IN the height of economic downfall which Papua New Guinea is currently faced with, Paradise Foods Limited continues its downstream processing and provides for over 100 job opportunities to the locals.
This was revealed by the company Chief Executive Officer (CEO) James Price today when Prime Mister James Marape visited the Paradise Foods Limited downstream processing factory at Gordons in Port Moresby.
Paradise Foods employs about 1,500 people in Papua New Guinea with factories in Lae and Port Moresby with the recent inclusion of 175 new jobs in the Covid-19 pandemic period. It focuses on down streaming organic food products from the locally grown farmers.
Prime Minister James Marape was overwhelmed with the company’s approach to buying local produce, processing them and selling final products to the markets.
“PNG does not have many companies that are into downstream business. As far as going forward is concern this government is focus on down streaming. Instead of exporting raw produces we want to do downstream to satisfy our local markets as well as export to economies around us,” Marape said.
He added that PNG government “has been a strong advocators of downstream processing of natural resource” and marketing the final products locally as well as internationally.
Marape also expressed that government is willing to partner with not only Paradise Foods but also other businesses in the country in policy or any physical support in this tough time.
Paradise Foods is now into purchasing of locally produce cacao beans and processing it to produce its Queen Emma Premium chocolate brand that will promote PNG cacao in the world market also with the recent inclusion of Gala Ice Cream.
Company CEO Price said “like wine from Italy and other parts of the world that are known in the international market, PNG has the best chocolate producing cacao beans.”
“We are honored to have Prime Minister James Marape here. In Paradise Foods our mission is to feed the people of PNG. In doing that we create jobs for everybody and we are doing more to produce products that we buy overseas. Paradise Foods purchase cacao beans directly from the local farmers in Bougainville, Central, Oro, Morobe, Milne Bay, Madang, East Sepik and East New Britain provinces and is aiming at buying from all over PNG to manufacture Queen Emma chocolate in the country.