Oil & Food Journal - October 2015

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Vol 10 Issue 12 October 2015

3D food printing is more than just a novelty it's the future of food

100/-

10th

Volume

Convenience food sector

of India growing swiftly

Q&A on the Carcinogenicity of the consumption of red Meat and processed Meat

Emerging Techologies in Food Processing and

Post Harvest Sector: A Review

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CONTENTS

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Future Group increasing Food Manufacturing to reach US$154.2bn over the next six years

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Tata Chemicals plan to produce new brand for Food portfolio to treble revenues to Rs 5,000 crore in 5 years

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Amul MD RS Sodhi gets an extension for another five years.

Ruchi Soya to bring Edible Oil from Japan by next year

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Dinshaw’s Dairy all set to raise $100 million from private equity capital

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India to boost the ailing tomato-growing sector in Ghana

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The artificial sweeteners in the Food and Beverage Industry

GMR, Japan's JGC co-develop Food Processing park in Kakinada Sez

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3D Food printing is more than just a novelty it’s the future of Food

Emerging Technologies in Food Processing and Post Harvest Sector: A Review Convenience Food sector of India growing swiftly

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Cargill is set to invest $100m in its soybean oil crush

Q&A on the carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat

Seed funding for Online organic Food brand Naturally Yours

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Packaging for ready meal shelf-life extension Pulses Production Scenario: Policy and Technological Options

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EDITORIAL

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ndian Ice Cream Manufacturers Association’- IICMA – this year organized the Indian Ice Cream Congress & Expo 2015, in Bangalore, which turned out to be very successful. As an integral part of this association all we members of IICMA are very proud of what has been accomplished in the segment of ice cream due to the hard work put in by IICMA’s members.

IICMA is a prominent body of ice cream manufacturers in India working for the benefit of the ice cream industry and has been successfully organizing the event, Indian Ice Cream Congress & Expo for the past four year.

This year the response was positively humungous as around 800 national and international Ice Cream manufacturers participated in this distinguished event.

I would particular like to highlight the determined and zealous efforts of IICMA, because of which the per capita consumption of ice creams has increased from 300MlL to 400 ML in the last 5 years. Now the association is planning to launch National Ice Cream Day from next year onwards and every second Sunday of April month will be celebrated as National Ice Cream Day of India. This is on the lines of America where they celebrate national ice cream day and have achieved huge success among masses.

Moving on from IICMA…….Maggi the popular instant noodle brand, is set to return to store shelves as Nestle has cleared its tests mandated by the Bombay High Court and that the company will restart production of the snack within two-three weeks.

Nestle India’s Maggi Noodles passed tests conducted by three laboratories, as required

by Bombay High Court.Nestle had earlier commented that it will begin production and introduce the product into the market only after the newly manufactured products were cleared by the designated three laboratories.The company stated that the noodles were safe for consumption and it had conducted over 3,500 tests representing over 200 million packs in both national as well as international accredited laboratories and all reports are clear.

Conversely cashing on Maggi’s fiasco Baba Ramdev' had decided to launch his Patanjali Atta Noodleswhich after a tango with FSSAI is ready to roll out in November.

Patanjali has started stocking Patanjali noodles in various supermarkets in India.

I personally think Baba Ramdev was hitting the market as he knew that the major market capturer was in deep problem. But with Maggi clearing the test and ready to re-enter the market, Patanjali’s noodles will have to work real hard to create its space with the consumer and make its mark in the Indian market. And as weknow many and many of us still love “Meri Maggi’’. Or am I being a devil’s advocate?

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Well FSSAI is quite on all of this issue and why not the entire sample that they had tested and declared as dangerous with high level of Lead, came out to be clear with permissible amount of lead. All the 90 samples, covering six variants, tested by the laboratories had lead much below the permissible limits These are the same Maggi lots that failed to clear tests at FSSAI labs.

Still on the topic of FSSAI, the regulatory authority has proposed to ban Junk food from all schools in India. Funny the action comes after months since the Delhi High court had told Fssai to give these guidelines a form of regulations or directions within a period of three months to enforce their implementation across the country.

Thank god after seven month the regulatory authority has atleast proposed to go for a ban on junk food in school.Fssai stated that "children are not the best judge of their food choice and schools are not the right place to promote foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS foods).

Canteens in the schools should not be treated as commercial outlets and schools should develop a canteen policy to provide nutritious, wholesome and healthy foods. So the regulatory body is strictly going for restricting the availability of most common HFSS foods in schools and areas within 50 meters.

The views expressed in this issue are those of the contibutors are not necessarilly those of the magzine. though every care has been taken to ensure the accuaracy and authenticty in infomation, "Oil & Food Journal" is however not responsible fordamages caused by ministerpretation of infomation expressed and implied with in the pages of this issue.

All disputes are not to be referred to Mumbai Jurisdiction

The food safety watchdog said the objective is to restrict/limit the consumption and availability of most common HFSS food (junk food) like chips, sugar sweetened carbonated & non-carbonated beverages, ready-to-eat noodles, pizzas, burgers and confectionery items.

Given the rationale for its proposal, the regulator said as per National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) guidelines, said these foods are considered unhealthy due to unbalance in nutrition, as they are high in fat, sugar, salt and low in proteins, fibers, nuts.

Ireally hope that the ban happens for the health of our children. The constant intake of Junk food is making India the capital of diabetes and heart disease and along with it obesity becoming another major challenge amongst children.

Well there are lots of things to discuss and deliberate but I will keep till here for now, until next write up. See you!

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FUTURE TREND

3D Food printing is more than just a novelty it’s the future of Food

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t’s 2015, and 3D printing, a technology long priced beyond many people’s reach, is quickly undergoing democratization. So much democratization, that companies are trying to 3D print all kinds of new things, including food.

Think about the replicators on Star Trek and the many other machines that litter science fiction movies, which prep, cook, and serve meals on command. This could actually be our future. 3D food

printing has the potential to revolutionize food production by boosting culinary creativity, food sustainability, and nutritional customizability, but technical and market barriers still face it in the years to come.

3D printing food not easy Most 3D printers work by slowly depositing layers of material, one on top of the other, until an object is constructed.

The process is called “additive manufacturing,” and it uses deposition

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printers. Others bind layers together

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FUTURE TREND

documented the creation of cracker-like yeast structures containing seeds and spores that sprout over time, and thinks the snack he synthesized and those like it — natural, transportable products printed efficiently — could someday transform the food industry. And he’s not alone.

Current food systems can’t supply 12 billion people sufficiently and there is a need to change our perception of what we see as food.

Some experts believe food printers could minimize waste by using cartridges of hydrocolloids, substances that form gels with water. Those same machines, they theorize, could also use unpalatable but plentiful ingredients — ingredients such as algae, duckweed, and grass — to form the basis of familiar dishes. In a study, scientists added milled mealworm to a shortbread cookie recipe.

with adhesive — they’re called binding printers.

malnourished in certain cases,” so 3D is a much needed alternative.

3D food printing has the potential to revolutionize food production, but they are more difficult to explain.There are three dominant methods of printing food which are nozzles, powdery material, and lasers.

Smoothfoods — made of mashed carrots, peas, and broccoli, which 3D printers congealed with edible glue — are already a hit; 1,000 of the country’s facilities now serve them daily.

But people are very conservative when it comes to food and most only enjoy foods that are very similar to what they’ve had before. We have a very deep, visceral reaction to foods we don’t recognize. 3D food printers could be used to make the unappetizing, appetizing.

Food printing moves beyond the kitchen Other chefs are looking beyond the kitchen. A Dutch food designer

Consider a food source that’s not something you’d want to eat in its raw form but a good source of protein, like

Many systems mix and match those approaches. The 3D Systems like ChefJet crystalizes thin layers of finegrain sugar into virtually any geometric configuration, while Natural Foods’ Choc Edge dispenses chocolate from syringes in beautiful, melty patterns. The Foodini uses fresh ingredients loaded into stainless steel capsules to prepare a surprisingly wide array of dishes. Its latest model isn’t a soup-to-nuts solution — it only prints raw dough, which then must be cooked as normal — but the printer can partially make pizza, filled pasta, quiche, and even brownies.

