Hyderabad-based Gubba shifts focus to organised food sector

Hyderabad: Gubba Cold Storage, a Hyderabad-based cold storage solutions company, is now planning to add two more pharmaceutical cold storage units in addition to the existing three units. The new units are likely to be set up in Mumbai and will see investment of about Rs 60 crore. They will be operational in about two […]

Hyderabad: Gubba Cold Storage, a Hyderabad-based cold storage solutions company, is now planning to add two more pharmaceutical cold storage units in addition to the existing three units. The new units are likely to be set up in Mumbai and will see investment of about Rs 60 crore. They will be operational in about two years, according to its Chief Executive Officer Gubba Kiran.

In addition, it is planning to set up cold storage facilities for processed food segment. “The growing organised food segment is also a focus area for us. The demand for ice-creams, dairy products and processed food including processed meat is on the rise. The facilities will support temperatures up to -20 degrees centigrade. These are being planned in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Vizag,” he said.

The company has been offering cold storage solutions to the Indian seed industry for more than 30 years now. It started operating dedicated cold storage facilities for pharma industry for the past four years. “We now have a capacity to handle about 15,000 pallets in the pharma segment. The proposed units will have 5,000 pallets capacity each. Pharma cold storage is not just about price and distance but also the quality assurance and standard operating procedures,” Kiran told Telangana Today.

“Cold storage preservation outsourcing by the Indian pharma industry is low. Many of the cold storage industry players did not adhere to the WHO or USFDA guidelines, required for storing pharma products. As a result, many pharma companies set up their in-house cold storage and warehouse facilities for their products. Four years ago, Gubba saw the gap and started altering the pharmaceutical industry view of the cold storage segment. We are already handling products from about 50 companies,” he said, adding that outsourcing these cold storage activities will free their resources and allow them to focus on core activities like research, development and production.

For the seed segment, it has already set up a biotechnology lab this year. Now, it is gearing up for multi-location trials and DNA fingerprinting. “We can test the seeds stored with us and give them reports on how the seed is behaving in various agro-climatic locations in the country. The company, which employs about 300 people directly and about 2,000 indirectly, also has a role in the intercity transport of pharma products and cold storage consultation.

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