Agro & Food Processing March 2019

India's Only Monthly News Magazine, Portal & App For Agro, Food & Allied Industries Vol 14 Issue 05 March 2019

100/-

Official Magazine

FSNM

Moderne�Eatine Federation of Sweets & Namkeen Manufacturers

andeathe�eNewu�Cultu ofe�Snackin

A change is coming

Trends that would impact the food industry in 2019

Ajit Sweets

Processing of Agri-food an industry Emphasizing on Indian economy

Bringing Sweet Smiles To Your Joyful Moments

B�� � F �� O�� S

The top misery of TOP producers Operation Greens – A Solution for Tomatoes, Onion, Potatoes (TOP) growers

A Special Coverage on B� Packagin

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CONTENTS

Modern Eating and the New Culture of Snacking

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A change is coming Trends that would impact the food industry in 2019

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The top misery of TOP producers

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Processing of Agri-food an industry Emphasizing on Indian economy

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BOX FULL OF SWEETS 30

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Attractive Investment: The changing dynamics of GCC and Indian food sector

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Sprouted grains: Are we any closer to a workable definition?

MunchAne Pizza, Great food always tastes good.

News from Pg 66-67

EDITORIAL

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T Editor Manzar Aftab Naqvi Group Editor Firoz H. Naqvi firoz@advanceinfomedia.com Consulting Editor Basma Hussain Graphic Designer Naved H. Kazmi naved@advanceinfomedia.com Circulation Chandni Naqvi Chandni@advanceinfomedia.com Delhi Sayyed Shahnawaz +91-8375034558 Gujarat Brijesh Mathuria +91-99245466999 General Manager Gyanendra Trivedi Marketing & Circulation Office Distribution Agency Advance Info Media & Events

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The views expressed in this issue are those of the contributors and are not necessarily those of the magazine.

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he Food Processing Industry in India plays a very substantial role in India’s economy right from the agriculture and harvest of crop up to the consumption of the product by the consumer, there is a sure level of significant worth expansion in each product. This value expansion can be of various kinds. As it goes from manufacturer to distributor, to retailer lastly to the shopper, each stage increases the value of the product. In this value chain, there might be value expansion by Sorting, evaluating, bundling, branding and so forth.

These activities not make product alluring, more usable, gives choice and attention to clients and furthermore improves time frame of realistic usability of items. Aside from this service rendered by delegates to pass on the product from manufacturer to the client is likewise significant.

The greater part of the rural products is not consumable in their unique frame, for which they are prepared. Wheat is changed over into flour, sugarcane into jaggery, Sugar, ethanol, liquor Paddy into rice, and so forth. We realize that exercises in an economy are extensively partitioned into Agriculture, industry, and Services. Food processing Industry is the result of agribusiness and Industry. The Indian food market is the sixth biggest market on the globe and it adds to 70% of the aggregate sales. The Indian food processing industry has an offer of 32% in the countries all-out market. As far as a generation, utilization, and exports, it is positioned as the fifth biggest industry in India. The Indian food market is esteemed at USD 1.3 billion and is developing at CAGR of 20%.

The food processing industry over the most recent couple of years has seen an extreme change with the technology of the “Online Food Ordering” business. Still in the prior stages, organizations like Foodpanda, Zomato, Swiggy, and numerous such are prepared to take the Indian online food ordering business higher than ever. The online food delivery division is developing at 150% year-on-year and the GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) is assessed at USD 300 million.

The food processing business in India has, over the most recent couple of years, seen a ton of investment from foreigners. The Department of Industrial Policies and Promotion (DIPP) states that India got around USD 7.54 billion FDI from April 2000 to March 2017. The CII has anticipated that the food processing sector can possibly pull in around USD 33 billion FDI in the following ten years and furthermore produce nine million long stretches of business.

The Indian government has found a way to support the food processing business by enabling the Indian food makers to move its items fabricated in India through discount as well as retail, including through online business without the Government’s earlier endorsement. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) have plans to contribute USD 72.3 million to fortify the food testing foundation in India. It has plans to redesign its current 59 food testing research centres and set up 62 new versatile testing labs. These are only a couple of ventures by the Indian government, which will support the food processing business in India from 2018 to achieve the ideal estimation of USD 65.4 billion.

Haldiram's has definitely come a long way from Ganga Bhisan's thin, moth-dal bhujia to a range of kebabs it offers in the Middle East as part of its frozen foods business. Recently, Haldiram’s signed its first partnership outside the family and entered into an exclusive master franchisee partnership with French bakery cafe Brioche Dorée, the world’s second-largest bakery chain.

For the first time, the Brioche Dorée cafes will serve only vegetarian food.

Where there is food; safety becomes paramount. Many food products nowadays seem to have some amount of genetically modified products. FSSAI has decided to go ahead with labelling packaged food products with over one per cent of Genetically Modified ingredients.If the maximum residue level (MRL) of GM ingredients reaches one per cent, food products will have to display a message on their packaging that they contain GM food.Earlier, the threshold of five per cent was being considered. However, the scientific committee zeroed in on one per cent following consultations with all the stakeholders.

The Indian food regulator has become quite vigilant in its operations; where it has asked food companies to label Atta as 'whole wheat flour' and Maida as 'refined wheat flour' as this may clear confusion among products that are often labelled as just 'wheat flour' with no distinction between the Maida or Atta products. It stand to put stoppage on reuse of cooking oil by restaurants and eateries is also applaudable.

Can vegetarians in India eat meat now; yes! by next year as India is all set to get a taste of cell-based or ‘clean’ meat as the Maharashtra government is giving the state-funded Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) a go-ahead to establish a cellular agriculture research centre in the state. This will be the world’s first dedicated centre on cellular agriculture and will pioneer innovation, allowing Indian businesses a chance to create products using its own research.

ICT has joined hands with The Good Food Institute, a global non-profit organisation engaged in promoting the plant- and cell-based meat sector through research and commercialisation, to establish a lab facility in Mumbai by 2020.

Innovation and sustainability are becoming the most important component for the development of Indian food industry; it won’t be long when our industry be one of the topmost sector globally.

Just wait and watch!

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

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CHANGING TIMES

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Modern Eating

and the New Culture of Snacking Chandni Naqvi

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hat are snacks?

A snack is a small service of food and generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home.

About nine in ten (91 percent) consumers snack multiple times throughout the day.

We now eat and drink what we want, when we want and anywhere we want.

Sometimes planned, more often on a whim. An energy bar or fruit smoothie may replace breakfast one day or serve as lunch the next day. Perhaps a bowl of cereal before bedtime. Nothing seems to be as it once was. We long for the good old days when meal planning and eating was all so routine and predictable.

The challenge for food and beverage companies is to understand these new and changing rhythms continues today as we welcome food culture’s new era of retail disruption and diversification that snacking has unleashed.

The modern food and beverage culture is marked by fragmentation and an upending of tradition. While culturally we idealize three balanced meals a day, we rarely eat that way. Today, meal planning, shopping and cooking is decentralized, and there are fewer rules about what to eat and drink. In fact, we are much more comfortable with eating on the fly. Eating and drinking can happen anywhere and everywhere and at any time. No eating or drinking occasion typifies the fragmented, decentralized and no-rules modern food and beverage culture more than snacking.

Evidence of this shift in behavior can be seen in the emergence of restaurants as a source for snacks. Despite being the source for 81 percent of snack occasions, traditional food retailers are losing share to a divergent array of alternative retail sources — notably restaurants. Restaurants have become increasingly savvy about emerging consumer needs for smaller menu items within the now-blurry space between meals and snacks.

Snacking is no longer about a specific product category but rather about a set of

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

behaviors — -a way of eating and drinking —a kind of occasion. In other words, anything and everything can be a snack —-and increasingly is.

It’s little wonder then why forward-thinking food manufacturers, retailers and food service operators are in a race to reformulate, repackage, reportion and revamp products and menus to better fit with these changing eating and drinking habits.

New Appetites and new routines shows details in the shifts that lead to snacking, describing how consumers eat around their schedules rather than scheduling around mealtimes. Dinner has become a mere pause between other activities.

Lunch is often scheduled out to accommodate an overflow of meetings and must-do’s. And breakfast can be multitasked between commuting and working.

This is our modern time deficient, which is heavily influencing an ad hoc shift in eating styles.

The ad hoc approach to mealtimes is increasingly part of new eating routines.

While dinner remains an important social

CHANGING TIMES

meal occasion, breakfast and lunch occasions are routinely “snackified,” especially during the workweek. This opens up schedules and frees up time from planning, cooking and cleaning.

On these no-cook, snackified occasions, consumers are eating a mix of packaged and prepared foods (yogurt cup, deli sushi/sandwiches) with some fresh ingredients (snacking fruit, salad bar). Or they may outsource these low-stakes occasions to food service. Reflecting these changes in eating habits, dining out is not just for special occasions but an everyday approach to “getting food.”

While a good deal of the shifts in food and beverage culture have been towards fresher and less processed foods, the fact is that we are giving up meal occasions with others or combining eating with other tasks as the need for productivity compels us to move forward. Many consumers also believe that hectic American lifestyles lead to poor eating habits.

Beyond the increased frequency with which we snack, snacks themselves have evolved far beyond conventional categories to include fresh items and higher-quality products and involve both food and beverage items.

Trend Toward Healthier Snacking is becoming healthier, and healthy snacking is as much about ways of eating as it is about product attributes, with beliefs that eating small amounts of food every few hours is healthier than eating three big meals a day, that distributing small treat moments helps to avoid overindulgent binges and that overall balance can be achieved by rotating indulgent and non-indulgent.

Shopping for Snacks With so many channels and stores available to consumers, shoppers keep a working geography of stores and restaurants that reflect certain patterns in snack purchasing and consumption behavior. These behaviors include: • Pantry stocking for snacks. Occurring most notably at grocery, supercenter, mass market and club retailers.

• Trips for immediate-consumption snacks. Are being made most notably to restaurants, convenience stores and drugstores.

• Snack stashing. Occuring when consumers primarily source from home to have snacks on hand throughout their day.

Healthy snacking Snacking can be part of a healthy diet, provided we don’t consume too many calories over the day and that in a day or week we choose a healthy balance of foods.

This article will look at snacks and body weight, how snacks can fit in to a healthy, balanced diet and give some tips and ideas for snack swaps and healthy snacking at work, home and on the go!

But first, here are some ideas to help you make better choices when snacking: Top tips for healthy snacking Research into the health effects of snacking and snacking behaviours (when, why and how we snack) is limited. However, the following tips may help you if you do include snacks in your diet to have the right overall energy intake and maintain a healthy, balanced diet.

• Watch the amount of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugars in your snacks, as well as calorie content – look at the labels, for more information about reading food labels.

• Replace snacks high in saturated fat, salt and/or sugars, like confectionary and biscuits, with healthier snacks, like unsalted nuts and plain popcorn, in your kitchen cupboards or desk drawer – if the snacks are there, it is all too easy to eat them. Not having these snacks within easy reach at home and at work may help you to select something healthier.

• Portion control – to help maintain a healthy, balanced diet, consider the portion size of your snack (particularly if it is high in fat, saturated fat, salt and/or sugars). If you occasionally choose chocolate, crisps or biscuits try to split and pack a small portion out – like two squares of dark chocolate, two biscuits, a handful of crisps. Remember you can eat larger portions of fruit and veg as a snack!

• Listen to hunger cues – before you reach for that biscuit on offer during a work meeting or try to break up the boredom or cheer yourself up by eating a snack, consider whether you are actual hungry. Although the research is limited, it has been suggested that listening carefully to your body’s hunger and fullness cues, rather than, for example, eating in response to your emotions, may help some people avoid overeating.

• Number of snacks – keep an eye on the number of snacks you are eating during the day. If you are snacking several times a day, think about the meals you are eating and when. Aim for three regular meals

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

11 per day.

• Avoid shopping when hungry – there is some research suggesting that if you are hungry, you may be more likely to select less healthy snacks . You could also make a list of healthy snacks to buy to help your choices when you are in the store.

Snacking and body weight The effects of snacking on weight are not well understood, some studies show it is associated with healthy weight maintenance and others with weight gain. Some of these differences are likely to be due to what was classed as a snack, for example whether the snacks included were healthier (e.g. fruits and low fat yogurts), or whether they were snacks high in saturated fat and sugars (e.g. chocolate, cakes, biscuits, pies and pastries). This is important because eating these less healthy types of snacks may be associated with high body fatness.

Looking at the whole picture Some people include snacks in their diet and others don’t. We don’t fully understand why this is but scientists have suggested it may be due to many factors, such as an individual’s feelings of hunger, their environment (what foods are easily available), their social culture (for example what their friends and family typically do) and how much they eat during mealtimes.

If you do include snacks in your diet, they can make a useful contribution to your energy and nutrition needs, providing essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, protein and fibre. The key is to choose

CHANGING TIMES

12 healthy snacks and to watch those portion sizes. For example, snacking can be used to help increase your fruit and vegetable intake or incorporate some nuts into your diet.

Thinking about how your snacks fit in with your whole diet across the day or even the week can help you to make sure your energy intake (the total amount of calories you have) is not too high and that the variety of foods and drinks you have are healthy and balanced.

Energy On average, women who are moderately active need around 2,000 kcal a day (8,400kJ) and men need around 2,500 kcal a day (10,500kJ).

A pattern of eating that spreads your energy requirement throughout the day, that may suit you, is as follows: Breakfast: 20% of your energy intake Lunch: 30% of your energy intake Evening meal: 30% of your energy intake Drinks and snacks: 20% of your energy intake If having two snacks a day and no energy-containing drinks (like water) then this would be equivalent to around 200 kcal (850 kJ) per snack for women and 250 kcal (1050 kJ) per snack for men. If you are trying to lose weight, or you are including drinks like low fat milk (alone or in tea and coffee) or unsweetened fruit juice, these figures may be slightly lower.

If you consume more energy at any meal sitting than you may not need a snack. For example, if you eat a larger breakfast you may not need a mid-morning snack.

Fruit and vegetables • Banana • Grapes • Mixed fruit salad • Vegetable crudités (served with a houmous dip) Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates • Rice cakes • Wholemeal toast or pitta • Multi-seed flat bread • Plain popcorn (with a sprinkle of chilli powder or cinnamon) Dairy or dairy alternatives • Small plain unsweetened low-fat yogurt (topped with fruit, nuts and seeds) • Reduced fat cheese cubes (served with cherry tomatoes) • Reduced fat cream cheese (served with wholegrain breadsticks) • Low fat milk – semi, 1% or skimmed (blended with a banana and pinch of cinnamon) Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins • Hard-boiled egg • Baked chickpeas • Small handful of nuts and seeds • Houmous (served with wholemeal pitta) • A dip made with oily fish like sardines Snacks for work, home and on the go Here are some snack ideas for when you are at work, home or on the go. Planning ahead is key so you can make sure your snacks are healthy and you aren’t reliant on what you can find when you are out and about!

• Orange juice, an apple or toasted bread sandwich make a delicious and easy mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack.

• Yogurt– plain unsweetened low-fat

Balance The Eatwell Guide shows the types and proportions of foods that we need to eat to make up a varied and balanced diet. It can be used as a quick, at-a-glance guide to help identify healthier snacks and to make sure snacks compliment other foods eaten during the day so that you are keeping topped up with essential nutrients. For example, if you aren’t managing your 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, having a piece of fruit or vegetable sticks (like carrot, cucumber and pepper) as part of a snack may help you to meet this recommendation. If your meals during the day don’t contain any dairy or dairy-alternatives, you may wish to have a yogurt or small portion of cheese as your snack.

Here are some snack ideas based on the four main food groups in the Eatwell Guide:

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

yogurt can be topped with a low sugar breakfast cereal granola or muesli, fresh fruit and seeds to make a healthy and tasty snack.

• Cheese dippers – Seeded breadsticks or vegetable crudités (e.g. carrot and cucumber) with a low-fat soft cheese dip, simple and versatile.

At home • Toast creations – top a slice of wholemeal toast with one of these; no added sugar and no added salt peanut butter, soft low-fat cheese and chopped walnuts, sliced banana and cinnamon or sliced tomato, herbs and a sprinkling of grated low-fat cheese.

• Perfect popcorn – pop your own popcorn and sprinkle with your choice of spices (e.g. cinnamon, smoked paprika or chilli).