As a matter of fact some German nursing homes serve a 3D-printed food product called Smoothfoods to elderly residents who have difficulty chewing. Purees, the conventional alternative, typically aren’t very appetizing, which sometimes leads to under eating. Residents “get

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FUTURE TREND Modern Meadow, a company in New York, raised $10 million in funding to research the production of printable biomaterials — but achieving the right texture and flavor is a lot harder. And even if scientists are able to closely replicate natural beef, consumers might not bite; in a survey by GlobalMeatNews.com, only 34 percent of respondents said they’d even try 3D-printed meat.

insects – 3D projects an interesting advantage there — being able to make something that looks and tastes good from something that doesn’t.”

Anajan Contract, an engineer who’s currently developing a pizza-making printer with a $125,000 grant from NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program, envisions a machine that can produce food from capsules of powders and oils with shelf lives up to 30 years. He believes such a printer would not only reduce the environmental impact of cooking, but also offer a renewable form of sustenance to a growing world population.

“I think, and many economists think, that current food systems can’t supply 12 billion people sufficiently,” he said.

“So we eventually have to change our perception of what we see as food.”

Beyond sustainability, 3D food printing holds great promise for nutrition. This can help people cut down on the amount of chemical additives in their food and reduce overconsumption. The food printers of tomorrow could even allow customization at the macronutritional level, allowing users individualize the amounts of calcium, protein, omega-3, and carbohydrates in their meals.

“You’ll be able to say when I wake up

in the morning I want the printer to print my breakfast and I want to have the right amount of Trans fats, whatever we need.”

The many obstacles ahead But 3D food printing has many challenges to overcome, chief among them speed. Devices like the recently announced Carbon3D can fabricate a mind-boggling number of objects in minutes, but that level of advancement hasn’t trickled down to food printers yet. The most common designs require successive layers of ingredient to cool, leading to exceedingly long wait times for some foods.

Many food printers have chocolate, dough, and sugar nailed, but more complicated products like meat are tougher to master.

Printing in food materials is a lot more difficult from an engineering point of view than plastic of metals, as they interact with each other in very complex ways.”

That’s not to say producing them isn’t feasible.

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There’s also the issue of expectations.

The Star Trek replicator comes to mind when many people think about food synthesizers, but such a device would hardly be practical — a simple vegetable, like a tomato, would likely require tens of millions of different ingredient cartridges alone. “It sounds simple to say ‘we’ll have a fat cartridge,’ but there are hundreds of kinds of fats.”

But perhaps like any new technology, 3D food printers just take some getting used to same as when people first heard about microwaves they didn’t understand the technology, but now percent of households have microwaves.

3D food printers may not produce great-tasting food right now, or be able to cook meals from scratch. Or have the wholehearted endorsement of the epicurean elite. But they’re getting better every year, and what they promise — sustainable, nutritional perfection — is

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Convenience food sector of India growing swiftly The use of convenience foods is increasingly finding favor at home as well as in fine dining formats

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onvenience food sector in India has been growing at a fast pace in the recent years. Affordability, willingness to experiment different and new products, changing tastes and preferences are the key drivers of this growth. Advancements in the food processing techniques and packaging technology resulting in extended shelf life are large contributors to the growth in this sector. Apart from increasing the product life, these technologies also

aim at preserving the food values and minimizing health hazards. Improvement in the cold storage facilities have also paved way for the increased penetration of large variety of packaged convenience food.

Convenience food, which was initially introduced by multinational companies through a variety of ready to eat and ready to cook options, has been well received in India particularly in the urban areas.

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RET PACK Indeed, today’s convenience food market is influenced by a mix of culinary and diet trends, as well as the Millennial generation’s lack of kitchen skills, or unwillingness to spend hours hovering over a hot stove.

Conveniences foods will take on “a whole new dimension” in the near future because children of the 1980s and 1990s don’t cook like their parents or grandparents used to.

While previous generations commonly gathered around the dinner table every night for sit-down, homemade family meals, that’s something fewer and fewer younger people can relate to.

Recently, many domestic players have joined the fray and introduced many traditional Indian dishes in convenience food formats.

The convenience food sector can be broadly classified into shelf stable food and frozen foods. It is a highly organized sector with large players supported by the investments required in the stateof-art packaging technology, to ensure shelf stable food products as well as equipment for Individual Quick Freezing (IQF) and cold chain for frozen foods.

The convenience food sector in India has now emerged as one of the fast growing segments of the processed food industry, with metropolitan and Tier 1 cities being the primary market. However, convenience food products have strong acceptance levels in South India for traditional recipes in convenience formats but low acceptance in eastern and north eastern regions due to high cost.

Safal brand (frozen vegetable) category, Nestle, ITC, GlaxoSmithKline, and HUL. Some players in this sector commenced operations to cater to the demands in the export market but given the increasing domestic demand, these companies are altering product mix to meet the demands of the Indian customers. Buoyed by the introduction of new variants which appeal to the tastes of the domestic customers, the convenience food sector is expected to witness strong growth in the future.

While a wide range of convenience food products are imported, several products from India are also finding significant shelf space in the retail outlets outside India. The distribution channels vary based on the product type that is imported into India. Some of the key players in this sector are MTR (ready to eat market), Mother Dairy’s

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Key Players of convenience food in India Major players of convenience food are MTR, ITC, Haldiram, Kohinoor and Gits among others. The top most players are ITC and MTR holding 49 pc of the market share, while Kohinoor Foods, Gits and Tasty Bite Eatables constitute 35% of the total production of ready to eat products.

Other players are mostly regional players with lesser market share. The range of products include dessert mixes such as gulabjamun mix and kheermix; snack mixes such as rava idly mix, dhokla mix and puttu mix and curry making enablers such as gravy mix and masala mix. On the basis of availability, RTE products can be

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classified as dinner/breakfast table items and desserts/snacks items. According to a survey by Netscribes, the demand for desserts/snacks items is higher than the demand for dinner/breakfast table items.

On the basis of packaging, RTE products can be classified as frozen products and shelf stable products. Netscribes survey revealed that the demand for shelf stable products is higher than the demand for frozen products.

Convenience enters diners Traditionally, Hotels, Restaurants, and Catering (HoReCa) operators have majorly relied on their chefs’ craftsmanship for product preparation.

The chefs, in turn, used to rely on complete backward integration of their recipes where they used to make their own chutneys and grind their own masalas to deliver a unique and signature taste which became the hallmark of the restaurant.

For Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) players, convenience and consistency is a core deliverable. International players like McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza, KFC, etc. prefer to use varied forms of convenience foods either as a part of their recipe or as the final serving to the consumer. Tomato Ketchup and other sauces, for instance, are used as an accompaniment, while frozen patties and sausages as recipe ingredients, and frozen French fries and wedges as side dishes.

The food service industry has registered swift growth in the past decade, with both international (McDonald’s, Pizza Hut,

However, the dining scenario in India has evolved rapidly in the past decade or so with the increasing popularity of standalone casual dining and QSR formats in the market, some of those old paradigms are shifting. The use of convenience foods, hitherto restricted to QSR formats is increasingly finding favor in casual dining and fine dining formats, though in varying degrees.

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RET PACK Domino’s Pizza, etc.) and homegrown chains (Mast Kalandar, Rajdhani, Kaati Zone, Haldiram’s, etc.) booming. It is projected to grow further, at a double-digit rate, over the next five years. This has encouraged both budding entrepreneurs and existing businesses to venture into this sector and glean knowledge from existing players in order to replicate their success. Among such knowhow is an exposure to and adoption of convenience foods.

The availability of companies which provide sauces, dairy products, processed meats, frozen foods, ready-to-eat, readyto-cook, pickles etc. of a very high quality manufactured in plants of international standards has in turn aided in the growth of the foodservices industry as a whole, with more and more chefs now believing in “smart” selection of ingredients therefore procuring ingredients at different levels of finishing, based on their importance in the recipe.

Overall, operators are now demonstrating a higher inclination towards using convenience foods as, apart from consistency of taste and quality, they help reduce labor costs and lower the dependence on skilled chefs; and provide insulation against such external factors as seasonality, price fluctuation, etc.

Additionally, the challenge of finding the desired retail space, amid soaring rental costs, has forced operators to opt for a

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makhni are rockstars in kitchens outside the country.

Gits has been selling its convenience food for over four decades in 40 countries outside India. Today, a majority of the buyers for its Parsidhansak, Gujarati undhiu, Punjabi kadhi, Mumbai pavbhaji and moong dal halwa are in the US, UK, Australia and West Asia.

smaller footprint, e.g. takeaway counters with limited seating and kiosk formats.

