An agric firm, Tomato Jos Farming and Processing Limited, has introduced its Tomato Jos paste variant into the Nigerian market.
The 65-gram tomato paste is produced directly from fresh tomatoes grown in Nigeria, and as such it guarantees superior flavour and colour.
According to the Company, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), in 2019, financed the construction of their 3.5tons/hr state-of-the-art tomato paste processing plant at Kangimi, Kaduna State. The funding was through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF) intervention fund to procure plants and machinery for the factory.
In a statement at the unveiling of the brand, The Managing Director of Tomato Jos Farming and Processing, Mira Mehta, said that the achievement was a product of hard work and belief on the side of the tomato Jos team.
“It is a dream come true. Though entrepreneurship is full of ups and downs, I feel encouraged whenever I see my passion for this business ignite in one of my colleagues.
“I am incredibly proud of the Tomato Jos team for their hard work and belief that we could achieve something on this scale. The facility is the only one of its kind in Nigeria that can produce sachet tomato products directly from fresh tomatoes,” he remarked.
The Managing Director of FCMB, Mrs Yemisi Edun also described the FCMB’s funding of the factory as a milestone in the bank’s efforts to boost agribusiness, food security and food sufficiency in Nigeria.
Geeky Nigeria reports that the idea to process tomatoes into tomato paste first came to Mira Mehta when she encountered her first tomato market glut in Northern Nigeria. According to her, Nigerian farmers produced about 65% of the tomatoes grown in West Africa, but paradoxically was also the largest importer of tomato paste in the world.
Mehta took advantage of this opportunity by solving a vital problem, founding Tomato Jos . She reasoned that it was irrational to import all that tomato paste when Nigeria has surplus amounts of tomatoes.