• Museli – buy a low-sugar version or make your own the night before using oats, seeds, lemon juice, grated apple and milk.

On the go • Homemade cereal bars – get creative in the kitchen, you can make your own cereal bars by, for example, mixing 2 mashed ripe bananas, 150g oats, 2 tbsp peanut butter and 100g chopped nuts or seeds, pressing into a baking tray and baking in the oven (180°C for around 25 minutes) until golden. If you are buying cereal bars use the food labels to choose those lower in sugars.

• Piece of fruit – easy to carry around and bananas and oranges even come in their own biodegradable packaging.

• Nuts and seeds –a small handful of nuts .

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MEGA - TREND

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A change is coming Trends that would impact the food industry in 2019 Basma Hussain

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rom continued efforts on mega-trends such as sustainability to rising ingredients such as CBD-infusions, 2019 is likely to be no less a year of change than those preceding it. We at agro and food processing after thorough look out what and what is happening in the food industry; chunked out few important changes and happenings that will influence the global food industry and examine what the year ahead looks like for the food industry.

It is worth examining the current state of the food industry and the changes that are likely to take place in 2019. Much of this change is not exactly new, but instead the result of burgeoning trends that have been slowly working their way into mainstream consumer behaviours.

The industry’s transformation this year may be, rather than some shocking new innovation, the culmination of work that has been ongoing for several years. The trends the industry should be paying attention to are starting to become more accepted by consumers in everyday life and now is the time to capitalise on those

trends. Here, we look at the mega-trends that will drive the food industry.

In 2019, both everything and nothing will be new in the food and beverage business.

There are sure to be trendy products, major deals and paradigm-shifting innovations rocking the industry. But the major trend lines in the industry have all already started, and will continue to grow and develop this year.

Functional foods are going to become more refined and popular — especially with the potential addition of now-legal cannabinoid CBD. More big M&A deals — as well as many small ones — will chart the course for where Big Food is heading next. Packaging and production will continue to be more earth friendly, and companies will be moving closer to fulfilling their sustainability pledges.

Products will continue to roll out to meet consumers’ health and wellness desires, and plant-based meats will keep making a dent in the market.

Here is a look at our projections for 2019 in food and beverage.

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

Get well soon: CBD, gut-healthy products and the work towards wellness The wellness trend has been building for several years now, growing across multiple sectors and helped in no small part by the millennial market. With a greater awareness of, and demand for, products that can provide health-boosting functionality, consumers are looking to brands that can provide more than just basic nutrition. One of the stars of this movement in recent months has been cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. With an international push for cannabis legalisation, related products have benefited in the interim and CBD has found its way into a multitude of offerings thanks to its health claims.

With hemp, which contains CBD, likely

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to soon see a significant boom in the US following updated legislation in the 2018 Farm Bill, and legalisation efforts for cannabis such as those in Canada, those health claims are going to be put to the test as the ingredient gains increasing interest. Already the beneficent of rapid growth, the CBD market is only likely to continue to boom this year (provided there is no drastic about-face on health claims or regulation).

It is far from the only market we have previously covered that is likely to see notable continued success this year, however.

Probiotics, prebiotics and various other gut-healthy 19 x 15 cm ingredients and products are

likely to cement their place in the market this year. Probiotic products are nothing new, but have seen some criticism of the extent of their health claims and may be usurped by their prebiotic cousins as brands look to innovate in this area. More broadly though, fermented products are on the up. With kombucha having taken the drinks world by storm, the time is ripe for food manufacturers to push guthealthy products such as kimchi, sauerkraut and kefir to the fore.

tional foods have taken a more prominent role in the people’s diet. No longer is a niche segment, the global functional foods and beverage market anticipated to grow close to 8% annually through 2021.

People are interested in their health, and if they can pay the price for the option that has added fruits and vegetables, or added omega-3 or added probiotics, (they) are looking for those different packages that make it seem like they are getting benefits from those foods.

Medical studies show that a healthy gut is the foundation of overall wellness, and more than ever before, consumers are seeking foods that support self-care and healthy immune systems. Our consumers will find a growing number of products rich in probiotics – good bacteria – and flavour.

Probiotics, once only associated with yogurt, are especially attractive to large food companies and are making their way into a variety of foods and drinks like bars, water and cereal. In 2016, PepsiCo acquired beverage maker KeVita and launched its Tropicana Essentials Probiotics line, bringing the live microorganisms to the mainstream juice aisle. And the venture capital arm of General Mills led a new round of funding in 2017 for Farmhouse Culture, a fermented and probiotic food and beverage startup.

Functional foods As consumers have grown increasingly concerned about what they eat and ever-rising medical costs become more prominent in an aging population, func-

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18 Plant-based options also are infiltrating foods like pizza crust made with cauliflower and butternut squash, chickpea pasta and bread fortified with beets and carrots.

Mintel said recently that longer lifespans have given food and drink manufacturers an opportunity to design products that maintain and enhance bone, joint, brain and eye health. Already, functional food products are in the works as scientists extract beta glucan from mushrooms to help bolster the immune system, produce fibre-rich inulin flour from chicory root and explore numerous beneficial nutrients from algae.

Rise of the machines: robotics and artificial intelligence proliferate Technology is forever one of the most transformative aspects of any industry, and food in 2019 is no different. Automation continues to dominate headlines across industries as markets reckon with the power of technology to replace human workers in increasingly complex and individual tasks.

Robots have had a place in manufacturing for decades, but they are becoming ever more capable of performing tasks typically consigned to human workers, from making 120 pizzas an hour to replacing your local barista. In preparing for Industry 4.0, something the food and beverage industry is falling behind in, manufacturers need to reckon with increasingly advanced robotics and the opportunities they offer to increase operational efficiency. There are a variety of advances improving the work of the food

industry, such as blockchain’s offerings to food-tracking, and digitalisation is likely to continue to proliferate throughout the industry’s various sectors. However, perhaps one of the biggest opportunities on offer is the ability to personalise the consumer experience. Whether it be through augmented reality, expanding the narrative of any product being considered, or artificial intelligence, helping consumers make better and more tailored choices by building a profile of their purchasing, the digital revolution offers brands the chance to revolutionise their relationship with consumers.

maintain meat’s dietary dominance while drastically reducing all the worst parts of meat production. Expect further development throughout the year.

There will be more tailor-made nutrition.

There will be products for sports people, but the food sector is working towards more individual nutrition. And there is a step in between that: you look for subgroups – women, pregnant women, men working at a desk compared with men working in a factory and so on.”

Mergers and acquisitions A busy 2018 in mergers and acquisitions could lead to a more subdued 2019 as Conagra Brands, General Mills, Campbell Soup and other big-name CPG companies digest recent multi-billion dollar deals. Food and beverage companies have been active acquirers in recent years in a bid to overhaul their portfolios to better reflect growing consumer interest in snacking and consumption of better-foryou fare, or to enter new faster-growing markets altogether.

Reducing meat consumption and impact: ‘clean’ meat and plant-based food While still far from a significant percentage of the population, it is indicative of the rising popularity of alternative diets and the threat they pose to the meat industry. Going forward, we can expect to see increasing numbers of vegans, vegetarians and ‘flexitarians’, all of which will be looking for offerings to fill the meatshaped hole in their diet. A variety of options have been emerging to fill that gap, from plant-based foods to ‘clean’ meat.

‘Clean’ or ‘motherless’ meat is at the edge of innovation in this area, the idea being to remove environmental and animal rights concerns by producing meat in labs. Labgrown meat would drastically reduce the amount of land required for production and eliminate waste, as well as offering a more ethical option for those still wanting to keep meat in their diet. Economic viability is still a ways off but, given time and further technological development, lab-grown meat could offer a solution to

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

From ambitious meat replacements such as the Impossible Burger to the proliferation of plant-based milk alternatives, plant-based products are on the rise and perfectly positioned to take advantage of consumers’ changing diets. As consumers continue to shift away from meat, plant-based food is likely to proliferate throughout the year. For more on the sector’s success.

In 2018 alone, General Mills spent $8 billion for natural pet food maker Blue Buffalo, Conagra Brands doubled down on its presence in frozen foods with its $10.9 billion purchase of Pinnacle Foods, and Campbell Soup closed its $5 billion purchase of snacking giant Snyder’s-Lance — the company’s largest-ever acquisition.

In addition, Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, shed its American candy business to Nutella owner Ferrero Group for $2.8 billion and paid $7.15 billion to Starbucks to sell the chain’s coffee beans and drinks in grocery stores and other outlets around the world. Coca-Cola also purchased British chain Costa Coffee for $5.1 billion and took a minority stake in BodyArmor. There were also many smaller deals. Companies will spend 2019 simplifying and refocusing their portfolios,

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20 in some cases jettisoning brands or swapping assets with other operations that are more in-line with their long-term growth plans. Pointing towards Kellogg, which has announcedplans to sell its cookie and fruit snacks businesses — including Keebler and Famous Amos — to bring a sharper focus to its core operations.

The wild card in M&A is Kraft Heinz, which has reportedly long been on the lookout for another mega-deal after it was rebuffed in its 2017 attempt to snag Unilever for $143 billion.

Similar to other CPG companies, it has faced shifting consumer eating patterns and less demand for its packaged food products, leading many experts to think that private equity firm 3G Capital, which controls Kraft Heinz — along with billionaire investor Warren Buffett — may want to look outside the CPG sector for its next target.

In India M&A trend has been at its highest, with the world’s largest retailer, Walmart, adding the Indian e-tailer Flipkart to its cart and checked out for $16 billion.

That deal—the biggest e-commerce acquisition in history—alone serves as a perfect proxy for the frenetic merger & acquisition (M&A) activity that characterised the Indian retail and consumer goods space.

There were other big deals, too.Amazon and private equity firm Samara Capital lapped up the departmental store chain More from the Aditya Birla Group for Rs4,200 crore.

Similarly, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) merged with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare in India in December. As part of the $4.5 billion (Rs31, 700 crore) deal, HUL’s Anglo-Dutch parent, Unilever, acquired the right to market the iconic malt-based drink Horlicks in India and other Asian markets.

Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila bought out Kraft Heinz’s malted drink Complan in a Rs.4,595 crore deal. HUL, for instance, said it will use its wide distribution to sell brand Horlicks in rural markets. Large deals aside, the year also saw the Swedish furniture major IKEA open

its maiden store in India, six years after it announced investment plans here. Since its launch—to long queues of eager shoppers in the southern city of Hyderabad — IKEA has announced plans to open more stores and launch e-commerce operations in the country.

Better-for-you Healthy, natural and better-for-you are terms and phrases that have dominated the food industry in recent years and forced companies to evolve. Consumers’ healthier eating habits — especially millennial and Generation Z — are pushing Big Food to switch up their portfolios and consider swapping legacy brands for newer, healthier ones.

That will likely continue to accelerate in 2019 as consumers pressure brands to keep up with changing tastes. Another strong motivator is the bump many companies saw to their bottom line in 2018 when shifting their strategy to healthier products.

Hershey and General Mills are among the companies that have announced plans to continue expanding their portfolios in 2019 to appeal to younger consumers who want healthier snacks. Other brands will likely look to innovate already established brands — like Conagra did with Healthy Choice — and launch new better-for-you products.

But this isn’t a new trend,that betterfor-you snacks is a category that people have been talking about for 12 years and products in that space will continue to increase. There continues to be a lot of innovation in the healthy snack space and increased interest in clean label.

The reason that health in general is getting so prominent is people are finally starting to connect the importance of what you consume in your body to longevity and to your health overall. There’s almost

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

nothing off limits now. Despite it being a huge movement in the industry for years, a recent report found that companies aren’t doing enough to improve the nutritional quality of their products. But that could change this year as the demand for healthier fare continues to grow.

Sustainability In recent years, consumers have been looking for more sustainability from food industry practices. From packaging to production, shoppers have been willing to pay more to feel like they are helping the environment.

As sustainable business practices across the food and beverage industries become the norm, companies have begun to change their ways to gain a competitive edge and boost profits.

Mars, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Unilever and Walmart have all announced sustainability pledges, focusing on where products come from, the production and manufacturing processes and the impact that makes on the environment. But in 2019, many are expected to deliver on those promises to accommodate consumer demand.

Some companies are even pushing their industries to make big changes. Chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut has ambitiously made the goal of not only sustainably sourcing its own chocolate but making it the industry norm by 2025, pushing other chocolate brands to level up and compete with its promises.

A number of brands are in the early stages of getting into regenerative agriculture because it is better for the planet. General Mills and Danone are among the big food companies touting these new methods.

Although consumers are increasingly looking for companies to take the initiative on environmental issues, there are still many barriers to sustainability, like in packaging.

But this year, companies could prioritize solutions even if they face challenges.

Major bottled water manufacturers — such as Danone, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Coca-Cola — are already investing in alternatives and pledging to increase the amount of recycled plastic in their bottles.

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NEED OF FOOD PROCESSING

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Processing of Agri-food an industry Emphasizing on Indian economy

F

ood Processing Industry in India plays a very substantial role in India’s economy. Right from the agriculture and harvest of crop up to the consumption of the product by the consumer, there is a sure level of significant worth expansion in each product. This value expansion can be of various kinds. As it goes from manufacturer to distributor, to retailer lastly to the shopper, each stage increases the value of the product. In this value chain, there might be value expansion by sorting, evaluating, bundling, branding and so forth.

These activities not make product alluring, more usable, gives choice and attention to clients and furthermore improves time frame of realistic usability of items.

Aside from this service rendered by delegates to pass on the product from manufacturer to the consumer is likewise significant.

The greater part of the rural products is not consumable in their unique frame, for which they are prepared. Wheat is changed over into flour, sugarcane into jaggery, Sugar, ethanol, liquor Paddy into rice, and so forth.

Consequently, food processing not just enhances the agro products, but rather likewise expands their utility. We realize that exercises in an economy are

extensively partitioned into agriculture, industry, and services. Food Processing Industry is the result of agribusiness and industry.

Why food processing is critical?

India Food Processing Industry is evaluated at $135 billion industry which is developing at around 8% every year.

This development rate is altogether more than rural development rate which stays around 4%. These signs show toward sensational move toward food processing from conventional ways. Gross domestic product by processing constitutes around 10% that of agriculture.

India has around 26 kinds of various climatic conditions, 46 assortments of soils are there in India out of aggregate 60 sorts of soils around the world. 127 ‘agro-climatic zones’ have been distinguished in India. Likewise, Indian food is known worldwide for its remarkable taste and smell.

India’s cultural and regional diversity is splendidly reflected in the food. Each state in India has something one of a kind to offer. Like South Indian, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi & Rajasthani delicacies are extraordinary and are appreciated in numerous parts of the world. In any case, they haven’t possessed the capacity to make advances in different nations the

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

manner in which McDonald’s, Domino’s and so forth have done in India. This is on the grounds that absence of innovativeness, advancement, branding and above all shallow pockets of Indian manufacturers India is the biggest manufacturer of Pulses, ginger, Mangoes, Buffalo, Banana, Milk, meat and second-biggest producer of rice, cashew nut, wheat, garlic, potato groundnut, green peas, dry onion, pumpkin, gourds, sugarcane, cauliflowers and tea on the planet. We deliver 17% of the worldwide aggregate of vegetables and 14% on account of natural products.

Around 40 percent of the world’s mangoes and 30% of the world’s bananas and papayas are delivered in India. Further, India has numerous one of kind things to offer, for example, Alphonso Mangoes

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and wheat of Madhya Pradesh is particularly protein rich.

Indian agriculture is invaded with post-gather wastage issue. In a class of foods grown from the ground it is around 30-40%. By and large, cost of wastage is assessed at 18% running from 50000 crores to 1 lakh crore. Wastage is owing to a few variables including non-accessibility of offices for arranging, evaluating, bundling, storing, transportation, cool chain and low level of processing of agricultural produce.

Consumption patterns in India are quickly moving from grains to protein-rich foods and cultivation. Likewise, India has the noteworthy extent of the populace which is under nutrition, inhibited and wasted. Cultivation and natural products are much attractive for this issue and wastage decrease will have an unequivocal effect here.

Food Processing Industry(FPI) can possibly turnaround the entire economy. Indian economy is an agrarian one, in light of the fact that around 55% populace is straightforwardly reliant upon agribusiness. FPI specifically targets cultivating part as it endeavours to make more kinds of products out of single yield. This will build interest for agriculturists and thus more profitable costs.