Convenience food provides the best fit to adapt to this smaller footprint as a time- and space-saving resource.

Sensing the opportunity, leading food companies in India like Unilever, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Cremica (Mrs. Bector’s), Fun Foods (Dr. Oetker), Capital Foods etc. are augmenting their infrastructure and developing new categories of convenience foods like South Indian premixes, Soup powders, Readymade gravies, Cereal based breakfast options and various kinds of dessert mixes.

are poised to grab more space in the commercial kitchen. With the restaurant industry projected to grow at double digit numbers, and quick service segment and cafes leading this growth, the penetration of convenience food is likely to grow in tandem.

Exporting Indian palates For Indian convenience food companies, the overseas market is the money-spinner.

While the aroma of fresh idlis, upma and stuffed parathas still rule Indian households, MTR ravadosa and Gits dal

Some brands have collaborated with food service operators and developed customized products to extend their own product portfolio, e.g. Cremicahas worked with McDonald’s to create new dips for the brand, Fun Foods has been associated with Subway in developing customized variants of sauces, etc.

Marketing efforts and the willingness to offer customized, institutional packs has extended the reach of convenience foods.

However, there are operators in the food service industry who still rely on the craft being offered by trained chefs.

Nevertheless, with the growing trend of chain formats and the limited availability of skilled chefs, convenience foods

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Around 80 per cent of the revenues for Gitsconvenience meals come from exports and that is growing at about 50 per cent every year. The numbers are doubling, in fact, in some countries. Moreover the price of Indian food available in the restaurants abroad is costlier than the ready to eat packages. In terms of export, cereal based convenience food ranks first, followed by vegetable-based and meatbased products”.

Convenience v/s health Convenience food and ready to eat food food items are increasingly becoming a part of urban setup as there are lifestyle pressures, need for dual income to sustain and benefits of ready to eat foods meet these requirements as both the partners are working. This food is most often the choice of young adults in age group of 2040 years with busy schedules.

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cooking. All of this is creating a favorable market scenario for such food products, which can be instantly cooked with minimal preparation and effort.

Big Bazar, Easyday, Auchan Mart, etc. are among the leading retailers of convenience food products in India, and their revenue share is expected to grow in future due to their expanding distribution network and exclusive outlet base.

Besides the affluent class individuals, the rising middle class is also emerging as a major consumer of convenience food products in India.

But many health gurus believe that convenience food should not form the major part of meal everyday as they are unhealthy interns of calorie density leading to obesity. They are high in salt/ sugar and fats especially Trans fats that may alarmingly increase the probability of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, cancer, dyslipidemia and cardiovascular diseases.

Nutrients like vitamin C and B-complex that are water soluble and heat labile are lost while processing according to health police and other concerns are addition of food additives like monosodium glutamate that adds up to sodium intake.

Such foods also have food colours that are carcinogenic and harmful to body and may also cause hyperactivity and lower the concentration in school children. Food additives consumed beyond permissible limits may have adverse effects in longer run on health. Microbial contamination such as clostridium botulinium can be fatal, proper storage and handling is important factor. Therefore, necessary to ensure that nutritionally balanced diet are not compromised with unwise intake of convenience food. The packaging, however, contains food

labels, content of nutrients and its shelf life. Information about food additives used and their implications are also valuable. The consumers are, therefore, are left with informed and judicious use of convenience foods.

End Convenience food market in India is expected to ride high on account of various factors such as increasing working population and rising per capita disposable income. Due to busier lifestyle, Indian consumers are gradually shifting towards Ready to Cook and Ready to eat food instead of traditional cooking options.

The convenience food market in India has been estimated to have reached USD120 million in 2014. Since youth makes up a huge portion of the overall working population in India, convenience food products are witnessing higher adoption among young working professionals who hardly find time for traditional

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However, a large chunk of Indian consumers still remains untapped due to their lack of confidence on the nutritional value of processed products and their price conscious behavior. With small change in prices, consumers in India change their brand preferences quite quickly.

To offset this challenge, companies are increasingly focusing on introducing high-quality convenience food products at lower price brackets.

Northern region in India has been continuing its dominance in RTE and RTC convenience market, however, the country's western and southern region shave also been witnessing significant surge in demand over the last five years.

Moreover, over the last few years, most of the leading RTC players in India have been increasing their focus on research and development activities to expand their product offerings and make their products available to all class of consumers at lower price points.

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LOOKING FORWARD

Packaging for ready meal shelf-life extension

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f you can extend the shelf life of your ready meals you will simultaneously reduce your costs and increase your appeal to retailers and distributors.

Modern packaging materials and methods are enabling foods to remain fresh and wholesome throughout the distribution process. Intelligent packaging functions which include sensing, detecting, recording, tracing, communicating and applying scientific logic in order to extend shelf life enhance safety, improve quality, provide information and warn about possible issues.

There is a commercial benefit to ensuring

products stay fresh on a retailer’s shelf for longer. The extension of shelf life is based on slowing the deterioration of the product using a range of processes together with effective packaging to preserve the product in a suspended state.

The principal mechanisms involved in the deterioration of processed foods are: • microbiological spoilage sometimes accompanied by pathogen or germ development; • chemical and enzymatic activity causing the breakdown of colour, odour and flavour and texture changes;

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• Moisture or other vapours migration which produces changes in texture, water activity and flavour.

Therefore, to enhance shelf life, the focus should be on: • reducing microbial activity; • increasing the acidity; • the addition of additives; • reducing water activity; • Modifying the immediate environment.

Initially, extending the shelf life of products was a supply chain issue, but it has now become a consumer concern, due to freshness coupled with sustainable packaging.

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LOOCKING FORWARD

achieve zero-permeation. To achieve this goal a chemical absorbent is incorporated into the packaging material or added inside the package by means of sachets or labels. Also, the use of entrapped oxygen-consuming micro-organisms has been proposed as an alternative. Common food applications for oxygen scavenger packaging include oxygen sensitive beverages, fresh products, e.g. fresh pastas, snack food, ready-to-prepare and ready-to-eat produces.

Consumer demands for convenience have created new innovations in the food product development and packaging industries. The widespread desire for products which can be heated in the microwave has also contributed to such developments.

In the supply chain, more work is being done on oxygen scavengers, moisture absorbers and barrier films that will enhance the shelf life of products.

Consumers want packaging that keeps products clean, ready for eating, with longer shelf life, product security and value for money. This remains a big ask, but if success is to be achieved, packaging technologists need to rise to these demands.

protection or communication by active features. Packaging may be termed active when it affects one or more attributes of the packaging in a lasting and desired way. Oxygen scavengers are not the only applications used in active packaging.

Besides the oxygen scavengers, antimicrobial agents, moisture absorbers, ethylene absorbers, ethanol and carbon dioxide emitters can be used as active features in order to address the weak points in the shelf life of packed goods. • Oxygen scavengers are the best known and most widely used active packaging technologies today. They had been designed to remove residual oxygen from the headspace of the package and/or to

The terms active packaging and smart packaging refer to packaging systems used with foods, pharmaceuticals and several other types of products. They help extend shelf life, monitor freshness, display information on quality, improve safety and improve convenience.

Active packaging Active packaging describes mainly food packaging that interacts chemically or biologically with its contents or head space to extend shelf-life or. Since oxygen scavenging sachets were introduced to the Japanese market in 1978 the packaging industry has extended the traditional packaging tasks such as transport,

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• Antimicrobial agents incorporated into packaging materials are used more and more during the last years for food packaging. The objective of these agents is to control or to inhibit the growth of non-desirable micro-organisms on the food surface. These particles are often transported (migration) from the package to the food surface and are already used as coatings on different polymeric materials or in the mass of the polymer.

The activity of these antimicrobial agents is carried out either by contact of microorganisms onto the internal face of the packaging material, either directly in the food by emission or slow diffusion of the antimicrobial agent from the packaging material to the food. The packaging material containing the active substance should be sufficiently permeable to allow diffusion and controlled release during storage.

Smart packaging

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LOOKING FORWARD times. Depending on their type, they should be appropriate for specific product categories with defined temperature sensitivity.

In conjunction with the developments in packaging materials which help to extend and protect shelf life, there is also a complementary group of devices that monitor the products in the packs. These include time and temperature indicators, as well as leak and gas indicators, which provide an indication to the consumer of the state or freshness of the product.

