment of Benfruit Juice Company, the management of Benue Investment and Property Company(BIPC) declared that the operationalisation of Benfruit Juice Company would put an end to post-harvest losses experienced by orchard farmers, not only in Benue State, but also in the country as the massive production of juice and expansion plan would gradually and optimally cut importation of fruit juice concentrates and juice of different variants.

Raymond Asemakaha, group managing director of BIPC, who stated this while addressing some journalists after supervising the final phase of test-running at the Benfruit Juice Factory in Benue, said, “With this, orchard farmers will become rich with money circulating within the system for development to thrive.”

Represented by Henry Boager, the company’s Maintenance Manager, Asemakaha expressed satisfaction with the installation process, saying the machines installed at the factory are working smoothly and crushing the oranges at the stipulated time.

“Normally, the system has a capacity of crushing four tonnes per hour. We started with two tonnes, and the crushing rate is growing higher. It has gone to three tonnes per hour, and we expect to hit four tonnes to balance hourly production stability,” he said.

Asemakaha revealed that about 600 litres of juice had been crushed within three hours during the testing phase, adding that the extracted juice was pre-heated and sent for separation before being transferred to the processing chamber.

“At the test-run level, 400 litres of juice were sent into the processing tank every 30 minutes, with over 2,200 litres sent to the chamber every hour for concentrate processing,” he explained, adding that the company expects to produce about 75 drums of concentrate a day, targeting two containers a week when fully operational,” he explained.

He added that after the test-run of the orange processing line, equipment for mangoes, pineapples, watermelon, tomatoes and apples, already acquired by Benue State Government, would also be tested, expressing confidence that the factory would operate year-round, using raw materials available in different seasons.

On when the juice would hit the market, Asemakaha said the launch would depend on the output of the evaporators producing the concentrates.

He disclosed that the company had installed a functional cold room with a capacity of minus 20 degrees to preserve products for exports and domestic use.

The BIPC boss, however, commended Governor Hyacinth Alia for his support over the investment, urging Benue farmers and others to sell their oranges directly to the company’s marketers, assuring them of ready markets at reasonable prices.