India’s statistic profit is plentifully discussed and the greater part of this lies in rural India. Indian youth is getting some distance from agriculture due to low productivity. FPI is maybe best wager to seize the chance of statistic profit. It can give us a type of dynamic country business visionaries. Prosperous wide open will have multiplier positive effect on financial and political issues. To put it plainly, FPI can reduce the gap betweenrural and urban India.

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Aside from this current India’s economy is under change, Income classes are moving upward.

Consistently a great many family units are leaving neediness to be a piece of white collar class.

Per capita pay is increasing as GDP development rate is considerably higher than populace development rate. This is complemented by developing urban culture, family units, working couples. This puts forth defence for processed food convincing. Utilization in India is steadily tilting towards bundled and prepared to-eat foods. The request will undoubtedly increment, however it must be seen that to what degree opportunity is seized by Indian industry and what amount is left for outside organizations.

FPI is an employment intensive industry; it can be a solution to the jobless development of the past decade. At present, only 3 % of the job is in FPI, while in advanced nations it handles 14% populace. Again, much of the job will be generated into rural India. This can be the solution to the issue of distress migration. Development in indirect employment in the planned food processing sector was located at 6 % from 2011 to 12.

Also, tactical geographic location and proximity to food-importing nations make India complimentary for the export of processed foods.

At last, world financial systems are integrating even quickly year by year. So a nation has no choice but to stay competitive.

India’s food processing sector is 5th globally with regard to production and exports.Food Processing Industry is given much importance and it justifies a priority treatment by the government.

The industry has developed miles ahead of what was expect-

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

ed; Agro and food processing journal analyses the major step taken both by government and industry to enhance this sector and its contribution to the economy; The assemblage of Mega Food Park Boosting the food processing industry will help the agriculture sector grow exponentially and become a major contributor to doubling the farmers’ income and aid ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government. To give a major boost to the food processing sector by adding value and reducing food wastage at each stage of the supply chain with particular focus on perishables, Mega Food Park Scheme was implemented.

Mega Food Parks create modern infrastructure facilities for food processing along the value chain from farm to market with strong forward and backward linkages through a cluster-based approach.

Common facilities and enabling infrastructure is created at Central Processing Centre and facilities for primary processing and storage is created near the farm in the form of Primary Processing Centres (PPCs) and Collection Centres (CCs).

Under the scheme, the government provides financial assistance of up to Rs 50 crore per Mega Food Park project.

Around 14 Five Mega Food Parks were inaugurated during this period including Himalayan Mega Food Park at Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand; Greentech Mega Food Park at Roopangarh Village in Ajmer, Rajasthan; Satara Mega Food Park in Satara District, Maharashtra; Paithan Mega Food Park in Aurangabad District in Maharashtra; Gujarat Agro Infrastructure Mega Food Park.Creation/Expansion of Food Processing Preservation Capacities (CEFPPC) - 134 projects have been approved under the scheme till date.

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26 Integrated Cold Chain The Scheme of Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure have been implement as one of the component of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana with the objective of arresting post-harvest losses of horticulture & non-horticulture produce and providing remunerative price to farmers for their produce.

The integrated cold chain and preservation infrastructure can be set up by individuals, groups of entrepreneurs, cooperative societies, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), NGOs, Central/State PSUs and so on. The scheme is primarily private sector driven and proposals under this scheme are invited through Expression of Interest (EoI).

Some 81 projects have been approved

by Inter Ministerial Approval Committee (IMAC); Creation of Backward and Forward Linkage-70 projects have been approved under the scheme till date; Agro Processing Clusters-33 projects have been approved under the scheme till date.

Cleanliness Efforts towards cleanliness were undertaken under Swachhta Pakhwada which was observed from October 16 to 31. On the first day, the minister launched the campaign with the inauguration of a book Waste to Wealth Technology prepared

by Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Thanjavur, and Tamil Nadu.

During the campaign, industry bodies like Assocham, FICCI, DICCI, PHDCCI, AIFPA and CII organised Swachhta Awareness Programme and training camps for street vendors on food safety across New Delhi. The minister awarded prizes to cleanest Mega Food Parks and Cold Chains.

NEED OF FOOD PROCESSING

based on innovation by developing new technologies, new product development, refine exciting technological infrastructure which can be commercialised in future for the development of food processing sector.

NIFTEM was one of its kind institute and had the potential to become the Harvard of food processing technology and management sector.

NIFTEM expanded its infrastructure and added an Incubation Centre and Food Testing Laboratory to its list. The laboratory would not only serve as a centre for certification of food products but would also undertake research and innovation for solving the problems of the food industry and other stakeholders of the food sector. The centre would work in unison with the regulators and the policy makers for providing them all support for developing standard test protocols for various parameters of quality essential for domestic and international market and would serve as the national reference facility in the years to come.

Modalities of Operation Greens Operation Greens was announced in the Budget speech of 2018-19 with an outlay of Rs. 500 crore to stabilise the supply of Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP) crops and ensure availability of TOP crops throughout the country round the year without any price volatility.

A major step was taken when the ministry declared a two-pronged strategy for operationalization of the scheme which comprises of Short Term Price Stabilisation Measures consisting of a provision

Advances in Food Processing Technology Forming NIFTEM- to identify challenges being faced by the Indian food industry, to bridge industrial and academic gap by industry-oriented research projects, promote science & technology collaboration

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

of 50% of the subsidy on Transportation of TOP crops from production to storage; Hiring of appropriate storage facilities for TOP crops; and Long Term Integrated value chain development projects.

Capacity Building of FPOs & their consortium; Quality production; Post-harvest processing facilities; Agri-logistics; Marketing / Consumption points; Creation and management of e-platform for demand and supply management of TOP crops.

Better Connectivity for Grievance Redressal MOFPI launched an in-house toll-free Interactive Voice Response service. People applying under various provisions of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana can call on the number and get their queries resolved by the department concerned.

Skill Development The government launched a new subscheme i.e., Scheme for Human Resources and Institution – Skill Development (SHRISD) for assisting Skilling Infrastructure and Development of Course Curriculum with a budget outlay of Rs. 27.50 crore from 2017-18 to 2019-20 with following two components: 1. Development of Course Curriculum / Training Module in English, Hindi and translation of the same in recognised regional languages based on the Qualification Packs (QPs) validated by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) as National Occupational Standards.

Grants-In-Aid is provided to the eligible institutions upto maximum of Rs 5 lakh per QP for development of training module both in print and multimedia for each job role and, up to a maximum of Rs 0.50 lakh per QP is provided for the translation of already developed training modules in recognised regional languages as per 8th schedule.

2. Establishing Training Centre (TC) / Expansion of Existing Training Centre to impart skill/ training on various job roles in food processing as per the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF).

Grants-In-Aid is provided at the rate of 50% of cost of plant & machineries required for a National Skills Qualifications Frame-

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28 work (NSQF) validated training module subject to maximum of Rs 15 lakh per training module and limited to maximum two training modules per Training Centre (TC).

Under the Make in India initiative In this the Government plans to stimulate growth in the Food Processing sector through the creation of a strong infrastructure, reduction of food wastage and promotion of Ease of Doing Business (EODB) measures. The upcoming ‘Scheme for Agro-Marine produce Processing and Development of Agro-clusters’ (SAMPADA) will provide a renewed thrust to the sector with the budget allocation of USD 923 Million.

The FDI in trading and e-commerce of food products is allowed up to 100% through government approval route. Additionally, the 100% FDI policy through automatic route in the sector for manufacturing in India has resulted in inflows of USD 1.7 Billion during April 2014 to December 2016 and USD 263.71 million from April - June 2017. With such an increased government support, food business giants such as Kellogg’s, Ferrero and BSA International are all set to expand their footprint in India.

To spur the growth in the e-retailing segment of the sector, the government has allowed 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for Food processing in e-commerce through government approval route for products manufactured/produced in India.

The move will open new avenues of growth in food retailing and boost the income of the farmers. India’s geographical proximity to food importing regions such as Singapore, Middle East, Thailand, Europe, Korea and Malaysia will further boost exports in the future.1 The Electronic National Agriculture Market (E-NAM) has integrated 417 markets from 13 states for efficient sale and distribution of food products and raw materials. 18 The service aims to create a unified national market for agricultural produce with 585 regulated mandis to be integrated with the portal by March 2018.19 The Ease Of Doing Business (EODB) measures implemented by the government such as the launch of a single window clearance for customs, single window investor facilitation cell, simplification of application forms, along with

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online system of food licensing and registration are landmark moves.20 The Food Processing industry is critical to India’s growth and the government is focused on providing adequate impetus to the sector. A well-developed Food Processing sector will help facilitate crop diversification and generate employment opportunities. The introduction of modern processing techniques for food will result in improved shelf-life of the agricultural produce and ensure steady revenue to farmers. With the correct set of policy implementations and support, the industry can grow by leaps and bounds, taking India to a new position of strength and prosperity in the global economy.

Epilogue The availability of a rich agricultural resource base as well as a rapidly evolving domestic market are poweringunparalleled growth in India’s food processing industry. India’s per capita income has steadily amplified, with average per capita net national income (NNI) at Rs. 79,882 during 2014-15 to 2017-18 as compared to Rs. 67,594 during 2011-12 to 2014-15.

Growing incomes and changing lifestyles have led to a sturdy transformation in the dietary habits of Indians from the traditional food grains and pulses to other categories like fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meat and edible oils, necessitating a major overhaul in the entire value chain from the farm to the kitchen table.

Furthermore, with usuallybusy urban lifestyles, working couples and smaller families, there is a discernible shift to packaged foods; a segment projected to grow by five times in India to reach US$ 200 billion over the coming decade.

A report published by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ernst & Young and the CII, projects that the food and beverage segment is expected to reach a value of US$ 1.142 trillion by 2025. This implies a potential size of US$ 958 billion for the Indian food processing industry at market prices by that year.

With improving interconnectivity and sustained efforts by stakeholders, India is also exploring avenues for growing its exports of processed food products. Exports of processed fruits and vegetables reached US$ 1.21 billion in 2017-18. Apart from this category, some major processed food items exported from India include cereal preparations, groundnuts, guar gum, co-

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

coa products, etc. (source: APEDA).

India’s current overall level of food processing is just 10%, which needs to be rapidly increased to capture market opportunities and improve outcomes for farmers. In 2016, the Government of India permitted FDI up to 100% in the food processing industry via the automatic route.

In addition, 100% FDI is also allowed under Government route for retail trading including e-commerce, for food products manufactured and/or produced in India.

With the introduction of the policy, India immediately witnessed a strong jump in FDI for food processing by 43% yearon-year to reach US$ 727.22 million in 2016-17 and further by 24% year-on-year to reach US$ 905 million in 2017-18.

The sector has received cumulative FDI inflows of US$ 8.45 billion from April 2000 to March 2018.

Among other investments, global e-commerce major Amazon secured approval for investment of US$ 500 million for food retailing in the country in July 2017.

World Food India, a platform to showcase opportunities across the fold value chain in India, was organised by Ministry of Food Processing Industries during November 3-5, 2017. During the event, around US$ 14 billion worth of MoUs were signed/exchanged/announced.

Among the major countries that signed MoUs were USA, France, Germany, Netherlands and the UAE. Even as the share of manufacturing and services in the Indian economy grows, agriculture still accounts for around 49% share in employment. Promotion of value addition through food processing’ is a major plank of the seven-point strategy outlined by the Prime Minister to double the income of farmers by 2022.

Rapid advancements in food processing infrastructure will be of immense benefit to Indian farmers in the coming years – it will help them prevent wastage, promote value addition and ensure that they get remunerative prices for their produce and tide over the vagaries of demand and supply.

Moreover improvements in food quality and value addition will open many more avenues for producers in domestic as well as in export markets.

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SWEET MOMENTS

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Ajit Sweets

Bringing Sweet Smiles To Your Joyful Moments

J

ourney of Ajit Sweets s i n c e 1984………

The rich heritage of traditional Indian mithai, Ajit Sweets assures top quality, consistency and the promise of delight in every bite of their mouth watering products.

Ajit Sweets is obsessed with authenticity, purity and believes in curating flavours that suit the tastebuds of customers. Ajit Sweets promises honest service, approved standard quality and maintaining authentic taste.

The brand Ajit Sweets was founded in the year 1984 by Ajit Manek. Because ofthe dedicated and passionate team of quality controllers the company serve hygienic products and new innovations every year in more than 35 years. State of the art manufacturing units at Bhumi World, Bhiwandi are proof of high standards quality. Our team from agronfoodprocessing.com magazine made a field visit to Bhumi World where Ajit sweets has the entire setup of manufacturing, packaging and advanced logistic approach.

The excerpts from his desk: You are very futuristic investor in the sweets and farsaan industry which is shaping up to be as modern as possible. Please tell our readers something about yourself, how your company

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

“Ajit sweets” came into existence and yourjourney till date?

7thMay 1984 was the start of Ajit sweets.

In fact unknowingly in real sense way back in late sixties, the foundation was laid by my grandfather. Practically all the products in snacks like wafers, sweets,mithai,farsaan….everything was there. From Dahisar till Dadar in Mumbai there was no factory which made wafers and farsan. I will give credit to my grandfather who started this. The company witnessed a closed down after his expiry in 1968.

Parallel to that time my father supplied wafers and farsan to around 90 - 100 theatres in Mumbai by the name of Kalpana Farsan in partnership with my uncle. Unfortunately the partnership ended abrupt-

SWEET MOMENTS

ly and Kalpana Farsan was left in the mid way. Adamant to go beyond the dreams, I struggled to make my way through and opened a shop in Dahisar West. And was quite successful serving my community and customers till my fate took another twist.

In 1987,the theatres all over Mumbai were shut down due to indefinite strike. Again I saw myself in mid of nowhere. Not losing my will power, I started the business from ground zero level once again with all the zest. But this time it was in sweets. Luckily for me I found trustworthy labours and people. And along with customers’ support who appreciated my products I stood up again to the booming industry of sweets.

Our name shone in retail as well as wholesale market especially in samosa & jalebi manufacturing. That time we sold jalebi for Rs. 300/ kg which was made in pure ghee. Seeingthrongs of customers at the shop front

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In 2005, my father fell ill. With complexities involved, with

In 2011, my life took another turn. I was doing this certain course of landmark which enlightened my life and transformed me into different person. I started loving my people, my workers. I realized that I have to live for peoplearound me.

My daughters are the key figures to transform me and my thinking.

in 2 years we were back to square. I got stricter in my attitude and could be agitated very easily. After 3 months,Iregained my strength and again from zero level I started all over to open a shop‘Ajit Sweets’ in Dahisar East. With FSSAI in mind, its rules and regulations, my staff, my supportive community andbeloved customers, thenwhy should I stop anywhere!!! I was headstrong to go forth with the destiny whatev er it held for me.

Initially following FSSAI policies were very taxing and confusing but gradually the puzzle fell into proper places and it became a ladder of deeper understanding.

When I started I knew nothing with no understanding, I was just working and kept going on proving things to myself day in and day out. I must admit here that what kept me going on was the inspiration of Haldirams, and all other brands. Haldirams are the stars of namkeen & sweets industry. I follow them with frankness and sincerity.

What is the investment of your modern setup?

I started with nothing but today with

nobody could realize the scene behind the shop. I barely had sufficient funds as we were working on a very thin margin. With 100% purity we could not keep enough margins.

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

SWEET MOMENTS

32 the grace of Almighty GOD, it’s around Rs. 25cr of investment and a turnover of around Rs.20cr.

From handmade to automatic making of products, what is your message to a general sweet maker looking from past to present?

Even after taking up fully automated operations, labour still is a necessity. You just cannot avoid the labour part. The plus point of automation is quite beneficial; we can supply more hygienic products to our customers. We can be world-tech expert with world-tech approach; the more we get mechanized the more growth can be expected.

We have to be-friend the machines; we have to convince our labour and workers that these hi-tech machines are our helpers. The labour can educate others to operate the machine and get the work done hands-free instead of sweating 12/12 hours of shifts.

What solution do you suggest if we replace peoplewith machines? What will happen to the retrenched labour?