Electronics and electrics are already used in packaging, from winking rum bottles and talking pizza boxes to aerosols that emit electrically charged insecticide that chases the bug. We even have medication that records how much is taken and when, and prompts the user. Reprogrammable phone decoration has arrived. But that is just a warm up. The key enabling technology is printed electronics, which will reduce costs by 99%. Consequently, many leading brand owners have recently put multidisciplinary teams onto the adoption of the new paper-thin electronics on their high-volume packaging. It will provide a host of consumer benefits and make competition look very tired indeed. This is mainly about modern merchandising—progressing way beyond static print—and dramatically better consumer propositions.

The global demand for electronic smart packaging devices is currently at a tipping point and will grow rapidly to $1.45 billion by 2023. The electronic packaging (e-packaging) market will remain primarily in consumer packaged goods, reaching 14.5 billion units that

have electronic functionality in 2023.

Smart packaging is a special form of active packaging. One of the main purposes is to indicate whether the quality of the product has decreased before the product deteriorates. Time-temperature indicators (TTIs) are the most used applications in the field of intelligent packaging. Further Applications with growth prospect are freshness indicators and tracking services via intelligent expiry date label.

• A time-temperature indicator (TTI) is a small measuring device attached to the package surface that exploits a change in a physical or physiochemical property to produce irreversible evidence of exceeding a predetermined temperature threshold or record the cumulative time-temperature history.

TTIs are working by physical, enzymatic or chemical reactions and are increasingly used to track both chilled and frozen foods. A TTI should be easy to activate and the observable colour change or colour development should correlate with the negative influence of the microbiological process.

TTIs are provided in different versions, with different activation temperatures and flow

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• Freshness indicators are attached inside the packaging and since they are dependent on any inference from temperature history, they signal directly product quality of the packed food. They detect volatile or non-volatile compounds or changes in the product itself. Used methods are visible indicator tags in contact with package headspace, labels and optical detectors. Freshness indicators detect the presence of microbiological metabolites. The indicator systems for metabolites include colour change of a dye or liquid crystals, formation of colour compounds, changes in optical properties or a miniaturized electronic nose.

The sole use of freshness indicators can be enhanced, and most important of all, brought to a universally interpretable level by extending the indicator with interpretation instructions which are accepted and understood by all parties involved in the handling chain of the perishable goods in question.

• Tracking services: If the quality of goods is limited by expiry, it becomes important to meet correct decisions upon

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shipment. Innovations in packaging for extending shelf life will be a key driver over the next few years for manufacturers.

Enhanced technical knowledge and input by packaging technologists and packaging engineers through improved performance qualities of materials will be required to fuel market growth.

In the food industry, nanotechnology has been utilized in order to enhance the delivery of food ingredients to target sites, increase flavor, inhibit bacterial growth, extend product shelf life and improve food safety. their disposal during transportation, storage and sale, otherwise, losses may occur due to premature expiry before reaching the point of sale, or food safety rules could be violated. The key decisions preventing premature spoilage can be made in following operational areas: i) food processing ii) packing process iii) logistic and shelf management at the point of sale. It is evident that such decisions can only be met properly if information about the status of goods is provided, i.e., the packed good can be tracked over the delivery and storage processes.

Nanotechnology One of the fastest growing areas in food manufacturing is the application of nanotechnology in packaging materials.

As the food market has expanded into a worldwide marketplace, it is requiring a longer shelf life. New materials incorporating nanoparticles have been able to reduce, and in some cases eliminate, the transmission of oxygen, and in addition have blocked the transmission of moisture from the product.

With the daily challenges of preserving product and minimising losses, growers, packers, shippers and retailers of produce now have new packaging options that allow them to dramatically increase shelf life.

Various packaging technologies can help food handlers remain competitive by reducing spoilage and delivering consistent quality products on every

Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of microscopic matter that ranges from 1 to 100 nm in size. Because food and water are naturally made up of particles that are on the nanometer scale, engineered nanoparticles are able to penetrate these products easily based on their similar properties. These particles can act as a whole unit by performing similar transportation functions that prove useful in almost every industry, particularly involving food products.

Nanomaterial has a large surface area that has the capability to enhance properties such as strength and reactivity that are of particular interest in food and packaging products.

The application of nanotechnology in food packaging allows for greater food protection through stronger mechanical and thermal capabilities and increased antibacterial properties. Nano-engineered food packaging provides biodegradable protection against leakage, gas penetration and pathogen entrance into foods. For example, silver, a well-known antimicrobial agent, has been utilized for these properties in Nano-engineered food packaging. One case study examined the effect of silver nanoparticles on bacterial growth and found a 98 percent reduction in growth after a 24 hour incubation period.

The benefits of nanotechnology in food

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LOOKING FORWARD products seem unimaginable, and they have already proven to be effective for numerous products. However, it is important to consider the fact that nanotechnology does involve a foreign invasion into our food supply.

Main drivers of the rapid growth According to the study, the rapid growth of advanced-packaging will be driven by trials now being carried out by leading companies and the rapid technical developments emanating from more than organizations, half of them academic, that are currently working on printed and potentially printed electronics.

The six main factors driving the rapid growth of electronic smart packaging are: • Aging population • Consumers are more demanding • Consumers are wealthier • Changing lifestyles • Tougher legislation • Concern about crime and the new terrorism There will also be growth from existing applications, such as talking pizza boxes, winking logos on multipacks of biscuits and bottles of rum, compliance monitoring blister packs in drug trials, prompting plastic bottles of drugs that prompt the user, testers on batteries, and reprogrammable decoration on mobile phones. However, projected adoption only represents a few percent of CPG packages being fitted with these devices in 2023.

There are still many challenges to be addressed, including creating sustainable e-packaging products, rather than one-off projects. Cost and lack of integrators and complete product designers are current limitations.

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SUBSTITUTE

The artificial sweeteners

in the Food and Beverage Industry

T

oday artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes are found in a variety of food and beverages; they're marketed as "sugar-free" or "diet," including soft drinks, chewing gum, jellies, baked goods, candy, fruit juice, and ice cream and yogurt.

Just what are all these sweeteners? And what's their role in your diet?

Sugar substitutes are loosely considered any sweetener that you use instead of regular table sugar (sucrose). Artificial sweeteners are just one type of sugar substitute.

The topic of sugar substitutes can be confusing. One problem is that the terminology is often open to interpretation.

For instance, some manufacturers call their sweeteners "natural" even though they're processed or refined, as is the case with stevia preparations. And some artificial sweeteners are derived from naturally occurring substances — sucralose comes from sugar, for example.

Regardless of how they're classified, sugar substitutes aren't magic bullets for weight loss. Take a closer look.

Artificial sweeteners are synthetic sugar substitutes, but may be derived from naturally occurring substances, including herbs or sugar itself. Artificial sweeteners are also known as intense sweeteners because they are many times sweeter than regular sugar.

Artificial sweeteners are widely used in

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processed foods, including baked goods, soft drinks, powdered drink mixes, candy, puddings, canned foods, jams and jellies, dairy products, and scores of other foods and beverages.

Artificial sweeteners are also popular for home use. Some can even be used in baking or cooking. Certain recipes may need modification, though, because artificial sweeteners provide no bulk or volume, as does sugar. Check the labels on artificial sweeteners for appropriate home use.

Some artificial sweeteners may leave an aftertaste. Try different artificial sweeteners to find one or a combination that you enjoy.

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SUBSTITUTE expected to dominate the market space due to their natural profile. New product launches with natural ingredients would fuel the demand for the same.

Demand for aspartame in diet soft drinks would continue, perhaps its demand is expected to decline in tabletop market in the forecast period. Application-wise, demand for artificial sweeteners for diet soft drinks is expected to decline. Also, tabletop would emerge as the largest category leaving behind confections and the candy market by 2020.

Global market of artificial sweeteners Artificial sweeteners are synthetically produced sugar substitutes that are sweet in taste. Some of the major artificial sweeteners include aspartame, acesulfame-K, monosodium glutamate, saccharin and sodium benzoate. Second generation artificial sweeteners include sucralose and neotame. Artificial sweeteners are also called “intense sweeteners� as they are many times sweeter than the regular sugar. For instance, neotame is 8000 times sweeter than sugar. These are potential alternatives to sugar as they add virtually no calories to one’s diet and help maintain low blood sugar levels. Additional advantages reflect in pricing and labeling.

hypermarkets, departmental stores, momand-pop shops, convenience stores and others.

