Fruitien

Submitted By:
Syeda Sana Rizvi
Aqsa Naeem
Ahmed Qasmi
Junaid Hussain
Ali Arshad
Taimoor Kiani

Submitted To:
Dr. Rizwan Ahmed

Operation Management

Lahore School of Economics

Executive Summary

This report comprises of the detailed research on the operations and processes used by the brand Fruitien
that belongs to the CitroPak Company which is the largest producer of fruit concentrates and purees in
Pakistan. The main objective of the study is to get a comprehensive analysis of the companys operational
activities and to identify the bottlenecks in order to recommend solutions to them.
This report covers different areas of the companys operations including supply chain management,
quality management systems and process flow. The companys main focus is to satisfy the customer
through high quality and product variety considering it their competitive strategies and priorities.
Furthermore, the process flow analysis explains the different stages from pulp extraction, monitoring
heating and temperature, adding flavors to packaging and then finally delivering them to consumers.
The juices are produced in batches and in continuous flow, then they are kept in for incubation for 3 days
for quality assurance purposes. Fruitien outsource their packaging from tetra pack in order save on time
but believes that they lack an efficient inventory management system in order to compete brands like
Nestle.

Contents
Executive Summary........................................................................................................ 2
Project Objective............................................................................................................ 4
Company Introduction.................................................................................................... 4
Competitive Strategy....................................................................................................... 5
Competitive Priorities..................................................................................................... 5
Production Process......................................................................................................... 5
Outsourcing.................................................................................................................. 7
Process Strategy............................................................................................................. 7
Inventory Management................................................................................................... 7
Quality Management....................................................................................................... 8
Suppliers Selection......................................................................................................... 8
Recommendations.......................................................................................................... 9
Appendix1.................................................................................................................. 10

Project Objective

The objective of our project is to have in depth analysis of a local company's operations, identify the
issues and suggest solutions for them. It gives us the opportunity to practically apply the course we have
studied in this course and polish our skills.

Company Introduction
The company we chose for our project, is a relatively newer company in Pakistan, named CitroPak
Fruitien. This company belongs to the beverage industry and for primary research we visited the
companys head office, for an interview and later, a telephonic interview. Secondary research was also
carried out to find out more facts about the company itself, from the official website of the company. By
the look of it, the company is not so popular, so it is trying hard to make their way through the beverage
market. Our report has considered different aspects of the companys operations, including their supply
chain management, quality management systems, process flow and the whole evaluation leading to
possible recommendations for the company.
Citropak is the largest producer of different fruit concentrates, purees and specialized products in
Pakistan. It commenced its operations with broad experience and technical know-how inherited from
Cargill Pakistan Citrus Ltd; a wholly owned subsidiary of Cargill Inc. U.S.A. Citropak owes its status as
the preferred supplier of fruit concentrates, purees and allied products, to the high quality of its products,
services and the ability to quickly respond to the changing requirements of its valued customers that range
from local to MNCs and international as well. With 25 years of experience in producing and supplying
high quality fruit products for juice producers, Citropak will touch the hearts of juice lovers with its seven
variants under the brand Fruitien.
Fruitien is all about our passion for fruits. It lets the seekers of good things, honestly enjoy themselves
with all things pure, giving them the taste and quality of the freshest and ripest fruit in every sip. Fruitien
delivers the finest, tastiest and the purest fruit filled experience to tickle your taste buds. Consistency in
our quality and taste is religiously ensured by our stringent quality conscious mindset where even the
slightest departure from global standards is not tolerated, from the fruits we use to the taste of product we
so passionately make.

Competitive Strategy

The competitive strategy used by Fruitien is Quality and Product Portfolio. As Citropak is the parent
company they have experience of 25 years of production of fruit products for juice which give them the
ability to produce perfectly and in return giving them edge over competitors. Most of the multinational
firms in Pakistan like Coca Cola, Pepsi and Nestle, all buy their fruit pulp from Citropak. Moreover,
CitroPak exports its fruit pulp to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India.

Product portfolio is another competitive strategy used by Fruitien. Fruitien provides customer with 4
different juice products which are:

100% Pure.

Nectar.

Junior.

Joy.

They focus on all of the segments giving them a full package in a juice like minerals, vitamins, essential
fatty acids, carbohydrates and proteins. It gives them energy, shining complexion, improved immune
system and strong bones. It's all a customer wants to get benefits from the drinks they drink.

Competitive Priorities
The competitive priorities for Fruitien is quality. They produce products with consistent quality and they
produce pulp on their own rather than buying from other company which shows that they want the best
quality product they can give to customer.

Production Process
For any company to be able to manufacture any item effectively, it is very essential that it focuses on all
its operations and stages of production so that not only can it produce the product, but also be economical
and efficient. Like any other firm, Citropak also follows such supply chain and operations management,
which effectively converts its raw materials to its final products. As Citropak is the parent company and is
the largest fruit pulp and puree manufacturer in Asia, it does not need to buy pulp from any other producer
to make Fruitien juices.
For the manufacturing and processing of Fruitien juices, as soon as the fruit pulp is extracted from
Citropak, the company needs to further process it so that fruit nectar and juice can be made out of it.
5

Process1:
The first step of the process is basically the temperature and heat monitoring in a boiler, where the
enzyme treatment of the fruit and the juice is done at specifically set temperatures.
Process2:
Hot and cold pressing is done to add, extract or maintain the color of the fruit.
Process3:
The next step is transferring the concentrate in to the plate heat exchanger where the liquid to be
consolidated goes on one side of a plate and steam streams on the other side.
Process4:
Sugar and all other ingredients that are required for the juice formation are added.
Process5:
The concentrate is processed, refrigerated and pasteurized at 90C for 30 seconds and then is blended and
concentrated.
Process6:
Finally, the product is ready to be packaged. For the packaging, CitroPak buys the paper, plastic caps and
the straws from Tetra Pak. Once the paper is ready, it runs in the machines of Tetra Pak along with the raw
material and the food concentrate, which is eventually processed and packaged in packs of different
volumes.
Process7:
Once the entire packing is done, the product is kept under the quality assurance department for an
incubation period of up to 3 days, to check for any defects.
Process8:
The supply chain members transfer the products to various distributors, and later to the retailer shops.

