Other than with fast food, families have gotten so used to the taste of ketchup, it is routine to have the condiment with desi food.

The sauce is favoured over various chutneys with desi fast foods including samosas and pakoras as well and is served at all restaurants and even at roadside food stalls.

The production of ketchup involves a lot of people and provides employment to hundreds, even after the introduction of machines for its production.

Tomatoes are first acquired from farms or tomato paste from across the world. They are then transported to the manufacturing plant in large containers where they are processed, packed in bottles or plastic sachets and distributed.

Usually, ketchup factories procure fresh tomatoes from various farms selected by producers.

The skin is peeled off the tomatoes, the seeds are removed and the fruit is then crushed and the paste filled in drums to be tested by health experts.

However, in local factories, such as the Kanas tomato ketchup plant in the industrial sector of Islamabad, tomato paste is procured instead from abroad. The Kanas plant gets its paste from Italy.

When they receive the containers of crushed tomatoes, workers hand them over to the laboratory where they are tested. The paste is then taken over to the plant where other ingredients including sugar, salt, vinegar, basil leaves etc are added and the mix is put into special containers made of stainless steel and boiled.

The paste is left to boil for two hours, after which the ketchup is poured into bottles and packets via especially designed pipelines and labelled. The bottles are packed into boxes under strict quality control and delivered to various stores and eateries.

The role of workers in the process is confined to handling the machinery and testing the final product for quality.

The owner of Kanas Tomato Ketchup and Mayonnaise Islamabad, Usman Khalil Noon, said he brings in tomato paste from abroad for now but plans to establish tomato farms and factories near Islamabad in the future.

He said 103 tests are conducted in the laboratory in his factory on the paste received to ensure its quality meets international standards. He said automated machines were used to produce ketchup and mayonnaise.

“We have three laboratories on the factory premises which test the product throughout the production process,” he said, adding that this was necessary to ensure good quality and taste.

“We use organic eggs and quality oil to make the mayonnaise. The eggs and oil are procured from abroad. We wanted to produce ketchup and mayonnaise which were up to international standards and consumers will feel the difference,” he said.

Mr Noon said the factory will also be introducing tomato jalapeño ketchup in which Mexican jalapeños will be used.

Published in Dawn January 22nd, 2017