A LOWESTOFT firm has won a �250,000 contract to supply specialist freezing equipment to India.

Starfrost will supply a quick freezing system for a 141-acre food processing plant in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh in the south-east of the country.

Starfrost, based in Newcombe Road, secured the contract from Srini Food Park, a new venture backed by India’s Ministry of Food Processing Industries as part of a strategy to develop facilities around the country for farmers and food producers.

The contract will see Starfrost design and manufacture a fast-freezing tunnel for diced mango, which will then be sold to domestic consumers and export markets.

Starfrost’s managing director, Neil Winney, said the contract would demonstrate the firm’s ability to fast-freeze diced, wet and delicate foodstuffs previously thought difficult to process.

“This is Starfrost’s first large freezing project in India for a number of years,” he said.

“This had not previously been a market we were focused on, but with the rapidly growing economy and investment in food processing India is now a strategic target market for Starfrost and our wider refrigeration group.”

Starfrost employs 30 people at its Newcombe Road headquarters, but also indirectly employs another 15 to 20 people through local sub-contract engineering services.

The company is part of the Star Refrigeration Group, which has a turnover of �45million and employs more than 350 people UK-wide.