As I said we cannot do without manual labour. Manual labour is involved throughout the production till sales. Machines do their part of work but to run them, we need labour. My suggestion will be that if we educate our labour in a very informative way, I am sure they will not leave their job. In fact they will enjoyworking in an automated atmosphere which is neater and quicker and less of sweat.

If we expect today’s generation that they will join us in manual layout then we have to think twice before calling them on the production floor. They will not enter the business at all. But if given automation as choice, then yes! They are all set to be in.

Innovation starts from automation because necessity is the mother of invention. The major benefit of automation is that you can develop your products in ‘n’

numbers of varieties with these automatic machines. You can manufacture as many variants as you can.

Ajit Manek’s elder daughter Dhara was also a contributor to this interview. She has completed her M.Sc and Bioinformatics withfour and half of experience in her father’s industry.

We asked her about her views as a lady entrepreneur in this field;she gladly took up reins to tactfully answer all our questions. She expressed that the factory initially was highly unorganized, there was no system nor there was proper process beside commonlocal sales of Mumbai.

There was nothing else to be called as transaction. I started with my footings following 4-5 principles as guidelines from my father.

According to him: i). Pure should be treated as pure and should not be contaminated with any substitutes like mixing two fats with one original and the other vanaspati; ii). Should not cheat customers; iii). Will not use preservatives and iv). Use more of fresh products. My father is of the view that any sweets which are manufactured here, if you can feed that to your child then definitely you can sell it but if even 1% hesitation about the product persists then discard the item and not be sold.

I was introduced to the company to increase the strength and system process, to handle R&D department with most of the bondage that we will not use preser-

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

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SWEET MOMENTS

34

vatives at all. Major drawback that I faced was infrastructure. We tried to implement ISO standard. My father did not want to give money and purchase ISO. According to him, ISO should be a way of being and not just a certification. Daddy wants to workwith a sincere, genuine and authentic approach, if you say ISO then it should be ISO in real sense.

Daddy is more into compliance.We should get compliance like FSSAI, STMPC.. once and for all that’s his belief. With all these compliances and formalities updated then we are left with only one field left for our total attention and that is Sales. So our major focus should be concentrated in sales and growth volume, thus the system is set and everything is ready to roll out.

Often, people get worried to complete FSSAI’s wants of procedures Let me tell that all these rules and regulations set by the apex food regulator keep helping us fromtime to time with a vigilant vision to improve upon our product and give clean and healthy food items to our country citizens.

According to FSSAI, if our raw materials are lab tested which has become mandatory, I am sure I can confidently sell my product swearing upon its purity.

Agronfood will not ask about difficulties that you faced as a girl in the industry but would like to rephrase the question- How has the industry benefitted you, you being a woman in it?

No doubt girls in our country are called ‘Annapoorna’. With no second say, I have definitely benefited from the industry. All the seniors from this industry have treated me like a daughter. One of the names which always crops up and is there on the tip of my tongue is Ajit sir from MotaChips, who has been really supportive on every step. And across the industry may it be a machinery suppliers or vendors, I have indefinite list of names that have treated me with respect. They all have come as a support and not as a challenge in my way”.

Adding in, Ajit Manek very admiringly said that his two daughters are not tensions but they are ‘ten sons’.

“As alady, I have been called upon, respected and treated very well. I have visited many events and met many business peoplewhere they openly admitted that they have not given, this golden opportunity to their daughters and have regretted of not doing so”.

Ajit admitted that after seeing Dhara in this field, the peopleare actually promoting their daughters in the businesses.

Because of one example of Dhara, peopleare following the footstep which is the necessity these days. Further he gave us the glimpses of Dhara as a toddler of 8-9 months old. She with her little feet who had just learned to walk was helping her parents to give boxes of mithai for packing probably that was her first step towards this industry which has proven to be lucky and fruitful. She has earned her place in the mithai world long since then.

We have already introduced ourselves to our export clients and we are now exporting sweets to 6 countries. With the help of test lab we can proudly say that weare selling quality products. With support of FSSAI as a controlled food regulator, there will certainly be a curb on the mushrooming shops of small sizes which more often than not open and shut down within 2 months of operations.

These kiosks are without registration and proper licenses. FSSAI is creating an awareness and putting lots of efforts among people, trans fat, less sugar, used cooking oil, test labs etc....

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

The way mithai industry is developing there is some saturation point for salty snacks and farsan. The products need alot of branding because as of today we find all the branded products sold almost in every nook and corner of the country. Mithai needs preservation which is unquestionable. What is the scope of mithai demand which can be covered over a period of time where we can create wonders to the sweet and mithai products?

Dhara said, “We have the entire playground at our disposal. A vast field needs to be covered.It remains unexplored and we have just touched the tip of the ice berg. There is immense potential to cover with unlimited choice and variations that can be applied to push the mithai industry with horde of innovations. In 2013 and 2014, daddy and I visited Germany for an exhibition.

We found nothing in the name of Indian traditional sweets there. This was really baffling scene with no machinery in the name of Indian sweets. We went there hoping to see the availability of Indian sweets, the different varieties of machinery available, various type of packaging that could be available and what new things are going on internationally. We were disheartened to see nothing meaningful there.

We thought ourentire trip was a flop; we have wasted company’s money in this exhibition. But suddenly we realised that if there is nothing then therepossibility of everything. If Europeans are not aware of the Indian sweets,let’s make them know about us, let them have the taste of Indian sweets. We have a tie-up with US cranberries. We keep participating in small events with them. Sometime back we introduced our special halwa at US J.W.Mariott.

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36 The US Embassy officials marvelled at the taste and had it with tea instead of their favourite cookies. Their US chocolate was set aside and tremendously admired our halwa. This small incident is a curtain-raiser and a proof that Indian heritage with its rich culture of food if introduced in a proper manner can be a globe-trotter.

We see at small shops packets of chips and snacks hanging of different brands, how about having few packets of Ajit Sweets’peda and laddoos too in these small kiosk?

Well said!! Of course people will see that within next 2 years Ajit Sweets will come under the umbrella of big brands.

Packaging and preservation industry is on the turning point. Many people across India have that machines and most of them are under trials. Some peoplewant to work with pure ghee and nothing else.

And some manufacturers are happy to use vanaspati ghee which does not go rancid while pure ghee has the great tendency of going rancid soon. So to work with pure ghee is also another challenge. Soon we will be ready with good shelf life of our products, added Dhara.

With newer trend of ice cream parlour cropping up here and there, will mithai industry see such parlours too?

Ajit laughingly said, “We are supplying sweets to nearly 250 shops across Mumbai. Just like computer have Intel-Inside so does the local sweet houses along with their banner print says “Ajit Sweets Inside”. Local mithaiwalas also keep our products, so this act like mithai parlour.

No one should encourage selling loose sweets, very soon in planning in fact according to FSSAI no loose sweets should be sold as per the rules.

Also packaging must have proper information about the product wrapped inside. Loose sweets have no guarantee of food colours, quality of ingredients and shelf life of the products. Ifthe stale product is kept with fresh one, the bacteria often travels to the fresh batch and affects that batch too.

interact face-to-face. Also we don’t feel alone or left out in this industry. Back of the mind we know that we are not the only one to struggle. At the event, we had the golden chance to meet most of the best personalities from mithai world and also from FSSAI.

Manufacturers should stop selling loose mithai. Mixing the batches is risky as we will actually be playing the health of our customers. My company runs with the help of 500 people. If I have a labour force of say 100 people, back home he is having a family of 5 more. Thus I have to besincere with my conscience, sincerewith my work to support them earnestly.

I have counted my vendors too in this slot of example. I have to keep my conscience clear for the betterment of the entire families which rely on me. I always keep educating my staff and clients about cleanliness, to keep the counter picture perfect, to maintain high degree of personal hygiene etc…..

Dhara you have attended our event of WMNC in Indore. In today’s time we have branded food products in almost every state, every city. Inter-industry cooperation will increase in coming time because of FSNM, what benefit do you observe in it?

“The event has scored 100% from my behalf. For me such platform like FSNM is a must in every state and city because cross industry and allied sector when such ideas are shared, we get an opportunity to

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

We had the opportunity to get information directly from Bio-Diesel Association of India. Previously some points were not clear to us and were ambiguous. These points weresorted when we came to the event and attended the seminar. We did not know where and how to discard and dispose the used oil.

Attending the seminar, we came to know what other peopleare doing with their oil.

Now thatwe have an organization called FSNM which is there to take care of all our difficulties or any injustice meted out, we can stand together and put up doubts to the executive members who can voice our thoughts to the higher authorities.

To present our sweets globally, we got this idea from WMNC event. Definitely such events and organizations are necessary to go forth with the mithai industry.

More than competition this platform gave a feeling of healthy relationship as one big family. I am a huge fan of FSNM and WMNC event. I am eagerly awaitingfor the next event”. . With more than 100 products at hand, 500 esteemed clients, 10 workshops and + 35 years of experience in sweets and farsaan manufacturing, we wish Ajit Manek and his team a very good luck with many,many blessed seasons to prosper.

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38

Sprouted grains:

?

Are we any closer to a workable definition

U

S retail sales of products referencing sprouted grains on pack decreased slightly (-2.1%) to $267.2m in the 52 weeks to October 7, according to new data* from SPINS, with the largest category - bread and baked goods - experiencing an 4.2% decline.

However, there were pockets of growth in shelf-stable bars and gels (+25.5%), crackers and crispbreads (+14%), frozen entrees (+343%) and shelf- stable hot ce-

reals (+57%). Sprouted grains have been allowed to germinate (sprout) in a controlled manner by exposing them to moisture and warmth. This process is then typically halted by drying the grains at just the right time (after beneficial enzymes have been activated to work their magic, but before the grains are ‘drowned’), although some firms mash wet, sprouted grains into a purĂŠe that is sold frozen.

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While sprouted grains can offer functional benefits for bakers (improved baking performance, better volume and stability, and reduced prolong time), they also promise consumer benefits from improved digestibility to higher nutrient levels and improved flavor.

Tests also show that the bio-availability of some nutrients is also higher in sprouted grains because the sprouting process ac-

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NUTRITIONAL GAIN

40 tivates enzymes that eliminate or reduce components such as phytic acid which are designed to lock in nutrients and stop the seed germinating before it’s planted.

However, while the AACCI’s definition is often cited by industry, there is no regulated definition of ‘sprouted grains’ and no agreed protocols over when the germination process should be halted**, or what label claims (which nutrients are increased, by how much?) firms c a n make, Kelly Toups, director of nutrition at Oldways, said at the Whole Grains Council conference in Seattle recently.

One working group member estimated that about 60% of grains on the market are capable of germination (as some are too old, some have been bred to resist sprouting the in the field (which makes them resist intentional sprouting too), and some are rendered unviable by aggressive grain driers or heat treatment to stabilize unsaturated fats in grains such as oats, for example).

Another key factor for sprouted grains is that they must be sprouted intentionally through a controlled process, as those that have accidentally field sprouted should not be part of the food supply, said Toups. “We don’t want to make anyone sick, and this needs to be done in a controlled environment.”

Once you’ve identified viable grains for sprouting, an additional challenge is that nutritional changes vary between grains, and are elusive and hard to measure, she said. To complicate matters further, some nutritional changes peak earlier than others, making it hard to pinpoint a moment of ‘optimal overall nutrition.’

Why sprout grains?

According to the Whole Grains Council sprouting grains can cause many changes including: • • •

•

Complex molecules become simpler and easier to digest Minerals such as iron, calcium, manganese, become more bio-accessible Vitamin C, folate, and antioxidants can increase [ORAC scores of sprouted seeds are higher] Insoluble fiber decreases; soluble fiber increases Gluten decreases

AACCI definition: In early 2008, AACCI’s Board of Directors decreed that, “Malted or sprouted grains containing all of the original bran, germ, and end o -

sperm shall b e c o n s i d - ered whole grains as long as sprout growth does not exceed kernel length and nutrient values have not diminished. These grains should be labeled as malted or sprouted whole grain.”

Is looking for a visible sprout the best way to determine sprouting?

But nutritional factors aside, why is it so hard to arrive at a workable definition of a sprouted grain? Isn’t the presence of a visible shoot a clear marker of a sprouted grain?

Yes and no, said Toups. “It’s common for some grains to undergo changes consistent with germination without showing a visible sprout … or sometimes it’s hard to see sprouts on tiny grains [such as amaranth]; sprouts can also fall off during drying, and not all grains in a batch sprout visibly. So while a visible sprout confirms sprouting, the lack of one should not disqualify a grain if sprouting can be documented in other ways.”

One useful marker is alpha amylase levels, which increase when grains germinate, with many firms using the FN or ‘falling number test’ (which measures the alpha-amylase enzyme activity in grains) to determine the appropriate point at which to halt the sprouting process.

Another method is the RVA or ‘rapid visco analyzer’ test (which indirectly estimates the amount of alpha-amylase by measuring starch viscosity) – but this can be expensive, said Toups.

Amino acids levels, antioxidants

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

Tests for increased levels of certain amino acids (such as GABA) or antioxidants can also be an indicator of sprouting, or tests to measure a specified percent reduction in phytate. However, as all grains, and even cultivars of the same grains, or different-sized seeds of the same grain, behave differently, it’s going to be very hard to set a ‘sprouted’ standard that applies to all grains, she said.

“Grains in the same batch can sprout at different rates under the same conditions… It’s too soon to say that one approach is best for very company.”

While the AACCI says sprout growth should not exceed kernel length, meanwhile, some seeds grow a long sprout rapidly, said Toups, with some members of the working group cautioning against setting an arbitrary length limit. “At some point however, a sprouted grain crosses the line from a grain to a new plant, and nutritional values diminish.”

Sprouting index?

So what are the next steps? Right now, said Toups, more research is needed into new methods to determine sprouting, with some stakeholders proposing approaches combining protein, starch, and micronutrient tests to create a ‘sprouting index.’

Consumers and sprouted grains As to what consumers think about sprouting, from a marketing perspective, sprout-

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42

resurgence as a superfood trend. It’s about awakening the seed from its dormant state.

ed whole grains could give the grain industry an opportunity to claw back the initiative in the debate sparked by books like Grain Brain and Wheat Belly by tapping into demand for more nutrient-rich, minimally processed natural foods, said Carlee Kelly, co-founder at product innovation consultancy Lettuce Eat. “So often processing methods strip nutritional content from our foods, but sprouting is a form of natural processing that can enhance the nutritional attributes of foods. It’s also a traditional method of food prep that’s finding a modern day

“What we see when seeds are sprouted are reduced anti-nutrients such as tannins, lectins, phytic acid, a decreased bio-availability of micro-nutrients and increased antioxidants, fiber and protein and I just don’t mean content but protein quality.

Dale Donaldson, president of Canadian sprouted grains specialist Everspring Farms, said that there had been a marked uptick in demand for sprouted grains over the past five years, with consumers buying into the notion that sprouted grains are easier to digest in particular.

“I think consumers have a general sense that sprouted grains are good for you. I think they feel that if the seeds are starting to digest themselves, this makes them easier to digest for humans as well.”

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

From a formulation perspective, whole wheat flour has a shorter shelf-life (as wheat germ contains oil, which can oxidize and cause rancidity) and more astringent flavor than refined wheat flour, said Donaldson. However, sprouting can tackle some of these issues and deliver superior loaf volume, more rapid proof times and dough stability coupled with a sweeter taste, he said.

“Sprouting makes whole grains more user friendly.”

One challenge with sprouting is that every grain is different, requiring a different sprouting time, he said. As for claims you can make to consumers, the industry is a “little ways away from making claims” at this stage, he said.

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TOP CHALLENGES

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The top misery of TOP producers Operation Greens – A Solution for Tomatoes, Onion, Potatoes (TOP) growers

T

omato: Without a doubt, tomatoes are the most popular choice in many gardens no matter where you live. New hybrid varieties have excellent late blight disease resistance which makes growing tomatoes even in humid climates much easier and more productive. Ever popular cherry or grape tomatoes are a fabulous addition to salads, large types for topping tasty burgers or plum types for sauces or salsa. Determinates (also known as bush types), are ideal for smaller gardens, do not require staking and produce heavy yields for gardeners who want a lot at one time for preserving.

Onion : The one ingredient that has always held the most important spot in our kitchen basket is onion. It is impossible to imagine cooking without it especially in Asian cuisine.In the autumn (or in spring, in the case of overwintering onions), the foliage dies down and the outer layers of the bulb become dry and brittle.