Outsourcing
Mr. Abrar Rafique, the marketing head of Fruitien also briefly talked to us about some of their suppliers,
their outsourced products and also shed some light on their supply chain management. He said that almost
all MNCs operating in Pakistan and even abroad, who produce juices; take their pulp ingredient from
CitroPak including Nestle. About their suppliers, supply chain and outsourcing , he said that they take
their packaging of the juices of 1.5 liter and 200ml juices from Tetra Pack.
He added that after purchasing of the raw materials, the juices are produced in the factories and once they
are prepared, they are passed on to the quality assurance department, where the batch is checked for the
quality, if it meets the standard then it is finally packaged in cardboard cartons and sent to the distributers.
However the juices are kept in the quality assurance department for approximately 2 days so that the
juices can be checked thoroughly. He also mentioned that their cardboard boxes and trays are also
outsourced and are not produced in their factories. They are satisfied with their supplier chain.
About their strategies and areas of improvements, he continued by saying that Nestle has a very good
inventory system and they react efficiently when there are unforeseen demand variations in the market,
while on the other hand Fruitien has not yet successfully achieved their inventory management target but
they are working on it and they will focus more on inventory building.

Process Strategy
Process strategies refer to series of decisions made in administering the processes with the objective of
attaining competitive priorities. Fruitien implements outsourcing to a certain extent in order to save time
and also to reduce its costs. For a higher quality and improved management process strategy is
implemented. Fruitien adopts product focus strategy. In order to provide its customers 100% pure nectar
the product itself, is the center of the attention for the company. The production of the nectar is a
continuous process.
Fruitien implements batch shop. This process is similar to job shop however there are prevailing flows
depending mainly upon the demand for the product. They produce the different flavors in batches or
groups.

Inventory Management
This is an important decision for any manufacturing company as it can help in the reduction of cost and
the storage of products. Fruitien deal in perishable products therefore they implement first in first out
method (FIFO). The first manufactured batch is dispatched to the retail stores first and later the other
manufactured batches. In order to maintain an account of the juices being manufactured Fruitien CitroPak
uses different software. The software helps to keep a computerized record of the batches available in the
7

warehouse. This method has reduced the chances of the fraud being committed and also increased
efficiency of record keeping.
Quality Management
Fruitien has its own quality assurance department which ensures that the supply received and the products
being manufactured are according to the standards and would create value for the customers. This
department ensures that the standards of the product are met. [Link] in his interview said that Fruitien
manufactures both nectar and juices. Nectar is the purest form of the juice and consists of 75% of the
natural pulp however juices they consist of preservatives and flavor which doesn't make it pure. Therefore
this is a predefined standard.
Fruitien's quality management begins from the source. We select the highest quality fruit from the
supplier which is manufactured into pulp. After the product is manufactured it is placed for incubation.
The incubation period is for 2 to 3 days where the faulty products are discarded and the quality products
are dispatched for distribution to the retailers.

Suppliers Selection
Reliable and efficient suppliers are extremely important for any organization to ensure a continuous flow
of production. A supplier's code defines the minimum required standards that they adhere. Also Fruitien
ensures that the suppliers adhere to the laws and regulations. These laws and regulations include:

Safety and health of employees at the workplace. Facilities such as sanitation, drinking water
protection equipments are provided.

Human Rights are fulfilled. This includes minimum wage rate and the working hours of the
employees

Environmental sustainability: Fruitien demands that its suppliers should follow the laws laid to
protect the environment.

Recommendations
The company is overall putting effort into making their brand a well known brand. Besides all the
marketing efforts that Fruitien is trying to make, there are some important factors that need to realize in
the operations of the company. Fruitien still has a long way to go in comparison to its major competitor
Nestle beverages. Fruitien is not seen enough in stores, which explain the fact that they are going low on
their distribution measures. Hence, Fruitien has to work on increasing its distribution channels. It was also
mentioned that there are very rare cases of defected batches and they have to call back the whole batch
and replace it. Although these cases are very rare, but still there is a chance of their occurrence. This
places a doubt on the efficiency of their quality management systems. Hence, it is necessary for Fruitien
to make their quality assurance department stronger and to implement double check ups before
dispatching, as to avoid any hassle for the company in the future. The company lacks an inventory, which
is suitable for them, as they do not produce relatively large volumes and are dispatched quicker. But, for
any company that produces in bulk must build an inventory just for the unpredictable demands.
All in all, the company, Fruitien is a huge emerging competitor for Nestle beverages which just proves
that it is in the race with the biggest beverage company.

Appendix1

Fruit
pulp/puree

Temperature
+ heat
monitoring

hot and cold

Plate heat
exchanger

Sugar,
preservatives
& other
ingredients

Incubation

Packaging

Pasteurization

Distribution

retailer

final
consumer

10