The demand for low-calorie food items in various verticals of food service industry has triggered the growth of artificial sweeteners market. The demand for artificial sweeteners also witnessed growth in the past few decades due to growing health issues like diabetes and obesity.

Till 2012, aspartame enjoyed the largest market share as compared to other artificial sweeteners. However, sucralose has surpassed its demand in recent times, globally. Sucralose-based sweeteners are

Artificial sweeteners are widely used in processed foods, like baked goods, powdered drink mixes, candies, puddings, jams and jellies, dairy products and a variety of other foods and beverages.

The market can be segmented based on application such as bakery items, dairy products, confectionery, beverages and others. Regionally, the market can be segmented into Asia-Pacific, North America (the U.S., Canada and Mexico), Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East & North Africa and RoW (Rest of the World including Latin America and South Africa). The market can also be segmented on the basis of distribution channels, like supermarkets and

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Researchers are continuously working on the efficacy of artificial sweeteners and found out that they can potentially disrupt the body's ability to regulate blood sugar, which in turn can trigger diabetes.

Artificial sweeteners, like saccharin, NutraSweet and Equal (aspartame) account for a major market share in the U.S. They have reported a continuous decline in their market share from 2010 to 2014, which shows that the market for artificial sweeteners is shrinking in North America. However, the market for artificial sweeteners is growing moderately in emerging economies.

There is a growing trend towards blending two or more artificial sweeteners to mask their bitter or metallic taste in products.

For instance, companies blend sucralose and neotame to enhance the quality of the final product. With extended government approvals for the use of artificial

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SUBSTITUTE

the market is bound to grow. With the entry of new and safer molecules, the artificial sweetener industry in India could witness large volumes. Increasing awareness and endorsements by culinary experts and cine personalities would certainly help the Indian diabetic population to opt for alternative sweeteners.

In India, you will find 4 major types of artificial sweeteners that are currently selling. These are Saccharine, Aspartame, Sucralose and Stevia. Let us take a closer look at each of these sweeteners:

sweeteners in different regions and applications have significantly boosted the demand for these products.

Artificial Sweeteners Market in India The emergence of diabetes is turning out to be globally debilitating. India has about 65 million diabetics. Apart from nearly 65 million diabetics, India also has 77 million pre-diabetics. This will see the number grow to a whopping 100 million plus, confirmed diabetics by 2030. Nowadays, even children at age of 13-14 are diabetics due to the change in lifestyles – consumption of junk food, fast food, lack of physical activity and growing obesity.

With growing awareness of the link between diet and health the problem of obesity, consumer concern over sugar levels in the diet is forcing a worldwide trend towards cutting down on sugar.

The shift away from sugar is still years away but a trend towards low calorie sweeteners is occurring. The world is turning, to artificial sweeteners and substitutes. The market for sugar substitutes is being fuelled globally by new-age safe sweeteners. The need of the hour is natural sweeteners.

India is the second largest producer of sugar and its largest consumer in the world – much of it being used in sweetmeats.

Sweetmeats being an integral part of the “Indian Thali” become unavoidable at

times. Our cultural and religious thoughts also force us to take ‘Prasad” which is usually loaded with sugar and fats. But increasingly, the massive consumption of sugar-based products is being associated not only with diabetes. India has the dubious distinction of being called the diabetic capital of the world – but also the capital of obesity and heart diseases.

The greatest challenge that the sweetener market in India faces in trying to expand the user base is the resistance Indians have to change from what has essentially been their way of life for centuries – even when the issue is health related.

Sometimes social and peer pressure also doesn’t allow an individual to follow his regimen strictly.

The sweetener market In India today stands at approximately Rs.150 crores with a double digit growth. This is miniscule, looking into the number of diabetics and pre diabetics in India. With the changed regulatory scenario allowing use of sweeteners in everyday consumables

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Saccharine – sold under the brand names Sweet n Low or Sugar Free. It is an organic molecule derived from petroleum and is almost 300 times sweeter than natural sugar. Saccharine is not affected by heat and so has the biggest advantages as it can be used easily in sugar free cakes and other sweetmeats. It contains no calories at all and is very effective in managing blood sugar levels. Saccharine was reported to be a potential ‘carcinogen’.

Lots of studies conducted on male lab rats confirmed that saccharine does increase chances of bladder cancer.

Aspartame – sold under the brand name Equal and Sugar Free Gold is pocket

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SUBSTITUTE

expansion of the monk fruit sweeteners sales have soared to US$60 million with 70% growth in the past year.

Coconut Palm Sugar – This nectar of coconut palm trees looks, tastes, dissolves and melts like sugar but it is less processed and more nutritious. The number of calories is almost identical to refined sugar but this has a low glycemic index and so it is absorbed into the blood stream at a significantly slower rate making it a viable sugar substitute for diabetics. Rich in potassium, zinc iron and B vitamins it is the preferred choice of many diabetic and obese users. friendly for the user. It is a combination of amino acids – aspartic acid and phenylalanine with menthol. Aspartame is about 180 times sweeter than sugar.

This sweetener has slow onset as well as longer taste, which is sometimes not preferred by users.1 gram of aspartame is equal to 4 calories. Yet, because we use a very small quantity to sweeten our tea and coffee, the calories amount to almost nothing. Even with all these benefits, aspartame has been linked to cardio vascular diseases.

Stevia – is unique, it cannot be termed as an ‘artificial’ sweetener because it is in fact a herb, which makes it an organic sweetener. Sold popularly as brand names BeStevia, Sunova and Steviocal, Stevia based sweeteners have been recognized as safe. It is 250 to even 300 times sweeter than sugar, though it leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouth. It is free of calories and a healthy alternative to sugar. Some people have reported feeling nauseous and bloated after using stevia.

are working on these natural alternatives for the Indian market. Let look at these few natural and safe options which are doing well internationally and gaining popularity.

Monk Fruit (siraitiagrosvenoril): The monk fruit is a small, sweet melon native to China and has been used in Southeast Asia as an herbal medicine and sweetener for centuries. The monk fruit sweeteners have attracted attention as they are marketed as zero carbs with low or no calories and rich in antioxidants. Monk fruit sweeteners are made from monk fruit extract, which is 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar. User may be drawn to monk fruit extracts sweeteners as it originates from a fruit unlike plant based alternatives like stevia. With the recent

Sucralose – A heat stable sweetener, many doctors and scientists believe that Sucralose is the best sweetener in the market. Available as Splenda and Sugar Free Natura in India, It is almost 600 times sweeter than ordinary sugar, and comes from sugar cane extracts.

Sucralose has no calories, so if effective for those looking to lose weight The international market is witnessing the entry of many natural alternatives. Most of the pharma and consumer companies

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Lucuma: The dried powder of the lucuma fruit has a subtle butterscotch flavor and is gaining preference as a natural sweetener.

The fruit originates in South America and has many health benefits. This powder retains much of the fiber; vitamins and minerals found in the raw fruit including beta carotene, iron and niacin make it the preferred choice for diabetic and cardiac patients. Its butter scotch or maple flavor with flour like consistency helps it to be used in smoothies and ice-creams.

Yacon: A sweet tasting root vegetable that looks a bit like a potato and tastes much like an apple. It has been appreciated by the native Peruvian culture for thousands of years and has recently emerged in the Western world as a sweetener. Yacon is rich in fibers, probiotics and polyphenols

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SUBSTITUTE carbohydrates. But because of concerns about how sugar substitutes are labeled and categorized, always check with your doctor or dietitian about using any sugar substitutes if you have diabetes.

which makes it an ideal sweetener for health conscious individuals. Appreciated by native Peruvian cultures, it is being used as a sweetener as it does not elevate blood sugar levels and is relatively low on calories.

Brazzien – A natural high-intensity sweetener from a protein called brazzein, derived from the berry of the West African plant PentadiplandrabrazzeanaBaillon .It claims to be 2,500 – 4,000 times sweeter than sucrose. While monk fruit has a juicy-fruit-type candy taste profile and stevia has a licorice aftertaste”, brazzein has more of a “sucrose-type profile that makes it palatable for the users. Brazzein has a lingering aftertaste and a slight delay in the sweetness.”