The crop is harvested and dried and the onions are ready for use or storage. The crop is prone to attack by a number of pests and diseases, particularly the onion fly, the onion eelworm, and various fungi cause rotting.

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

Potato: Potato is a favourite root-food in almost every countryand major integral part of much of the world’s food supply.

As of 2014, potatoes were the world’s fourth-largest food crop after maize (corn), wheat, and rice. In 2016, world production of potatoes was 377 million tonnes, led by China with over 26% of the total output. Other major producers were India, Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

Completing a small introduction of our little but very essential veggies, lets discuss the position of them in Indian mar-

45

TOP CHALLENGES

46 ket. What effects does it have on farmers’ income, where they stand in case they are over produced and the real misery behind the wastage of them?

Estimates by the agriculture ministry show that overall production of horticulture produce (fruits & vegetables, flowers & spices) in the year 2018-19 (July-June) will be better than the 311.71MT recorded last year. India’s bumper horticulture harvest keeps getting bigger with this year’s production which will touch a new record of 314.67mn (MT) nearly 1% higher than last year and 8% higher than five year average.

The glut, however is also a cause for worry with observers and farm experts questioning whether farmers would actually reap the benefit of such bumper output.

High production depresses prices and the farmers are left in the lurch.

processing facilities & provision professional management.

Though the scheme was finally launched late last year, experts believe that the results of such efforts may not benefit farmers unless the government makes it a top priority of its farm policy by earmarking affordable cold chain across the country.

It says while the country has the world’s largest cold storage capacity, it is unevenly distributed. Most cold storage units are concentrated in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh.

Besides most storage units are more than a decade old and are designed to store only potatoes. As a result, almost 25 per cent of the installed cold storage capacity remains unutilized.

‘I Rue The Day We Ever Became Farmers’ -In Rural India, A Struggle To Survive

Production of high focus TOP ( Tomato, Onion, Potato) is estimated to be higher than the output of the crops in 2017-18 with potato at 52.58MT recording 6% growth, followed by tomato (2% higher) and onion (1.5% higher).

Records have proved that horticulture production has been consistently rising since 2012-13. Production is up and producer is down. That’s the story of Indian agriculture said a farmer.

Crop Year 2014-15 2015-16 2017-18 2018-19

Production 280.9 MT 286.1 MT 311.7 MT 314.6 MT

Initial efforts of government such as price stabilization, funds and boost of food processing industry could not be rolled out because of budgetary constraints and lack of focused approach.

Farmers have been keeping their part of the deal by increasing production but the policy-makers have failed them miserably. They could not provide farmers hassle-free markets and a fair share of what the consumers pay for their produce. Underlying problems are faced by the farmers despite having high output of horticulture crops. The government had in its budget for 2015-19 made provision of Rs.500 crore for Operation Green. Aim of the scheme is to create farm logistic &

Workers sort onions at a wholesale market in Maharashtra. The state is India’s biggest onion producer. Prices have fallen drastically because of a surplus and fewer exports.

Onion farmer Sanjay Sathe was so disappointed with how little he made from his recent harvest that he decided to pull a stunt: He sent a money order for his entire profit — a paltry Rs.1080 ($15) — to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who’s running for re-election this spring. Sathe wanted to show him the meager earnings that Indian farmers must live on.

Sathe, 44, grows onions on about an acre of land in a rural Maharashtra, 130 miles from Mumbai. This little farm prospered under Sathe’s grandfather and father. But now the family has a side gig raising goats because the price of onions keeps falling.

From a good harvest, Sathe says he can earn the equivalent of about Rs.24,500 ($350). That has to last his family half a year. But his autumn crop yield was poor, and what he could sell it for was even worse: just 2 cents per kilo, amounting to that paltry $15.

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

Sathe and fellow farmers increasingly blame the government. They’ve taken to the streets across India in recent months, staging giant protests and marches and demanding that current govt forgive their debts and fix higher prices for produce.

The Indian government sets minimum prices for many commodities, but farmers often have to take out loans from state banks and private lenders to make ends meet. “The government neglects farmers.

It gives tax breaks to big business and plays up controversies over temples and such — all for votes,” Sathe says. “But look at us! We’re dying here.” He’s not exaggerating. A suicide epidemic has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Indian farmers over the past two decades as food prices drop and pesticides and fertilizers get more expensive. Maharashtra, which also suffers frequent droughts, has been called the epicenter of the crisis, with more than 20,000 farmer suicides from 2001 to 2017.

Low food prices keep India’s poor from starving. But for farmers, it means low profits. Modi’s government has been cautious about meeting farmers’ demands for higher food prices, though it recently earmarked in its interim budget a guaranteed income of 6,000 rupees (about $84) annually for each Indian farmer.

“Farmers want higher prices. Consumers want lower prices. So there is enormous opposition to the idea of increasing the minimum support prices for farmers, because it is argued that it will lead to inflation,” says economist R. Ramakumar of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai.

In the case of onions, there’s no minimum price — so it’s particularly volatile.

Sanjay Sathe, 44, grows onions on about an acre of land on a roadside in India’s Maharashtra state.

It got even worse for farmers a little over two years ago, when agriculture,

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TOP CHALLENGES

48 which runs almost solely on cash, was inadvertently hurt by a new government policy designed to fight corruption. It was one of Modi’s signature policies: demonetization.

In November 2016, the Indian government invalidated most of the country’s paper money, especially bills of big denominations. Indians had to deposit their cash into banks or at least exchange their old bills for new ones. The idea was to incentivize the use of digital banking and hurt the black market economy.

“They pulled out all the 500-rupee notes and 1,000-rupee notes that were in circulation. So traders did not have cash to buy these products of farmers,” Ramakumar says. “That’s why a lot of farmers actually dumped onions on the road, in protest.”

That was in late 2016. In late December 2018, the price of onions in Maharashtra dropped more than 80 percentbecause of a surplus and fewer exports. Maharashtra is India’s biggest onion producer and home to the country’s largest wholesale onion market. On a visit to a nearby wholesale onion market in January, NPR found rows upon rows of flatbed trucks overflowing with onions that were rotting in the sun.

Refusing to sell at a loss, farmers were waiting for higher prices — which never materialized. When their onions rotted, it became worthless.

“At this rate, I can’t even afford to rent the truck to haul my onions in market,” said farmer Vijay Ghayal, 43, the dejected owner of one truckload of onions. “We are all in the same situation.”

IrabaiJadhav, 60, is the matriarch of a family of onion farmers in Maharashtra. Her eldest son killed himself in late November. He had been about $40,000 in debt. Jadhav’s husband died of a heart attack 12 days later. Now she is left with all their bills.

Dozens of farmers shook their heads in agreement.

Meanwhile, the m o n e y order of fellow o n i o n f a r m e r Sathe was returned by the prime minister’s office.

Sathe also got some somber news from his neighbors: Two onion growers in his area of Maharashtra had killed themselves.One of them, VitthalJadhav, had been about $40,000 in debt.

“My son was the only educated one in our family,” says Jadhav’s mother, IrabaiJadhav, 60, sitting crosslegged on the cement floor of her family house and weeping. “He’s the only one who understood the loan documents.

I’m worried about how I’ll feed his children.”

In early December, her husband, also a farmer, died of a heart attack 12 days after her son’s death.

“I rue the day we ever became farmers,” she says. “The farmer dies feeding this country, but no one fights for the farmer.”

With elections coming, political parties in India are fighting for farmers’ votes, offering to forgive debt owed to state banks.

But many loans to farmers come from private sources — banks, moneylenders, relatives and others — and these sources are predatory. Interest rates average to around 40 percent, according to economist Ramakumar. In India, people say onion prices can sway elections. In the past, voters pushed back when prices were too high.

This time, the family members of widow IrabaiJadhav say whoever helps them will receive their votes.

Steep drops in recent weeks in the prices of onions and potatoes, both staple foods for the 1.3 billion people, have badly hit the rural economy in large states.In recent weeks, loss-stricken farmers have staged protests, blocked highways and dumped onions, tomatoes, potatoes on the road after prices plunged to as low as one rupee (1.4 U.S. cents) per kg for a crop that costs about Rs.8 per kg to produce.

But because of large cuts taken by mid-

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

dlemen, consumers have not benefited from the low prices.

In Maharashtra, farm prices have fallen 83 percent, dragged down by surplus supplies from the previous season’s crop and lower export orders from the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Farmers say shortcomings in a government crop support programme, and weak overseas demand have combined to produce the current glut of onions. And as prices have plunged, fertiliser and crop nutrient costs have risen, thanks in part to a weak rupee.

NOT AT ALL “GOOD DAYS” Many farmers blame current government for not fixing a price protection programme which barely covers 7 percent of India’s 263 million farmers, leaving most growers at the mercy of middlemen.

Farmers also criticize the policy makers for not setting up more food processing and cold storage facilities, which would allow them to store their crops without having to sell immediately after the harvest.

“Expecting good days, as promised by Modi, we voted for them, but now we are going through the worst phase,” onion farmer MadhavPawase said, pointing to his rotting crop stocked in a temporary shed in Hivargaon village, about 230 km (140 miles) northeast of Mumbai.

“I’ve spent more than Rs. 80,000 to produce 15 tonnes of onions from my two acres of land, but I won’t recover more than Rs. 3,000 at the current market price,” he dejectedly stated.

Some farmers have decided to let onions rot in the field, saying that harvesting and transporting the produce to wholesale markets would only add to their losses.

The BJP was defeated by the opposition Congress party in three major states in local elections this month because of rural

TOP CHALLENGES

anger, and Modi’s government is under pressure to come up with measures to placate farmers.

Congress wrote off farmers’ loans in the three states which it won and has demanded the federal government do the same across the country.

Although the BJP has so far not commented on the issue of farm loan waivers, Rajiv Kumar, the head of government thinktank NITI Aayog, has said that writing off debt is not the solution for the problems of the farm sector.

Syed Zafar Islam, a spokesman for the BJP, said the government had initiated a number of steps to help farmers get remunerative prices, including a project to electronically provide farmers with real-time market prices and help them directly sell to buyers, eliminating middlemen.

“It’s an ongoing process and the results will not just start reflecting in four years,” he said.

In Lasalgaon, the country’s largest onion trading hub, most farmers are selling their

produce at Rs. 2 a kg. But consumers in Mumbai are still shelling out Rs. 20 per kg. Between Lasalgaon and Mumbai, a distance of 220 km (135 miles), traders say onions pass through at least four layers of middlemen, adding a hefty margin at every stage.

POTATO PRICES In Mujahidpur village of Uttar Pradesh, India’s biggest potato growing state, farmers lamented that prices have dropped by 86 percent to Rs. 2,500 a tonne.

“I lost my entire investment of Rs. 1,00,000 to grow potatoes on one hectare,” said Gopi Chand, 55, sitting next to bright yellow mustard fields.

He said he and some other farmers in the area had dumped potatoes in favour of growing mustard.

Farmers in the two states also complained of rising operating costs. Prices of crop nutrient diammonium phosphate, popularly called DAP, have gone up by Rs. 400 to Rs. 1,450 for a bag of 50 kg, said Babloo Singh in Mujahidpur village.

DAP rates have gone up because of high-

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

49 er overseas prices and India’s weaker currency.

“Higher input costs and record low potato prices have left us in deep debt,” said Singh. “The situation would have been different had there been more cold storage facilities and food processing plants in our state.”

The Greys in Operation Greens The Prime Minister recently said Tomato, Onion and Potato crops are government’s “TOP priority”. As they count their losses, farmers in TOP zones are waiting to see how far this utterance is true.

Between 2001-02 and 2016-17, India’s potato production has practically doubled, from an estimated 24.46 million tonnes (mt) to 48.61 mt. In case of tomatoes, it has tripled (from 7.46 mt to 20.71 mt), and for onions, quadrupled (from 5.25 mt to 22.43 mt). Also, the country’s total fruits and vegetable output of 271.09 mt last year almost equaled that of foodgrains (cereals plus pulses) at 275.68 mt. Calculating the above data, Union Budget had proposed an Operation Greens — on the lines of Operation Flood for milk during

TOP CHALLENGES

50

1970-95 — to address price fluctuations in Tomato, Onion and potato for the benefit of farmers and consumers. While the specifics of Operation Greens — for which Rs. 500 crore had been earmarked — aren’t known, there is obviously be a lot of focus on the creation of cold storage capacity and processing infrastructure (the outlay of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries for 2018-19 has been nearly doubled to Rs. 1,400 crore). But will that solve the real issue confronting horticulture — one of harvest-time gluts and off-season price spikes?

Probably not.

The current poor farmer realisations in potatoes, for instance, have little to do with lack of cold storage. The country already has around 32 mt of cold storage, much of it used to stock potatoes. The same goes for onions. In Maharashtra alone, almost 2 mt of storage capacity — which includes on-field raised platform structures (kandachawl), owned by farmers — has been built under various schemes. Nor can processing be a solution beyond a point. The best example here is sugar; it being a fully processed agro-commodity has hardly prevented recurrence of arrears in cane payment by mills to farmers.

The limits of processing would be even more in TOP crops. Pepsico, the maker of Lay’s and Uncle Chipps snack foods, procures some 0.3 mt of potatoes now through contract farming and open market purchases in India. Even adding others — ITC (Bingo), McCain Foods (which supplies to McDonalds), Balaji Wafers and assorted regional/local brands — won’t take the total to more than 1 mt, a fraction of the country’s 48 mt production. Moreover, the potatoes used for chips are of special processing-grade, with low sugar and high dry matter content, and not our regular table aloo.

What applies to potatoes holds for onions and tomatoes as well. It sounds nice to say that tomato growers’ income will rise four times if their produce is processed and marketed as puree, sauce or ketchup. Onions can also, likewise, be sold as paste, powder or flakes. But the question is: How much demand exists for that? At the end of the day, the bulk of TOP produced by farmers will have to be consumed as plain tamaatar, pyaaz and aloo.

A more sensible approach may be reviving the old idea of instituting a Market Intervention Agency (MIA), on the lines of the National Dairy Development Board vis-à-vis oilseeds and edible oils during the late-Eighties and early Nineties.

Today, we have no organised players in fruits and vegetables big enough to influence prices. Reliance Fresh does an annual business of 250,000-300,000 tonnes in this segment. The corresponding volumes of Aditya Birla Retail (More) and Mother Dairy (Safal) range from 100,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes each, and 50,000-75,000 tonnes for Big Bazaar and BigBasket. The largest onion and potato trader/commission agent at Lasalgaon or Agra, too, will not handle more than 150,000-200,000 tonnes in a year. This is unlike, say, milk, where organised dairies, both cooperative and private, procure about 30 mt, a fifth of India’s production.

The presence of organised players reduces price volatility to that extent.

A well-funded MIA would procure TOP crops in major mandis during the peak harvesting/marketing season and offload the produce gradually in the lean months.

Such a pan-India agency must not, however, end up displacing private trade, like the Food Corporation of India did. Its role should be only to curb extreme price volatility, the RBI’s interventions in the foreign currency market. The MIA should

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

buy potatoes from Agra at Rs. 15/kg in February-March, to sell not at Rs. 4-5 but maybe Rs. 20-25/kg in July-August.

The government could also do away with stockholding, export and other trading restrictions. Once this happens, other government initiatives — be it promoting farmer, producer, organisations or connecting mandis through an electronic national electronic market to allow seamless flow of price information — will fall in place and pave way for a genuine Operation Greens.

Prices unsteady, Andhra tries a seed experimentMadanapalle, Andhra Pradesh; India’s largest market for tomatoes. Only four persons among the younger generation in the 200-odd families of Vanamaladinne village near Madanapalle, which houses India’s (and probably Asia’s) largest market for tomatoes, are into farming.

The spacious, brightly painted houses of the village, with SUVs, sedans and minitrucks parked outside, suggest affluence born of the crop. But the unpredictable market and price volatility mean that many feel the compensation isn’t worth the risk.

S.VenkataRamana Naidu, one of Vanamaladinne’s well-known farmers, points to the price fall over just two months: from Rs. 25-plus per kg to Rs.4 now. Last year, on the other hand, from April to November, a shortage meant tomato prices were consistently Rs. 25-30 per kg, occasionally even crossing Rs. 60.

