Interfresh II (Private) Limited

completed

Summary Of Project Information (SPI)Project NameZimbabwe - Interfresh II     RegionSub-Saharan AfricaSectorProject No007110Projected Board DateNovember 27, 1995Company NameInterfresh Private LimitedTechnical Partner and/or Major Shareholders Interfresh is owned by the Babiolakis family, and all shares are currently held by the constituent six sub-family units/trusts. After the private placement of shares proposed in the project, 75% of the shares will be held by the sub-family units/family trusts, 12.5% by IFC, 5% by Proparco which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caisse Francaise de Development, and the balance by local institutional investors.Project Cost Including proposed IFC investment US$ 5.04 million; proposed IFC investment of US$ 1.66 million.Location of project and Description of site The Company operates facilities in Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare for processing and packing fresh fruits and vegetables. The proposed vegetable dehydration plant will be located on an existing industrial site in Stapleford, which is some 15 km. from Harare.     Description of Company and Purpose of Project Interfresh is the largest packer of fruits and vegetables in Zimbabwe. It has been in business since 1953, and it sells in the domestic and export markets. The Company is proposing a private placement of its shares to raise money (a) for establishing a vegetable dehydration plant with 1,800 tpa capacity and (b) for the capital improvement program and additional working capital requirements of the Interfresh Group. The vegetable dehydration plant will be a 50-50 joint venture with Foodtech Industries BV of Netherlands. The private placement will provide the foundation for eventual public floatation of the shares. In September 1993, IFC approved an investment to assist Interfresh to construct its packing facility in Harare (IFC/R93-158).Environmental Category and Issues This is a category B project according to IFC''s environmental review procedure. Environmental and occupational health and safety issues associated with this project include air emissions, liquid effluents, solid wastes, and general employee health and safety. Air emissions from the project will be limited by use of an energy efficient dehydration process and by application of appropriate fluegas treatment system to boilers. Liquid efluent will be treated on site and used as irrigation water. Solid wastes will mainly be organic vegetable waste and will be used as cattle feed and land fertilizers. The project plant will be established based on European Union standards for health and safety, and the company is aiming for being awarded the ISO 9002 certificate. IFC will ensure ongoing compliance with World Bank guidelines during the life of the project by evaluating monitoring reports submitted annually to IFC by Interfresh, and by conducting periodic supervision. The is October 27, 1995 from the Public Information Center.Date SPI sent to PIC October 24, 1995For Additional Information contact: Corporate Relations Unit -telephone: (202) 473-7711facsimile: (202) 676-0365Environmental documents for this project are available at http://www.ifc.org and from the World Bank InfoShop (http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/aboutinfo.html).