A huge untapped market lies in the usage of artificial sweeteners in the food and beverage market. Beverages are the biggest market for sugar alternatives, but many products such as bars, yoghurt and baked goods also benefit from low calorie substitutes. Formulators developing a food or beverage with a natural sugar alternative must take note of consumer expectation of sweet products, including mouth feel, texture and after taste.

It is difficult for an Indian to resist his penchant for sweet food. With increasing safer options available which promise better taste with fewer calories, we can be sure that our love for sweetmeats is going to stay.Undoubtedly the Indian market for natural alternative sweeteners is bound to

expand. Pharma majors are eyeing this category and are keen to add sweeteners to their diabetic product portfolios. The industry is discovering more options and looking forward to introduce newer and safer alternatives for the healthy minded consumers who can look forward for sweeter days ahead.

Possible health benefits of artificial sweeteners One benefit of artificial sweeteners is that they don't contribute to tooth decay and cavities. They may also help with the following: • Weight control. One of the most appealing aspects of artificial sweeteners is that they are non-nutritive — they have virtually no calories. In contrast, each gram of regular table sugar contains 4 calories. A teaspoon of sugar is about 4 grams. For perspective, consider that one 12-ounce can of a sweetened cola contains 10 teaspoons of added sugar, or about 150 calories. If you're trying to lose weight or prevent weight gain, products sweetened with artificial sweeteners, rather than with higher calorie table sugar, may be an attractive option. On the other hand, some research has suggested that consuming artificial sweeteners may be associated with increased weight, but the cause is not yet known.

• Diabetes. Artificial sweeteners may be a good alternative to sugar if you have diabetes. Unlike sugar, artificial sweeteners generally don't raise blood sugar levels because they are not

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Possible health concerns with artificial sweeteners Artificial sweeteners have been scrutinized intensely for decades. Critics of artificial sweeteners say that they cause a variety of health problems, including cancer. That's largely because of studies dating to the 1970s that linked saccharin to bladder cancer in laboratory rats.

Because of those studies, saccharin once carried a warning label that it may be hazardous to your health.

But according to the National Cancer Institute and other health agencies, there's no sound scientific evidence that any of the artificial sweeteners approved for use in the U.S. cause cancer or other serious health problems. And numerous research studies confirm that artificial sweeteners are generally safe in limited quantities, even for pregnant women. As a result of the newer studies, the warning label for saccharin was dropped.

Artificial sweeteners are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as food additives. They must be reviewed and approved by the FDA before being made available for sale.

In some cases, the FDA declares a substance "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS). These GRAS substances, including highly refined stevia preparations, are deemed by qualified professionals based on scientific data as being safe for their intended use, or they have such a lengthy history of common use in food that they're considered generally safe and don't require FDA approval before sale.

The FDA has also established an acceptable daily intake (ADI) for each artificial sweetener. This is the maximum amount considered safe to consume each day over the course of your lifetime. ADIs are intended to be about 100 times less than the smallest amount that might cause health concern.

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FOOD TECH

Emerging Technologies in Food Processing and Post Harvest Sector: A Review

T

he relatively recent advent of in vitro genetic manipulation has extended the range of products that may be produced by microorganisms and has provided new methods for increasing the yields of existing ones. [1, 2] The fermentation technology under controlled conditions is an age old practice both in households and industries for food processing and preservation, be it alcoholic beverage products of edible products derived from vegetable, fish and meat sources. Fermentation is brought about by the conversion of sugars into

ethanol chemically. The fermentation technology applicable to food processing sector is also popularly known as zymology or zymurgy. Fermentation is an important and popular technique in food processing technology. It is resulted from the chemical reaction resulting from the breakdown of higher carbohydrates to alcohols and organic acids or alcoholic derivatives. [3, 4-5] There are several advantages of proper food processing under controlled and regulated conditions.

It implies the decrease or removal of the content of anti-nutritional factors

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from the food, increase in shelf-life for prolonged preservation, ease in marketing and increase in consumer demands and increment in the quality and consistency of the finished processed food. It also increases the availability of many food items during off-seasons, increases the convenience in transportation of food items over long distances by decreasing the chances of rotting of mainly perishable food items and increasing the safety for consumption by deleting pathogenic microorganisms which cause spoilage.

Food processing at certain places can

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FOOD TECH

processing and modification of individual ingredients. So, the food processing sector implies a huge margin of profit for processed food manufacturers and retailers in the supply chain.

Food processing has also gained its importance in the wide variety of diet among people throughout the globe and availability of exotic food items at various places. Processing of food items enhance the taste, flavor and aroma of the food thereby increasing the overall chances of its acceptability among the masses [2] III. PATHOGENIC FACTORS INVOLVED AND MITIGATION STRATEGY DURING PROCESSING

also be used to reduce the conditions of food shortage and by supplementation of nutritious and safe food for the masses.

[1,2] II. FOOD PACKAGING AND PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY Many different packaging materials can provide a chemical barrier. Glass and metals provide a nearly absolute barrier to chemical and other environmental agents, but few packages are purely glass or metal since closure devices are added to facilitate both filling and emptying. Closure devices may contain materials that allow minimal levels of permeability. For example, plastic caps have some permeability to gases and vapors, as do the gasket materials used in caps to facilitate closure and in metal can lids to allow sealing after filling.

Plastic packaging offers a large range of barrier properties but is generally more permeable than glass or metal. Proper and ideal food packaging can retard product deterioration, retain the beneficial effects of processing, extend shelf-life, and maintain or increase the quality and safety of food. In doing so, packaging provides protection from 3 major classes of external influences: chemical, biological, and physical. Chemical protection minimizes compositional changes triggered by environmental influences such as exposure to gases (typically oxygen), moisture (gain or loss), or light (visible, IR or UV). [6]

Vacuum packaging involves placing a product in a film of low oxygen permeability, the removal of air from package and the application of a hermetic seal. Exclusion of the air from the package and thus creating a vacuum is, in effect, a certain type of modification of the atmosphere. The little gaseous atmosphere likely to be present in the beginning in the package will undergo changes during storage because of the metabolism of the product and/or action of micro-organisms and all the volatiles produced as a result of the decomposition are sealed within the package.[7] Food processing whenever performed in large mass is comparatively cheaper than

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As food processing decreases the population or load of pathogenic microorganisms in food and neutralizes the harmful mycotoxins, if present therein.

So, it reduces the chances of food-borne diseases caused by microorganisms like Salmonella etc. which can harbor in raw meat and incidences of mycotoxicoses (majorly, aflatoxicosis, ochratoxicosis and zearalenone) due to prolonged improper storage of food thereby causing human illnesses.[8] Processing involves various methods among which cooking is a very popular and widely used method which involves the modification by blending etc. of naturally available unprocessed food ingredients. In our nowadays fast paced lifestyle where every family member is on a go for financial security, processed

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FOOD TECH

product deterioration and the conditions to which the packaged product will be subjected throughout its shelf-life. The advancements in food technology and packaging technology have made it possible to extend the shelf-life of these products. Some important packaging considerations, which influence the selection criteria for choosing packaging materials, are highlighted. [10-12]

food products have gained its important position in daily livelihood by offering ready prepared wholesome and nutritious meals within short period. [9] The modern methods of processing decreases the risk of health hazards to consumers from diabetics, allergies etc. Food processing also involves fortification for the production of neutraceuticals and energy supplements with addition of probiotics, prebiotics, certain important vitamins and mineral elements within standard permissible limits which are rather present in natural food in very scarce quantity.

Saccharomyces species have an increased tolerance to alcohol. It has the potential to contribute to the fermentation when the temperature increased; the maximum fermentation time gets shortened. A much higher temperature inhibited the growth of cells and then the fermentation significantly declined. [10] Before deciding which packaging material is to be used, it is necessary to know the packaging requirements of the product i.e. what hazards will cause

The production of ethanol is affected by the substrate concentration higher substrate concentration may achieve higher ethanol production, but a longer incubation time was required for higher initial glucose concentrations. Moreover, higher initial glucose concentrations may have actually decreased the ethanol conversion efficiency when the pH value is not controlled, since the higher substrate and production concentrations may have inhibited the process of ethanol fermentation. More substrate did not improve the specific ethanol production rate when the pH value is not controlled.

Temperature has an impact on the growth and activity of different strains of yeast.