Even at Rs. 10 per kg, Naidu says, farmers can make a profit of Rs. 1.25 lakh per acre. But any rate below Rs. 5 means losses. The favourable climate — neither too hot nor too cold — ensures tomato grows well in this region that’s at the intersection of Andhra, Karnataka and Tamil

51

TOP CHALLENGES

52 Nadu, spread in a 100-km radius around Madanapalle in Chittoor district. Prices start rising towards March when tomatoes grown near Delhi and Uttar Pradesh get exhausted. It takes 72 hours for tomatoes to reach Delhi markets from here.

Naidu, whose tomato fields are irrigated by a drip system, with a special plastic mulch covering the soil to retain moisture, sells at either Madanapalle or the Kolar marketing yard in Karnataka.

“When prices go up during summers or when the crop has failed elsewhere, we get good rates… Medium and big farmers can negotiate these price fluctuations, but small farmers end up in debt,” he says.

“Some farmers leave the tomato in the fields to rot because the money is not enough to even cover the cost of labour to harvest. Transport charges and the 4 per

cent commission fee on the price to agents are over and this.”

Ismail Baig from Kandukuru of PTM Mandal, Chittoor district, who grows tomatoes on 1.5 acres, said that to get 160 boxes of tomatoes (28 kg each) to Madanappale, he paid Rs. 22 per box as transportation and other charges.

After two hours of bargaining, he got Rs. 100 per box. “It was not enough to recover even my cultivation costs,” Baig says.

BalineniRavindra Prasad of Vanamaladinne is among those who have left his ripe tomatoes for now on his 5-acre field.

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A.SubbaraghavaRaju, Secretary of the Madanapalle Agriculture Marketing Yard, admits that price fluctuations can devastate farmers, and hence welcomes the Union Budget’s proposal of tax breaks for Farm Producer Organisations (FPOs), formed by them. “FPOs can help farmers unite and negotiate a steady price,” he says. However, he admits, “Medium and big farmers may not be interested, as they can afford to take losses but may not be willing to give up the quick money they make when prices go up suddenly.”

S. Naidu, who failed to get son to take up farming, is raising a mango orchard as a retirement plan.

As for the suggestion by the Andhra government that they take recourse to food processing units, farmers say it is not practical right now. “These processing units come to yards to purchase only when stocks are being sold at throwaway prices. If the government sets up factories for tomato puree or ketchup or juice, they should purchase the stocks at prices that are beneficial to all parties. Then we would sell entire stocks to factories from the farm itself,” satd farmer K.Ramana of Chittoor.

Secretary Raju contests this claim of private players benefiting, pointing to the downed shutter of Reliance’s procurement office at the Madanapalle market yard. “Their procurement here is over.

Now they are purchasing vegetables in Karnataka for their outlets. If there is a glut in the market, even at Rs. 2 or 3 per kg, there won’t be many buyers.”

The Andhra Pradesh government has started a programme to address the fluctuating tomato prices. Horticulture Commissioner ChiranjeeviChowdhary says they have tied up with Japanese company Kagame, which is supplying seeds on an experimental basis to grow tomatoes that can be used in food processing factories globally.

Anji Reddy, a big farmer owning 20 acres, has sown this seed on 5 acres. “If the experiment is successful, all farmers can sow two varieties — one for the open market and the other for food units — and

TOP CHALLENGES

prevent excessive production and price fluctuations,” Reddy says. Meanwhile, it is hard to find a farmer below 45 years in the over 1,500 acres of cultivable land in Vanamaladinne. Naidu said he tried very hard to persuade son Sukumar to join farming, but he chose engineering and now works at an IT major in Bengaluru. Prasad, whose son too works for a corporate in the city, laments that he chose the Rs. 20,000 per month job over the family profession.

Many of the elders are now seeking retirement security in mango orchards.

“We are reducing the acreage under tomato and other crops and started growing mango trees. Once the trees grow, they don’t need much care. After a few years, the orchards will start paying rich dividends,” says Naidu, who is growing mango on 5 acres.

Onion Govt keeps stepping in to drive down prices of this politically sensitive crop.

Farmers ask what about us?Nashik alone contributes 60% of the onion produce from the state..

As SantoshGorade, 38, tends to his 3.5 acres of onion crop, he says he will do this for “maximum six-seven years more”. After that, the

53 Gorade said with its Operation Greens, or PM Modi’s TOP talk, mean little. Regimes have been known to fall on onion prices, and farmers complain of the government repeatedly intervening to bring prices down in times of flush, and staying silent when prices plunge.

“Before launching Operation Greens, someone should explain why onion keeps being put under the Essential Commodities Act. This allows the government to declare stock limits and intervene for price manipulation,” says Gorade.

“We know onion is a politically sensitive crop, but the farmer too must be thought of.”

f a r m e r from TakliVinchur village in Nashik plans to get out of farming. “It’s too volatile and market forces are always against us,” he sighs.

Under no circumstances, he adds, does he want his two sons, Pranav, 10, and Karanvir, 5, to take up farming. “There is no future in this.”In the past two years, this volatility in the markets has left onion farmers battling penury.

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

Heavy losses in 2015-16 broke the onion cycle for Gorade. “I was forced to sell my rabi onions for Rs. 2-3 per kg, against production cost of Rs. 9.50, which wiped out my savings and left me in debt,” he said. In 2016, Gorade kept away from onion and diversified part of his land to develop a nursery.

SantoshGorade, who also grows grapes, says he wouldn’t want his sons to do this work ever. But in 2017, Gorade’s vine-

54 yards suffered heavy losses due to rains, while onion prices firmed up in June, and so he is giving onion another shot.

About the removal of the MEP a time back, Gorade says, “By far, it was the fastest removal of MEP I have seen in my 20 years of onion trade. If it had not been done, the markets would have seen a bloodbath.”

Of India’s average production of over 200 lakh tonnes of onion, more than 180 lakh tonnes is consumed at home. Just about 10-15 per cent is exported. In 2017, till October, before the MEP was imposed, 16.79 lakh tonnes of onion had been exported.

TOP CHALLENGES

NaglaHira Singh village lies in Hathras tehsil which, together with Aligarh, Mathura, Agra, Firozabad, Etawah, Mainpuri, Kannauj and Farrukhabad in southwest Uttar Pradesh, accounts for roughly a fifth of India’s potato production of around 480 lakh tonnes (lt) a year. Eighty per cent of the village’s population of 270 is involved in potato cultivation.

With another round of harvesting set to begin from early March, the farmers all across complain of the same — high production, low remuneration and indifferent government. And of mounds of potatoes left to rot in cold storages or simply discarded like last year.

Farmers from TakliVinchur normally take their produce to the Lasalgaon wholesale market. Onion is currently trading there at Rs. 18.46 per kg, down from Rs. 28.62 kg in January.

Gorade is not sure if the prices will last, given that another bumper crop is in the offing.

About the possibility of post-harvest processing of the bulb, Gorade says, “Onion powder has demand in Europe, but who will buy it in India?”

Above all, he adds, what onion farmers need is for the sector to be freed of frequent government intervention. “It becomes news when onion prices go up, but when we suffer, there is hardly any attention, both from the media and government.”

Potato Ahead of harvest, memory of rotting potatoes in 2017 leaves farmers ‘nervous’ Hathras, west Uttar Pradeshis one of the top three potato-producing districts in India.

On Budget day, the entire village gathered around potato farmer Mahendra Singh’s TV to hear what the government had in store for them. Buffeted by demonetisation at the end of 2016, followed by low prices all of last year, they hoped for some relief.

Mahendra said they were sorely disappointed. “Harsaalekaheencheezboltehain (They say the same thing every year),” says the 65-year-old.

Hathras District Horticulture Officer Gampal Singh said that of the 1415 lakh tonnes (lt) of potatoes produced in Hathras in 2017, 95 per cent were “out of cold stores”. “Most of the potatoes were sold at low prices in mandis. Not much was discarded,” the officer insists.

The potato farmers here sow the tubers in October, and harvest them starting around now, till March. Only about 1015 per cent is sold immediately, and the rest is kept in cold storage, to be released as per prices. To stock their produce from February-March till November 30, cold storage owners charge farmers Rs. 110 per bag, says potato farmer Chandra Vir. Carefully walking in the furrows of his 70-bigha (14-acre) field at NaglaHira Singh, amidst ripe potatoes that are starting to peep out, Chandra Vir admits he is “nervous”.

Last year, he had harvested 40 bags of 50 kg each per bigha, against 25 bags in 2016. “But I could sell only 20 per cent

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

of my 2,800 bags. Since the potato price couldn’t cover the cold storage charges, I just left my produce there,” says the 36-year-old father of two.

Om Vir Singh, who has a 20-bigha plot, says their troubles began with demonetisation in November 2016. “Since most traders pay in cash, there were no sales for a month.” Things haven’t looked up since, according to the 25-year-old.

Counting input costs like labour, irrigation, fertilisers and transport (to cold storage), Om Vir says, “It costs Rs. 10,000 to cultivate potatoes on 1 bigha land. Abaloo agar kaudiyonkedaambikegatohkisankyakamaayega (If potatoes sell for peanuts, what will a farmer earn)? For the past two-three years, we have failed to recover even our cultivation costs.”

While Hathras has 154 private cold storage units in all, NaglaHira Singh alone has three. Compared to Chandra Vir and Om Vir, Mahendra, a bigger farmer, with 200 bighas, was less devastated by the low prices, though his “4,000 bags out of 6,000” went waste. The farmers are aware of the new Operation Greens for horticulture crops, and of the PM’s “TOP” promise. But, says Om Vir, “Kisantoh Operation Greens samajhnahinpaaya (The farmer has not understood Operation Greens). No official has come to us yet.”

In the absence of official communication, such a plan seems to them as ill-conceived as the BJP government’s promises in the state. In April last year, with prices staying low, it said that state agencies would purchase 1 lakh metric tonnes at a support price of Rs. 487 per quintal; three months later, it declared a subsidy for farmers to take potatoes to other states.

Chandra Vir explains why the schemes didn’t help. “They wanted only large- to medium-sized potatoes, plus had other specifications. Most of our potatoes did not fit the bill. And as for sending potatoes to other states, no one needs them anymore… West Bengal, Gujarat etc all grow their own potatoes. Also, the subsidy couldn’t have covered the costs.”

Horticulture Officer Gampal Singh agrees

55

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TOP CHALLENGES

56 there is little demand for UP’s produce now. “We had suggested that farmers grow papaya, tomato, capsicum, roses etc. But these need a lot more work and the farmers are not willing,” he argues.

consumers by proper production planning in the TOP clusters and introduction of dual use varieties. iii. Reduction in post-harvest losses by creation of farm gate infrastructure, development of suitable agro-logistics, creation of appropriate storage capacity linking consumption centres.

About the state government’s purchase plan, the officer said four centres were set up in Hathras. However, the total procurement of potatoes from the district was just 120.5 quintals — less than the individual harvest of most farmers!

The farmers have been struggling to pay not just cold stores but also bank loans.

“We usually borrow against our Kisan Credit Cards before the sowing season, around Rs. 6-7 lakh… I haven’t been able to pay that,” says Mahendra.

Measures such as loan waivers are not the solution, says Chandra Vir, nor are suggestions that farmers set up processing facilities. “How are we going to run potato chip plants? Setting up even a small plant will mean more loans… AurabModiji ne TOP boldiya… Ye bolnewaalisarkaarhai (And now the PM has said TOP… This is a government of claims).”

Over at the ShriRadheGiriraj Cold Storage on the Mathura-Hathras road, owner Rajendra Gaur is preparing to receive the fresh harvest. “Last season, we had stored 1.15 lakh bags from 300 farmers; 40 per cent never came to take the potatoes. We lost about Rs. 30 lakh. We fed the potatoes to animals,” he says. Chandra Vir fears that such setbacks are killing farming. “The problem today is there is no pride in farming. I will not let my children do the same,” he says. A Class 12 pass, he sends his children to a “convent” school.

“I pay Rs. 1 lakh fees annually. Last year I borrowed the money.”

Farmers in Sehore have dumped their tomato produce on the road. They did this after they were being paid unfair prices for the crop. The farmers are helpless as they might not even have money to grow their next crop. Farmers across the nation are grappling with this problem where they are unable to sustain their livelihoods and they don’t get proper prices for their produce.

With the low production of potatoes, has led to a price war among cold storage owners.

Warehousing facilities have lowered their prices by 30% for the sea

son. Witnessi n g the yester years surplus production of potatoes, over 30 new cold storages have already come up in the region in past two years, said the industry players.

Madhya Pradesh Cold Chain Industries Association president Hansmukh Jain Gandhi said, “Storage capacity has doubled, but the production of potatoes has dropped. This has disturbed the market owing to which many cold storages are ready to stock at much lower prices than agreed by the association. At present there are close to 140 cold storages in Indore and Ujjain districts with a total capacity of 1 million tons”.

According to reports¸ the association has fixed the rate for potato cold storage for this season at Rs. 190 per 100 kgs for 7 to 8 months, but cold storages have decreased their rates by 30% due to lack of supplies and rigorous competition.

Function of Operation Greens In the budget speech of Union Budget 2018-19, a new Scheme “Operation Greens” was announced on the line of “Operation Flood”, with an outlay of Rs.500 crore to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs #), agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management. Accordingly, the Ministry has formulated a scheme for integrated development of Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP) value chain.

Objectives: i. Enhancing value realisation of TOP farmers by targeted interventions to strengthen TOP production clusters and their FPOs, and linking/connecting them with the market. ii. Price stabilisation for producers and

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

iv. Increase in food processing capacities and value addition in TOP value chain with firm linkages with production clusters. v. Setting up of a market intelligence network to collect and collate real time data on demand and supply and price of TOP crops.

Strategies: The scheme will have two-pronged strategy ofPrice stabilisation measures (for short term) and Integrated value chain development projects (for long term).

(I) Short term Price Stabilisation Measures NAFED will be the Nodal Agency to implement price stabilisation measures.

MoFPI will provide 50% of the subsidy on the following two components: i. Transportation of Tomato Onion Potato(TOP) Crops from production to storage; ii. Hiring of appropriate storage facilities for TOP Crops; (II) Long Term Integrated value chain development projects i. Capacity Building of FPOs & their consortium ii. Quality production iii. Post-harvest processing facilities iv. Agri-Logistics v. Marketing / Consumption Points vi. Creation and Management of e-platform for demand and supply management of TOP Crops.

Project components I. Price Stabilisation Measures i. MoFPI will provide 50% of the subsidy through NAFED to empaneled agencies for evacuation of TOP crops from production surplus areas when price falls below three-years average market price at the time of harvest, for the following two components: a) Transportation of TOP Crops from production to storage; b) Hiring of appropriate storage facilities for TOP Crops; II. Integrated Value Chain Development Projects A. Capacity Building of FPOs & their consortium

TOP CHALLENGES

i. Formation of New FPOs in the clusters selected for TOP; ii. Promotional Activities, Training/ Workshop of Farmers and FPOs; iii. Professional Management Support to FPOs & Federation; B. Quality production i. Provision for quality inputs such as seeds; i. Setting up of Nursery and greenhouses; ii. Setting up of protected cultivation; iii. Mechanisation of farm practices; iv. Promote Contract farming; v. Varietal change based on market; C. Post-harvest processing facilities i. Appropriate storage at Farm level; ii. Collection centre (CC)/Pack house; iii. Primary processing such as sorting, grading and packaging facilities; iv. Secondary processing – any mechanised and mobile processing facilities; v. Appropriate transportation infrastructure; D. Agri-Logistics i. Integrated multi-mode appropriate transportation; ii. Controlled temperature/ Ventilated trucks with or without raking; iii. Crates, rakes etc; iv. Medium/large scale storage at regional, state and national level; E. Marketing / Consumption Points i. Appropriate storage facilities at aggregation/ market level; ii. Sorting, grading and packaging facilities; iii. Setting-up of retail outlets; iv. Setting-up of marketing yards at the cluster level; v. Creation of e-market; Any other components/innovative intervention required to achieve the objective of the scheme for implementation of the project, but not covered above, may also be considered as eligible components by the sanctioning authority based on the merit of the case.

