Paradise Foods Limited is Papua New Guinea’s oldest established food manufacturer, with operations dating back to the early 1930s.

Formerly known as Arnott Biscuits (PNG) and owned by US company Campbells Soups, it was purchased in 2007 by local superannuation funds Nambawan Super and Comrade Trustee Services Limited and re-named Paradise Foods.

The 100% PNG-owned company employs over 600 staff, with sales offices throughout the country and two factories, in Lae and Port Moresby. It manufactures a wide of range of foods for local consumption, including corn chips, shortbread, biscuits, noodles and snackfoods, and soon its own PNG-sourced pure chocolate.

Its location means it is able to source many of its inputs, such as sugar, palm oil, milled flour and packaging, locally.

Paradise Foods is committed to quality on both products and processes. Food safety is paramount and its factories are Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) certified (it is the first PNG manufacturer to be accredited to HACCP standards). Such accreditation permits exports into developed markets with high food standards such as Australia and New Zealand.

Nor is the company resting on its laurels: ‘We had a record year in 2010,’ says Managing Director David Peate. ‘The market will continue to grow and we have to expand our portfolio of products to meet the demands of the developing market.’ Paradise invested US$6 million on new warehouse facilities during 2010.

Paradise Foods brands such as Arrow, Paradise, Morobeen and Hi Way are household names in PNG, making Paradise PNG’s largest food manufacturer. Increasingly, its foods are also finding their way into other Pacific markets such as the Solomon Islands and French Polynesia.

This article first published in Business Advantage PNG 2011/2012