At temperatures of 10 to 15째C, the non-

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IV. LIMITATIONS There exist certain limitations of food processing also. For example, during processing by heating the concentration of vitamin C is reduced, as it is heatsensitive. Generally, food processing techniques reduce the nutritional quantity in very negligible amount of nearly 5-20%. Food processing involves the use of food additives, which sometimes prove to be detrimental to public health. There exists a specified level of individual feed additive during processing technique and which is approved for safe consumption of human beings and signifies the quantity of the additive to be incorporated in the finished processed food item.

Food processing involves many mechanisms like mixing, grinding, chopping and emulsifying during the whole process of production, which indirectly increase the chances of

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contamination and admixtures undesirable foreign elements.

with

Sometimes, packaging containers also pose a threat for public contamination when exposed to thorough procedures of continuous processing by leaching of the chemical components from the containers into the food item to be processed. [13] In food manufacturing practices, using metal detectors decrease the risk of contamination with metal fragments during the processing technique. In large food processing equipments are fitted with many metal detectors at several positions to negate the chances and risks of metal contamination of processed food products. In 1947, the first industrial purpose metal detector was introduced by Goring Kerr.

V. EFFECT OF PROCESSING ON PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF FOOD In general, the hardness of extruded cereal exhibited an inverse relationship with extrudate expansion, as observed in several studies on extruded products where hardness was represented by instrumentally measured mechanical properties such as compression modulus and crushing stress. Hardness is greatly affected by the expansion of the extrudates. Fermentation technology is primarily employed for the preservation of different food by production of acids and alcohols, biological fortification and enrichment of food items with potential biogenic products. Lipid oxidation

is the major chemical challenge for preservation of food. This oxidation can reduce the nutritive quality by decreasing the content of essential fatty acids, such as linolenic acid (C18:3) and linoleic acid (C18:2), which are essential fatty acids. The hardness of cereals increased with moisture content for each extrusion temperature. [14] Penetration depth of microwaves is dependent on food composition. Lower microwave frequencies with longer wavelengths have more penetrating effect.

For cooking or reheating small amounts of food, the microwave oven may use less energy than a cook stove. Although microwave ovens are touted as the most efficient appliance, the energy savings are largely due to the reduced heat mass of the food's container. Microwaves are a form of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation with a frequency higher than ordinary radio waves but lower than infrared light.

Microwaves refer to the electromagnetic waves in the frequency range of 300 to 300,000 MHz. A microwave oven heats food by passing microwave radiation through it. [15, 16] Like other heating methods, microwaving converts vitamin B12 from an active to inactive form. The amount inactivated depends on the temperature reached, as well as the cooking time.

Steamed vegetables tend to maintain more nutrients when microwaved than when cooked on a stovetop. Microwave blanching is 3-4 times more effective than boiled water blanching in the

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retaining of the water-soluble vitamins folic acid, thiamin and riboflavin, with the exception of ascorbic acid, of which 28.8% is lost (vs. 16% with boiled water blanching). The use of microwave oven provides a convenient way to thaw, cook and reheat foods. However, the safety of the microwaved food has on and off aroused some public interest.

Once microwave energy is absorbed, polar molecules and ions inside the food will rotate or collide according to the alternating electromagnetic field and heat is subsequently generated for cooking.

Hygiene protocols for the finished processed food product are evaluated as per HACCP guidelines to minimize the risk of potential health hazards among consumers. Baking is nowadays a more preferable technique of food processing rather than frying on grounds long-term health benefits and retaining the natural taste and flavor of the finished product.

Use of artificial sweeteners and leavening agents also impose long-term serious health risks to regular consumers by acting as diabetics. Processing techniques can be lengthy and time consuming sometimes depending on the type of food being processed and it needs the control and regulation of certain parameters for processing which includes hygiene which is assessed by the microbial load in the processed food product, efficiency in energy utilization, minimum waste generation, effective labour saving and minimization of cleaning requirements.

[17, 18] VI. CONCLUSION

The popular processing techniques in food sector are canning, fish processing, industrial rendering, tanneries, meat packing plants, slaughter houses, sugar industries and vegetable packaging plants. There are certain risks and health hazards associated with excess and regular consumption of fermented food products. Currently, extrusion-cooking as a method is used for the manufacture many foodstuffs, ranging from the simplest expanded snacks to highlyprocessed meat analogues.

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Q&A on the carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat Q. What do you consider as red meat?

A. Red meat refers to all mammalian muscle meat, including, beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse, and goat.

Q. What do you consider as processed meat?

A. Processed meat refers to meat that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavour or improve preservation. Most processed meats contain pork or beef, but processed meats may also contain other red meats, poultry, offal, or meat by-products such as blood.

Examples of processed meat include hot dogs (frankfurters), ham, sausages, corned beef, and biltong or beef jerky as well as canned meat and meat-based preparations and sauces.

and processed meat as high priorities for evaluation by the IARC Monographs Programme.

This recommendation was based on epidemiological studies suggesting that small increases in the risk of several cancers may be associated with high consumption of red meat or processed meat. Although these risks are small, they could be important for public health because many people worldwide eat meat and meat consumption is increasing in low- and middle-income countries.

Although some health agencies already recommend limiting intake of meat, these recommendations are aimed mostly at reducing the risk of other diseases. With this in mind, it was important for IARC to provide authoritative scientific evidence on the cancer risks associated with eating red meat and processed meat.

Q. Why did IARC choose to evaluate red meat and processed meat?

A. An international advisory committee that met in 2014 recommended red meat

Q. Do methods of cooking meat change the risk?

A. High-temperature cooking methods generate compounds that may contribute

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to carcinogenic risk, but their role is not yet fully understood.

Q. What are the safest methods of cooking meat (e.g. sautĂŠing, boiling, broiling, or barbecuing)?

A. Cooking at high temperatures or with the food in direct contact with a flame or a hot surface, as in barbecuing or pan-frying, produces more of certain types of carcinogenic chemicals (such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic aromatic amines). However, there were not enough data for the IARC Working Group to reach a conclusion about whether the way meat is cooked affects the risk of cancer.

Q. Is eating raw meat safer?

A. There were no data to address this question in relation to cancer risk.

However, the separate question of risk of infection from consumption of raw meat needs to be kept in mind.

Q. Red meat was classified as Group

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level of risk.

Q. What types of cancers are linked or associated with eating red meat?

A. The strongest, but still limited, evidence for an association with eating red meat is for colorectal cancer. There is also evidence of links with pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer.

Q. What types of cancers are linked or associated with eating processed meat?

A. The IARC Working Group concluded that eating processed meat causes colorectal cancer. An association with stomach cancer was also seen, but the evidence is not conclusive.

2A, probably carcinogenic to humans.

What does this mean exactly?

A. In the case of red meat, the classification is based on limited evidence from epidemiological studies showing positive associations between eating red meat and developing colorectal cancer as well as strong mechanistic evidence.

Limited evidence means that a positive association has been observed between exposure to the agent and cancer but that other explanations for the observations (technically termed chance, bias, or confounding) could not be ruled out.

Q. Processed meat was classified as Group 1, carcinogenic to humans.

What does this mean?

A. This category is used when there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans. In other words, there is convincing evidence that the agent causes cancer. The evaluation is usually based on epidemiological studies showing the development of cancer in exposed humans.

In the case of processed meat, this classification is based on sufficient evidence from epidemiological studies that eating processed meat causes colorectal cancer.

Tobacco smoking and asbestos are also both classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). Does it mean that consumption of processed meat is as carcinogenic as tobacco smoking and asbestos?

A. No, processed meat has been classified in the same category as causes of cancer such as tobacco smoking and asbestos (IARC Group 1, carcinogenic to humans), but this does NOT mean that they are all equally dangerous. The IARC classifications describe the strength of the scientific evidence about an agent being a cause of cancer, rather than assessing the

Q. Processed meat was classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1).

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Q. How many cancer cases every year can be attributed to consumption of processed meat and red meat?

A. According to the most recent estimates by the Global Burden of Disease Project, an independent academic research organization, about 34 000 cancer deaths per year worldwide are attributable to diets high in processed meat.

Eating red meat has not yet been established as a cause of cancer. However, if the reported associations were proven to be causal, the Global Burden of Disease Project has estimated that diets high in red meat could be responsible for 50 000 cancer deaths per year worldwide.

These numbers contrast with about 1 million cancer deaths per year globally due to tobacco smoking, 600 000 per year due to alcohol consumption, and more

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evaluation did not permit a conclusion about whether a safe level exists.

than 200 000 per year due to air pollution.