Pattern of Assistance I. For Price Stabilisation Measures 50% of cost of transportation and 50% of cost of hiring appropriate storage facilities will be provided as subsidy at the time of harvest. Storage facilities will be hired for a maximum period of 4 to 6 months. NAFED will be nodal agency for disbursement of subsidy under this component to the eligible organization.

II. For Integrated value chain development projects Since the scheme envisage integrated development of TOP value chain, it should preferably have all the components listed above from A to E under Integrated value chain development project. The Post-harvest processing facilities including secondary processing facilities will be mandatory components of the Integrated value chain development project. The projects will be eligible for grant-in-aid at the rate of 50% of the eligible project cost in all areas, subject to maximum Rs. 50 crore per project. However, in case where PIA is/are FPO(s), the grant-in-aid will be at the rate of 70% of the eligible project cost in all areas, subject to maximum Rs. 50 crore per project.

Speaking to Sanjeev Kumar Chaddha, MD-NAFED, agronfoodprocessing.com pens the activities and involvement of NAFED in Operation Greens scheme incarrying out its crucial union: 1.What role does NAFED play as the Nodal Agency in TOP Processing Scheme?

NAFED is Nodal Agency for Short Term Price Stabilization measures under the Operation Greens for Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP) during glut situation. It is also entrusted with the responsibility of distributing subsidy for transportation and storage as per Scheme guideline.

NAFED will also set-up and operate e-Platform for market intelligence system and early warning system for TOP. 2. To stabilize the price of TOP vegetables, what measures or initiative does NAFEDtakes to improve it? How do those measures benefit farmers?

As per the Scheme, on approval of proposalfrom State Government by Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Government of India, NAFED will intervene for evacuation of TOP from identified production surplus area to deficit area. The farmers will be benefited in terms better price realization of their crops during distress.

3. Please explain the logistic operation of NAFED in the working of this value

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

57 chain.

NAFED through eligible entities empanelled by State Cooperative Marketing Federations or notified by the state governments viz. FPOs/FPCs/Farmers’Group /Growers’Associations /Aggregators/ Pvt. transportation/ Agri-logistics/ Warehouse Operators/Supply Chain Operators, etc., engaged in transportation/warehousing/marketing of TOP crops, evacuate the TOP crops from production surplus areas to the deficit area. It will also operate through central agencies like CONCOR, BalmerLawrieetc for the transportation and storage of the TOP during glut situation. Besides NAFED is also endeavoring the innovative model under the public private partnership under the RKVY for creation of storage and marketing of the onions in major producing districts of Maharashtra.

4. What improvements will you suggest in installing TOP processing units and functioning as a whole? How better can we implement these units and what various by-products can be made according to you?

It may be considered that the installation of the TOP processing units in the production surplus area have twin advantages for Entrepreneurs and for the famers.

Entrepreneurs may install their integrated processing units in the high TOP production areas and avail the benefits of the scheme besides having access to the best quality raw material for processing at affordable rates.

The capacity building of FPOs and their consortium, development of Post harvesting facilities, agri-logistics, marketing and aggregating points under the scheme will overall benefit the growers and other population in the catchment of the facilities . In case of onions by- products like dehydrated onion powder, for tomato-processed puree and other value added products, for potato – value added products for B2B and direct marketing applications like French Fries, Potato Flakes, Wafersetc can be implemented under the scheme. This way much of the surplus production can come under added processed foods.

To conclude, the operation Greens needs to lay down much stronger footholds in agriculture and work up schemes which will benefit farmers from tilling of land to the cold storage facilities to processing units.

MITHAI BOX

58

BOX FULL OF SWEETS Box packaging is synonymous to effective packaging of mithai. In this article Agronfoodprocessing journal analyses the developed and improved packaging of mithai in a box through the views of many eminent stakeholder of this very industry.

W

e Indians love our dessert.

Hardly have we acknowledged a person who has no sweet tooth. Our love and affection for sweets or mithai is a never ending affair! When you open the sweet box and see those deep fried fluffy balls of dough — soaked in crystalline sugar syrup with a garnish of cardamom and pistachio, you can’t help picking less than two pieces of mithai or maybe three of them at a time!

Anything you see in India, you will always find in a great variety! India has an array of sweets because there is diversity of culture preparing its own variety of sweets. Each sweet represents the tradition and heritage of India from communities that reside in its lengths and breadths that have its own rich story, an unparalleled texture, shape, size and a unique way of presenting and serving. A never ending list of large and a fancy sweet boxes full of mouth-watering mithais, isn’t this a must wanted and the tastiest treat for everyone present in a big fat Indian wedding or any festivities? Or receiving even a small sweet box as a gift from near ones indeed a blessing of God!

Such is the universality of sweets and such is the expressions of a glittery and curvy sweet box in our lives. A sweet box is as important as the mithai in it.

Mithai boxes should have worthy and sustainable packaging as it has lower environmental impact, all because of the materials used.

Various customer oriented firms are coming in the markets which are engaged in offering eco-friendly qualitative range of sweet boxes.

Indian Packaging Industry The Indian packaging industry, with a turnover of USD 24.6 billion and a growth rate of 13% to 15% annually, is expected to reach USD 32 billion by 2020. Packaging has an annual global turnover of about USD 550 billion, and India’s share is about USD 16.5 billion per annum.

The growth of the Indian packaging industry is heavily influenced by changing demographics such as growing urbanization and the rising proportion of middle class consumers. These changes drive the need for new packaging formats, such as different sizes, materials, and strength.

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

The industry constitutes about 4 per cent of the global market. The per capita packaging consumption in India is quite low at 8.7 kg compared with countries like Germany and Taiwan where it is 42 kg and 19 kg, respectively. As the requirement for packaging is rising across sectors with traditional businesses preferring to package products, and the retail and e-commerce growing rapidly, the sector is growing at a robust pace. The industry certainly presents potential growth opportunities for new entrepreneurs, and small and medium enterprises.

Food box packaging communicates many things, from what the product can do for the customers to ones company’s values.

Some would argue that the packaging is as important as the product itself because it’s a crucial marketing and communication tool for one’s business.

The major types of paper packaging are corrugated boxes, boxboard or paperboard cartons, and paper bags and sacks.

Likewise, there are different uses of packaging: to preserve and protect the product; to transport the production; to make the product more attractive for the client.

Packaging plays a vital role to serve the consumers as an end-user.

Brands should always be aware of all these kinds of purpose to have a well done plan when they start to create and design package for their products. The packaging production process should be well organized and every area should know which their responsibilities are.

The complexity of packaging has increased during the last years. Today, no company can manage this process without the right technology and the right workflow plan. A well organize program can simplify the packing process and ensure everything runs efficiently. In the era of social media, mistakes are no longer local problems; everyone in the world could see and share when things go wrong.

Packaging must always be of good quality and ensure brand identity, wherever the package is produced.

One of the important purpose of box packaging is to protect the product from damage. Package not only protects the product during the transfer from the manufacturer to the shop or market, but it also prevents damage while the product stays on retail shelves or a house´s refrigerator.

They have to be suitable and convenience

MITHAI BOX

in their shape, should not too big and can easily fit in the consumer´s freezer or into their pantry cupboards. Besides, they have to enclose a distinct label, (colors and design) that make them easy to identify between a lot products that maybe stored at the same place.

Another very important point related with food or health care products is the preservation. The food maybe not consume the same day it bought or opened, so brands have to be particular concerned in making a packaging that conserve the freshness and utility as it where opened at the first time.

With thousands of products lying on shelves, how a product is packed may be what attracts the consumer to take a look on it. For this reason, many brands demand extensive research on color schemes, designs and types of packaging trying to find out which is the most pleasing to its consumer.

The product packaging can play a critical role in the success or failure of the sales of the product. More than a half of the consumers choose a product because of its package.

According to Baldev Arora, owner of BizKraft Concepts, the boxes that are made should be completely hygiene, strength, readily available, should be easily printable. The color of paper should not have a bleeding tendency, glue used should be of food grade and not smelly, inner lining should be clean and clear. The rest depends upon the structure and usage of the specific box.

BizKraft Concepts is a Creative Design and Concepts Development Company and work as business & concept consultants, design & creative consultants, marketing consultants, packaging consultants, product consultants and for other similar kind of activities to craft business to grow and to keep it ones step ahead always..

Centrally located in Gurgaon , they

Needless to add, food packaging protects and preserves food. A range of materials can be used for packaging, some of which are environmentally friendly. All sweet boxes must have labels carrying information for the consumer. Packaging material comes in many substances, including plastic, aluminium and paperboard containers.

Importance of box packaging for mithai The growth of Indian sweet packaging has been exceptionally notable.

Today, the industry of packaging & manufacturing of boxes (esp sweets) is evolving and rising to a great level of qualitative presentation.

Box packaging is a very important for Indian mithai or any sweets as a matter of fact needs transportation.

Presenting good box really adds to the branding and presentation of sweets. Plus this gives an air to the manufacturer and his product. There are major steps to select the material which are to be used in making of boxes, sacks and pouches.

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

59 have highly experienced creative team of professionals, headed by the promoters themselves who have experience of more than three decades in the areas of conceptualisation, designing & developments, printing & packaging, publicity & promotions, advertising, marketing, distribution, new concepts, new launches, brand building, events & exhibitions, trousseau packaging, wedding cards & themes, gift boxes, carry bags, trays, disposables etc. and much more.

Relentlessly advocating the use of box packaging, the promoter of Chaitry Offsset, Ajjaay M. Karia, said that Box Packaging is ultimate need for sweets anywhere in the world because it is very important to keep sweets or anything edible in hygienic and safe condition. Therefore, to avoid spoilage and bad odour after 6 hours of time, sweet should not be packed up in ordinary boxes. In fact, there many types of hygienic packaging used in keeping Indian Sweets healthy & delicious; ranging from Food Grade Paper Quality/Film to Rigid Box of Premium

MITHAI BOX

60 Quality or Metallic Packaging or Kuppa Board, considering the policies and protocols laid down by the Indian Government.

Chaitry Offsset follows the criteria honestly. Chaitry Offsset started operations in 1994 in a city of western India known for its culinary traditions, Surat. Today it has grown into the supplier of premium quality printed boxes for the prominent Indian sweetmeat makers in India and abroad.

It would be interesting to know how it began. Ajjaay M. Karia has a sweet tooth. But he did not like the way sweets came in poor quality packaging. An idea struck him – why must people buy the costly sweets

in ordinary boxes? His culinary gut feeling told him that presentation of cooked food is as important as eating it.

When Chaitry commenced operations, words ‘package’ or ‘packaging’ were unheard of, especially when it came to the highly prized and popular Indian sweets and confectionery. Sweet makers used to pack their stuff in ordinary cardboard boxes unsuitable for such items. Not that they wanted to sell in poor quality packaging. They did not have options as there was a shortage of suppliers of quality and durable packaging materials.

Deepak Vason, Managing Director, Vason Printopack Pvt Ltd., asserts that it is very important to pack the Indian mithai in box made out

of paper and paper board etc. He said, ‘’As we know that Indian mithai is quite unique and different than sweets made in other countries, we take uttermost care and place it on top priority to make boxes attractive, hygienic and materials used according to food grade’’. He also informed that Vason Printopack was also making special kind of tray in which mithai can be kept safe without changing its shape and different kinds of boxes are made according to size of Indian mithai etc. The company uses special kind of paper board to make the boxes which is called PE coating, taking care in maintaining total hygiene and cleanliness at the place of manufacturing too.

Vason Printopack Private Limited is into manufacturing, supplying and exporting a wide range of Corrugated Sweet Boxes, Machine Made Sweet Boxes, Four Line Sweet Boxes, Kaju Katli Boxes, Metallized Printed Sweet Boxes and many more. These products are highly acknowledged in the market for their quality, reliability and durability.

Besides, Vason Packers offers these products in various specifications as required by the clients. Leveraging on the sophisticated infrastructure and a team of efficient professionals, Vason has carved a respectable position for them in the market. Owing to the superior quality of the products, the professionals make every effort to study the market trends and requirements and then customize to manufacture the exact products for the clients. Having their own production facilities and years of industry experience, this helps Vason Packers to develop the product’s drawings and samples exactly with the same specifications.

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

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MITHAI BOX

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packaging business with a whole new perspective of playing around with gold & silver foils and different combination of colours.

Over the years, the confectioners have progressed and prospered. They now know the value of good packaging. The customers nowadays demand nothing less than things wrapped in pretty packages.

Timeline: From Tradition to Modernization Vason Printopack: India is country of diverse festivals and mithai is an integral part of it. Initially mithai was sold in simple boxes made by hand and with poor quality of paper giving a non-hygienic appearance. But with time and consumer awareness, safe and striking packaging of mithai has become of major importance and focus on the presentation of boxes improved.

Vason Printopack was amongst the first one to make rigid boxes in India to keep sweets in hygienic condition. ‘’We have around 30 years of experience in the manufacturing the boxes of paper & paper board and most of mithai-makers are using the boxes made by us throughout the country like Haldiram, Om Sweets (Gurgaon), Harish Bakers (Gurgaon), Asha Sweets (Bangalore), Sanwaria Sweets (Jaipur), Pardeep Sweets (Pune) etc.” informed Deepak Vason.

Vason Printopack’s first priority is that the box should be according to food grade standard, materials which are used should be of best quality. ‘’We try to bring in the best and latest designs as an innovation in our manufacturing process’’ said Deepak and further added that containers, boxes and trays must be made according to preparation and shape of mithai. It is our efforts to give a traditional and cultural look to the boxes and yet be modern in looks. Chaitry Offsset: With traditional ideas and formats, Ajjaay M Karia began his business of box packaging from commercial printing in 1994. From then on, he turned his passion to update his technological knowledge and expand the box

From a small-scale business to India’s Best Innovative Awards in box packaging, he was the first one to initiate with the gold and silver packaging in the business of sweet packaging for various functions & events. Chaitry Offsset made a huge name in the sweet segment of the Industry in the country collaborating with big names like Raja Sweets, Can Pack, Pragati, Printwell, Sukhadia etc.

Chaitry Offsset over the time moved on from traditional methods to automated machines leading to increased employment, speed in the production of sweet box packaging and higher sales. Preserving the old methods & designs of box packaging and yet bringing a modern change created a niche for this packaging company. It is licensed by the government and various food laboratories in maintaining high-grade food quality and safety.

With the help of a labour team of 55-60 people and quite many imported automated machines for printing the packaging of designs for all the clients, personal and healthy contact with all the “ mithai manufacturers has boosted up the work culture, profits and interest of Chaitry Offsset as the good rapport shared between them has made greater inputs in terms of ideas, creations, decision making for the kind of laminations, glues, boards, good grade quality materials used of both the parties. The trust factor has just got better and stronger with time.

The sale of every mithai maker associated with Chaitry Offssets has seen immense growth. At present the company’s production has increased from 20,000 per annum to 40,000 per annum.

BizKraft Concepts: BizKraft box packing and involvement in manufacturing is one of the oldest packaging people in Delhi.

The company was started by Baldev Arora’s father Late Shree. D.C. Arora in 1965.

Baldev Arora joined the family business in 1980 with full of passion and enthusiasm, where he identified the loopholes and devised important developments and up gradation required in the sweets

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

industry for packaging. He perceived that sweet boxes were not up to the prerequisite; like if sweet was picked from the box, it came out with the paper pasted inside the box and literally one needed to separate the sweet to have it, besides this most of the boxes pasted with the paper having color bleeding on the sweets and the smell of moisture of sweets mixed with paper and board. Just imagine that how can one have sweets from such an unhygienic box. Arora then and there decided, that mithai box packaging needed improvement.

Since then Baldev Arora is in a continuous process of improvisation, up gradation for the industry in some or the other manner because he observed this industry needed constant improvisation at the product and process level all the time. During the same year BizKraft developed a box for the first time in India by using Glassine Butter Paper (which is food grade) pasted with starch glue on the board so that the sweets should not get stick to the paper, with good quality paper properly printed so that the color should not bleed on product which solved most of the problems which was more hygienic up to some extent and launched at Nathu’s Sweets with customized exclusive design of the company. It was a great value addition to the Sweets Industry.

After that it did customisation for Ever Green Sweet House and Bikaner Bhujia Bhandar, and many others. In 1982 BizKraft started working with Haldiram’s and till date their partnership is still going strong via constants success and growth.

Both companies worked hand in hand at every single stage for their growth.

