Mr. Ilan Weiss (center) Managing Director of Innovative Agro Industry explains the product range produced and manufactured by the company to the Commissioner General of Expo2020 Ambassador Joshua Kalinoe (left)and Deputy Commissioner General Mrs. Jacinta Warakai-Manua during the tour of the Ilimo Dairy production facility outside Port Moresby.
Papua New Guinea’s food production company, Innovative Agro Industry (IAI) is the latest company to join the PNG Expo2020 team to tell our story.
The company is the only fresh milk and dairy producer in country, and also invests in fresh vegetable production among many other projects, including the frozen potato chips brand; KUK.
The Kuk name is taken from the famous Kuk UNESCO heritage site in the Western Highlands Province. Potatoes are sourced from local out growers before being processed at a state of the art factory located in Pangia. Kuk Kaukau (sweet potato) was recently launched into the market place, adding to the growing list of high quality Kuk products.
Managing Director of the company Mr Ilan Weiss said apart from promoting the company’s food products, they will also share the story of the origin of the Kuk heritage site.
“The Kuk brand of frozen kaukau and potato chips is produced from the highlands region of Papua New Guinea.
“Kuk is a UNESCO heritage site, where archaeological evidence has discovered that Papua New Guineans are said to be the first prehistory agriculture famers, well before other societies in areas like Europe got into organised farming” Mr Weiss said.
“We will also be telling the world that with the application of appropriate technology and utilizing the traditional environment friendly agriculture methods applied by Papua New Guinea small holder/family farmers, PNG can produce some of the best products, including processed organically grown products.
“This is also evident from our fresh Ilimo dairy products where the company produce milk and other dairy products like yogurts and ice cream from locally bred cow, using modern technology”.
“Unlike the UHT milk that is imported where some nutrients are destroyed in the process. The Ilimo farm milk is fresh milk, comes straight from the cow, making it one of the nutrition rich milk to drink,” he said.
He said the milk from Ilimo goes through quality assurance each day at their laboratory before being cleared and certified within internationally accepted health standards by health and food nutrition experts in the company’s laboratory at 14 Mile, outside Port Moresby.
Mr Weiss said the company is also investing in aquaculture in the Western Province for the export market and also in cocoa production and processing in the East Sepik Province.
“The company is expanding because we have confidence in the ability of Papua New Guinea farmers to produce the best environment friendly organic products that can be supported by modern extension and production technology.
“This is the story we are taking to the Dubai Exposition where the world will meet, exchange ideas and make trade and other related connections.
“We thank the Government, through the Commissioner General of Expo2020, HE Ambassador Joshua Kalinoe for inviting our company to join in telling the PNG story”. Mr Weiss said.