In the year 1984 this innovative company developed another series of Gift Boxes having Bandhani Fabric (the Rajasthani Chunri) wrapped on the boxes and it gave a big boom to the entire industry which was appreciated all over. Then in 1988, it developed another series of Gift Boxes with Velvet Flocked Paper pasted and decorated with Zari Gota and having Golden Laminated Tray inside the box for better presentation of sweets launched through Haldiram’s primarily.

In the year 1990, gift boxes (4-Line Box) with Velvet Flocked Paper pasted and decorated with Zari Gota and Golden Ganesh Ji engraved sticker on it with Golden Laminated Tray with 4 partitions for better presentation of sweets was developed

MITHAI BOX

and launched through Haldiram’s. In the year 1991, BizKraft created another value addition and developed new combination of material to provide a better box for sweets again for first time in India by using BOPP Film Pearlised (which is food grade and creates a barrier also) laminated on the Hard Board so that the oils from sweets does not ooze out, with Chromo Art Paper properly printed customized designs. It created another ripple in the entire sweets industry.

In 1993 they took one of the biggest leap of the time by starting facility at Gurgaon with latest facilities for design and development, print and post press finishing, fabrication and packing and transportation etc. ‘We developed in house fluetted board to replace with previously used laminated hard board. It was having much smoother surface on top for better outer finish, light weight, enough rigid, odor free, inside laminated to create barrier for oil to pass on and specially customizable. It was another success for us as well as a Great Value Addition for the industry also. It is still in use all over India by many brands and box manufacturers”, stated Arora.

Challenges Thinking about packaging, innovative constructions and extravagant designs come to mind that beg for undivided attention and create a sphere of desire. Unfortunately, creating only this kind of packaging is certainly not the prevailing practice. There are many more dimensions to packaging and in a daily routine; the performance of packaging is measured with respect to the demands in various areas. Packaging stands for a menagerie of materials, production technologies, printing techniques and advanced manufacturing. It needs to satisfy diverse clients and consumers.

The core of packaging can be disclosed by taking a look at the meaning of the word itself: packaging contains the idea of “enclosing” as well as the concept of “presenting.” Enclosing refers to the package as a box, while presenting refers to its appearance. All packaging can be located along the axes between these two poles.

To take a more precise look, all packaging has to fulfill three primary functions: protection, distribution and communication.

Protection relates to the requirement to

prevent negative influences between the goods and the environment; distribution expresses the need to consider handling conditions to ensure efficient logistics; and communication takes care of passing on information. Required information needs to be displayed visibly to comply with regulations (e.g. health and safety regulations).

63 to his set up. He realised how people or clients lay more focused on the money that was being invested, overlooking the quality, authenticity and value of the products that are being produced.

There are always some obstacles in the way of creating the perfect packaging.

Time, financial restraints and competing interests are outlining factors. But some hindrances also lie in other areas.

Hygiene of the sweets in the box packaging, the food grade attribute and the taste was not important to many customers, rather the cost was; they were keener to cut down on their budget and use cheap materials for the sake of it. As a packaging company it is a mountainous job to educate and convince the clients about the materials and the importance of virtue.

Although the mentality has changed substantially in recent years, several innovative developments still fall victim to the prioritization of price before anything else. Classification by price is certainly a fundamental approach. The consequences of even a small variation in price must be recognized. For in-

Ajjaay M Karia realised that it was very important to protect the transparency between the two parties and not let the duplicates take control. All such flaws could be fought with ease if there is an effective communication, patience, passion, hard work, determination and lots of sweets sharing among the crew.

Vason Printopack originally faced many set back but the main challenge to import the board to make the boxes which was little bit difficult to stock. After launching the scheme ‘Make in India’, the boards are being made in India by Indian manufacturers which are now readily available for the packaging company.

stance, the impact of a small difference of only five cents in production can have immense effects depending on the volume of packages put out into the market. So a limited special edition can carry some extravagances, but the cost accumulates rapidly when generating a higher volume.

Regarding only the direct cost effectiveness, however, neglects all benefits of good packaging as described above. The cost-performance value can still work when providing a more elaborate packaging that attracts more attention. When Ajjaay M Karia started Chaitry Offsset 25 years ago, his plan was to use latest technological advancement. Karia faced many challenges that served as a hindrance

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

Deepak Vason stated that all the process to make the boxes under one umbrella such as printing, UV, Leaf, thermal Mat, Lamination etc. presented another huge challenge. “I would like to put in is that we educated our staff to stay well-ordered and a special uniform and caps are also provide to them. It’s a challenge for to make immaculate boxes with no complaints from our end-users”, affirmed Vason.

“There are innovations and developments happening around the clock. Any challenges can be faced with patience and joint efforts,’’ stated Baldev Arora. He added that he had a passion to develop new ideas in functional arrangements and to design them accordingly. This growth of BizKraft has been made possible because Haldiram’s had the need and desire to implement it. “It’s the encouragement and morale that has to be persistent in all the walks of life and a fierce passion to be in frontline that leads to all the success we dream of”, elucidated Arora.

NEW START - UP

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MunchAne Pizza, Great food always tastes good. late at night, good food at those wee hours was a rarity even in college days. Facing the same problem in Vadodara, we realized that there is a good potential in the late night food delivery business. We tried several other recipes before settling with food pizzas. We liked the pizzas that we made, and so we improved upon the recipe and pizzas became our eventual forte.

One such pizza maker-MunchAne Pizza caught our eye in Vadodara city in Gujarat.

Munchane started in March 2017, with a vision to provide quality food to the people who really needed it during the late night hours. Munchane had tried a lot of food options to serve, but pizzas became their eventual forte. Looking closely at the logo of MunchAne Pizza, suggests 12:15 am a time after midnight for snacking. The initial menu offered only two types of pizzas, and one dessert.

Himalaya Singh Rathore Director

P

izza is a savory dish of Italian origin, consisting of a usually round, flattened base of leavened wheatbased or all-purpose flour base dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, salsa and various other ingredients baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven. Small pizzas are sometimes called pizzettas.

Many companies sell ready-baked frozen pizzas to be reheated in an ordinary home oven. When it comes to preparation, the dough and ingredients can be combined on any kind of table. With mass production of pizza, the process can be completely automated.

The main focus of the company is to provide great food to their guests, with a great service experience. That focus has been the reason for the success of MunchAne pizza so far.

IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, YOU CAN DO IT, says the entrepreneur Himalaya Singh Rathore.

We grabbed the opportunity to interview him right away. And below are the excerpts for our agronfoodprocessing.com readers:Kindly narrate how did MunchAne pizza come in existence? What inspired you to take up pizza- making while there are whole lot of food and beverage rail display?

We loved eating. As we often stayed up

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

With ‘N’ numbers of MNCs who make pizzas gives a tough competition to any startups in the consumer market. How successful do see yourself in this ring?

Did you find establishing yourself a tough nut to crack?

At the start, basically our main focus was on late night deliveries. The main advantage we had in the beginning was that there were no other competitors with that idea of late night pizza delivery segment.

Later on, when people started appreciating our pizzas and even comparing them to the bigger pizza brands, our focus shifted from late night to all time pizza. It really feels like an achievement reaching this level, where new players have entered the market after seeing our success in our venture.

Starting a food business isn’t a tough deal and in fact we are ready to give guidance to people who want to go ahead in this line. What’s tough is to continue despite the problems which are specific to this industry. This is a reason why a lot of good restaurants shut down after only a year of operations.

What novelty does Munchane pizza offers that others lack? What are the different variants of Munchane pizza and the fastest moving item?

The main focus of Munchane has always been to satisfy the customers and to maintain lasting relationships with them.

There were times when we have even de-

NEW START - UP

So we have made our kitchen as per the safety norms for FSSAI. All of our products are contamination-free because they are procured from standardized and reliable sources (which are again FSSAI approved). FSSAI is doing its best to bring awareness in people about clean food.

livered our competitor’s food to our hungry customers when we went out of stock.

This was in the initial days, but that spirit still lingers. Speaking about the fastest moving item, right now, Munchane’s SuperVeggie pizza is quite popular with our guests.

Coming to the packaging part, your boxes seems to be different than other pizza boxes. Tell us something about it and the designing of it?

We feel that the boxes have been an important factor for our brand to be recognized by our guests. Initially we used the generic white boxes, but later on we shifted to the new ones. We have ourselves designed the boxes which of course are unique in design and colour. We get the boxes made from our best supplier in the state. These boxes are equally eco-friendly. They are completely food safe and thus totally worth the cost.

In wake of the motto “Eat Healthy and Stay Healthy” and contaminants of foods, what procedure do you follow to maintain the hygiene of preparing and eating place? What is your say about FSSAI certification and laboratory testing?

We consider food safety a very important part of food preparation and delivery.

How open are you if you have certain feedback from your customers? Do you have any R&D dept to look after the change of flavours and tastes according to the customers?

We have two ‘Customer Relationship Managers’ who

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

65 call the previous day’s guests to know how their experience was. We constantly monitor the user ratings on various platforms and take necessary actions to accommodate their satisfaction. Earlier it was us who called the guests immediately after they consumed their food to know their opinion. That has brought the level of our pizzas from good to great. Customer feedback has always been important to us, and it always will be.

Do you hold any future plans to expand beyond Baroda?

We have already started a second branch in Ahmedabad, and a second, bigger kitchen in Vadodara is also soon to open.

If all goes well and God Almighty permits, we’ll have a kitchen in Surat too in the next three months.

NEWS

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Indian apple Horticulture Dept. of India plans to bring 100 ha of land growers suffer huge losses under apple plantation

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ccording to apple experts, with the new high-density plantation scheme, which will guarantee a revolution in the horticulture sector, the Kashmir government is going to create the apple plantations on 100 hectares of land.

The government, under this scheme, has authorised three local companies that import high-density apple trees from foreign countries to continue with their plantation. These saplings will be kept in quarantine facilities for over a year and

then distributed among 3 orchardists. The expected cost would be about Rs. 400,000 out of which the government will bear Rs. 200,000 while the remainder will be borne by the orchardists.

One of the orchardists of high-density apple plants, Izhan Javeed, said that under this scheme, they will import and plant apples like Fuji, Granny, Red Delicious and Gala varieties. These high-density apple plants bear more fruit and require fewer efforts in cultivation as compared to the traditional apple trees.

“One of my fruit trucks reached Delhi almost three weeks late and around 50 percent of the fruit had turned rotten,” said a fruit grower from Shopian.

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VenuE

World Mithai & Namkeen

(9th-10th Jan)

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Food & Hospitality World

(17th-19th Jan)

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Gulf Food

(17th-21st Feb)

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Acrex

(28th-2nd Feb-Mar)

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(13th-17th Mar)

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April

PackPlus South

(10th-13th Apr)

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(28th Jul-31st Aug)

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(13th-15th Sept

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(19-20-21 Sept)

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(5th-9th Oct)

Germany

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(21st -23rd Oct)

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(24th-26th Oct)

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Drink Technology

(20th-22nd Oct)

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(6th-8th Nov)

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(Nov 2019)

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(Dec 2019)

Khadya Khurak

(Dec 2019)

January February

March

September

October

November December

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

T

he frequent closure of the Srinagar-Jammu highway is taking a heavy toll on fruit growers and traders in southern Shopian and Pulwama districts.

New Delhi

Ahmedabad

Mushtaq Ahmad Malik, president of the fruit growers association said around 25 to 30 percent of the total fruit is “still lying in various cold stores in Kashmir”.

Many growers and traders did not export their fruit from November to January owing to exorbitant fares charged by transporters, he said, adding: “For a box of apple to be transported to Delhi, they (transporters) charged Rs 100 to 120 during these months, as against ideal rates of Rs 60 to Rs 70 per-box.”

Malik said that orchardists suffered huge losses despite having a bumper crop this year. “It is both due to vagaries of weather and government’s indifference towards the fruit industry,” Malik added.

Arif Muhammad Mir, who runs a CA store at Lassipora, Pulwama, said around 300,000 apple crates were presently stored in his facility: “In next few weeks, the weather outside J&K would change.

It would be hotter there and consequently it will reduce the shelf life of fruit. It will be then more difficult to ferry the fruit to different mandis.”

According to reports¸ in the Shopian district alone, the snowfall caused damage to around 40 to 45 percent fruit while in Pulwama, this figure was around 20 to 25 percent.

NEWS

67

Basmati rice exports set to grow by 10; Non-basmati rice slips

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asmati is the largest product in India’s agri-export basket and accounts for about a fourth of the total farm product shipments. And hence the pearl of India - basmati rice - exports are all to increase for the current fiscal year by a tenth in dollar value terms over last year on higher realisations. However, the volumes are likely to be remain at last year’s levels of four million tonnes.

After a sluggish start during the early part of the fiscal, shipments of basmati have gained momentum over the past couple of months on good demand from key buyers such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and the European Union.

The latest data (for the April-January period) indicate that basmati exports grew by 9 per cent in dollar value to $3.6 billion as against $3.31 billion in the same period last year. However, in rupee terms the growth was higher at Rs. 24,919 crore (as against ₹21,319 crore last year) at close

to 17 per cent for the period, aided by a weaker rupee.

According to A.K. Gupta, Director, Basmati Export Development Foundation, under the Agricultural and Processed Foods Exports Development Authority (APEDA), “The sentiment for exports is good. Going by the current trend, the prices will remain good. We expect a 10 per cent growth in dollar value terms”.

Basmati exports during 2017-18 stood at 4.05 mt valued at $4.17 billion.

Vijay Setia, President of the All India Rice Exporters Association said the export volume may remain unchanged at around 4 mt, while there could be 10-15 per cent growth in value terms.

Setia said the higher realisation was driven primarily by higher raw material prices this year. Basmati paddy prices were 1015 per cent higher this year on reports of a lower crop. However, Setia said there is no

shortage of the cereal as such and market arrivals of the paddy were still on in the major mandis of Haryana and Punjab.

Further, Setia also said that Iran has reopened its markets for import of basmati rice after the seasonal curbs imposed to protect its domestic growers during the harvest season.

While the shipments of the aromatic basmati rice are gaining traction, the growth trend witnessed in non-basmati rice in recent years has not been sustained this fiscal. Non-basmati shipments were down 18 per cent in dollar value terms during the April-January period over the corresponding period last year.

An increase in the support price for the common variety of paddy has made Indian non-basmati rice expensive in the world market. Also the higher duty imposed by Bangladesh on rice imports has impacted shipments.

India might import over 1.5mln mt of coarse corn to feed poultry sually an exporter of corn, India is most likely to import the coarse corn in 2019 year due to a deficiency in domestic production with import figure to be around 1.5 to 2 million mt, according sources from agri- market.

U

India has currently imposed 60% import duty on corn, but the importations are expected to be made under a Tariff Rate Quota. A TRQ condition when a country allows imports of certain quantity of a particular good at a reduced charge rate.

“India will be importing coarse corn from Ukraine and countries from Southern Africa. India only imports non-genetically modified corn and that limits options”, said a spokesman from leading poultry association of India said.

Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India is the country’s state-run international trade agency, which has issued a circular this February requesting regulars such as starch companies and livestock feed buyers to send quotes for their corn requirements.

Poultry farms, livestock industry and starch manufacturing companies together consume nearly 75-80% of country’s corn production.

“The poultry industry alone requires around 1 million mt of corn imports to meet last year levels,” declared the official. India is all set for the imports and has already signed deals to import 100,000 mt of corn from Ukraine said the source. According to the sources, the Government of

The government officially has yet to announce duty-free imports.

“India, the seventh-largest producer of the coarse grain, was hit by poor rains and pest infestation”, said Subhranil Dey, New Delhi-based grain analyst working at SMC Comtrade. Dey expects output of corn for the year 2018-19 (July-June) to be at around 16 million mt this summer, noticeably lower than 20.4 million

Agro & Food Processing March 2019

mt harvested at this time last year. India harvests corn in two seasons namely summer and winter. Summer corn is harvested in September and the winter corn is harvested from March onwards.

Prices of corn in India have risen considerably to almost 70% over the last one year. In Devangere, a key market of the coarse grain in Karnataka, corn prices were quoted at maximum of Rs. 20,400/mt ($291.1/mt), which is nearly 76% higher than a maximum price of Rs.11,600/mt during the same period last year, according to data from Agmarknet. com, an official govt website.

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