Q. Could you quantify the risk of eating red meat and processed meat?

A. The consumption of processed meat was associated with small increases in the risk of cancer in the studies reviewed. In those studies, the risk generally increased with the amount of meat consumed. An analysis of data from 10 studies estimated that every 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by about 18%.

The cancer risk related to the consumption of red meat is more difficult to estimate because the evidence that red meat causes cancer is not as strong. However, if the association of red meat and colorectal cancer were proven to be causal, data from the same studies suggest that the risk of colorectal cancer could increase by 17% for every 100 gram portion of red meat eaten daily.

A. The available data did not allow conclusions about risks to people who have already had cancer.

Q. Should I stop eating meat?

A. Eating meat has known health benefits.

Many national health recommendations advise people to limit intake of processed meat and red meat, which are linked to increased risks of death from heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses.

Q. How much meat is it safe to eat?

A. The risk increases with the amount of meat consumed, but the data available for

Q. Is the risk higher in children, in elderly people, in women, or in men?

Are some people more at risk?

A. The available data did not allow conclusions about whether the risks differ in different groups of people.

Q. What about people who have had colon cancer? Should they stop eating red meat?

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Q. What makes red meat and processed meat increase the risk of cancer?

A. Meat consists of multiple components, such as haem iron. Meat can also contain chemicals that form during meat processing or cooking. For instance, carcinogenic chemicals that form during meat processing include N-nitroso compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Cooking of red meat or processed meat also produces heterocyclic aromatic amines as well as other chemicals including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are also found in other foods and in air pollution.

Some of these chemicals are known or suspected carcinogens, but despite this knowledge it is not yet fully understood how cancer risk is increased by red meat or processed meat.

Q. Can you compare the risk of eating red meat with the risk of eating processed meat?

A. Similar risks have been estimated for a typical portion, which is smaller on average for processed meat than for red meat. However, consumption of red meat has not been established as a cause of cancer.

Q. What is WHO’s health recommendation to prevent cancer risk associated with eating red meat and processed meat?

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freezing, or irradiation)?

A. Different preservation methods could result in the formation of carcinogens (e.g. N-nitroso compounds), but whether and how much this contributes to the cancer risk is unknown.

Q. How many studies were evaluated?

A. The IARC Working Group considered more than 800 different studies on cancer in humans (some studies provided data on both types of meat; in total more than 700 epidemiological studies provided data on red meat and more than 400 epidemiological studies provided data on processed meat).

A. IARC is a research organization that evaluates the evidence available on the causes of cancer but does not make health recommendations as such.

National governments and WHO are responsible for developing nutritional guidelines. This evaluation by IARC reinforces a 2002 recommendation from WHO that people who eat meat should moderate the consumption of processed meat to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. Some other dietary guidelines also recommend limiting consumption of red meat or processed meat, but these are focused mainly on reducing the intake of fat and sodium, which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease and obesity. Individuals who are concerned about cancer could consider reducing their consumption of red meat or processed meat until updated guidelines related specifically to cancer have been developed.

risks in vegetarians and people who eat meat. That type of comparison is difficult because these groups can be different in other ways besides their consumption of meat.

Q. Is there a type of red meat that is safer?

A. A few studies have investigated the cancer risks associated with different types of red meat, such as beef and pork, and with different kinds of processed meats, like ham and hot dogs. However, there is not enough information to say whether higher or lower cancer risks are related to eating any particular type of red meat or processed meat.

Q. Could the preservation method influence the risk (e.g. salting, deep-

Q. Should we eat only poultry and fish?

A. The cancer risks associated with consumption of poultry and fish were not evaluated.

Q. Should we be vegetarians?

A. Vegetarian diets and diets that include meat have different advantages and disadvantages for health. However, this evaluation did not directly compare health

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Q. How many experts were involved in the evaluation?

A. The IARC Working Group consisted of 22 experts from 10 countries (List of Participants).

Q. What actions do you think governments should take based on your results?

A. IARC is a research organization that evaluates the evidence on the causes of cancer but does not make health recommendations as such. The IARC Monographs are, however, often used as a basis for making national and international policies, guidelines and recommendations to minimize cancer risks. Governments may decide to include this new information on the cancer hazards of processed meat in the context of other health risks and benefits in updating dietary recommendations.

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Pulses Production Scenario: Policy and Technological Options

H

istorically, India is the largest producer, consumer and importer of pulses. Although it is the world’s largest pulses producer, there is still a huge shortage of pulses and also, the prices are not affordable to a large section of consumers. An immediate need is the development and dissemination of low-cost technologies in pulses production, so that they can be affordable to the common man. Even though pulses production increased by 3.35% per

annum during the last decade, the cost of production and consequent prices are too high to be affordable to the common man; to increase production at lower cost is a bigger challenge. The earlier experience shows that technological efforts need to be supported by the right policy environment to harvest fruits of R&D in agriculture (Reddy 2009).

Still, the productivity of pulses in India is low at 694 kg/ha, and to make pulses production internationally competitive,

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the average yield levels need to be increased to at least 1ton/ha.Some of the policy suggestions that emerged from the studies at ICRISAT to increase pulses production are (i) Maintain a stable price band, which will give stable profits to farmers for a reasonably longer-period through innovative market interventions for all pulse crops, (ii) Strengthen government programs like National Food Security Mission (NFSM) to reduce yield gaps between farmers and research

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labor and water) was less for the pulsebased cropping systems. The benefitcost ratio was almost the same (1.8) for both the cropping systems. Overall, pulse-based cropping systems are more suitable for resource-poor farmers and water-scarce regions. The pulse-based cropping systems are environmentally sustainable also, as they require lower use of fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation in addition to enhancing the prroductivity of cropping systems by increasing yield of subsequent crops (Reddy 2004, Reddy 2009a).

stations, (iii) Develop low cost innovative seed systems and select farmers’ preferred varieties through farmers’ participatory varietal selection (FPVS) to replace old varieties, (iv) Focus on abiotic and biotic stress management to increase stability in production through integrated approach, (v) Provide incentives for adoption of low-cost technologies such as application of micronutrients to reduce cost of production and increase yield, (vi) Increase awareness about the utility of wider adoption of farm machinery, herbicides and micro-irrigation facilities to cope with labor and water shortages in rural areas, and (vii) Develop market infrastructure and information systems and enhance credit availability in districts growing pulses. On the R&D front, development of short duration, photothermo insensitive varieties for different agro-ecologies, use of biotechnology tools for the development of new varieties with required traits, and development of bio-intensive low-cost integrated pest management (IPM) modules need to be given priority.

Daily item in food basket – poor man’s meat Pulses are good sources of proteins and commonly called the poor man’s meat (Reddy 2010). The frequency of pulses consumption is much higher than any other source of protein; about 89

percent consume pulses at least once a week, while only 35.4 percent of persons consume fish or chicken/meat at least once a week in India (IIPS, ORC Macro, 2007). Further, any reduction in prices of pulses will increase consumption by the poor more than the rich consumers (Mittal 2006). Further, pulses provide healthy proteins compared to other protein rich sources like meat and meat products. Lastly, pulses meet tastes of different sections of society across India.

The major chickpea consuming states are Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The major pigeonpea consuming states are Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Some pulses, like chickpea, are used in multiple ways – dal, wholegrain, flour and preparation of snacks – while pigeonpea is used in preparation of dal and sambhar (Reddy 2004; Reddy and Bantilan 2012; Reddy 2013).

Contribution to sustainability and profitability of cropping systems Pulses are usually cultivated as mixed crops along with crops such as cotton, mustard, or as catch crops between two cereal crops. A comparison of the economics of pulse-based cropping systems with non-pulse-based cropping systems was done by Materne and Reddy (2007). The input utilization (fertilizers, pesticides,

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With this background, this policy brief tries to examine the reasons for the success of pulses production in recent years at the all-India level with special reference to chickpea and pigeonpea and suggest policy options to increase production and competitiveness. The study used secondary data collected from FAO and Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture to depict trends in area, production and yield, and prices of pulse crops over a period. The cost of cultivation scheme data was used to examine the relative cost advantage of pulses in different states.

Production trends and geographical distributionPulses are grown in an area of 22-23 million hectares with an annual production of 13-18 million tons (MT).

India accounts for 33% of the world area and 22% of the world production of pulses.

About 90% of the global pigeonpea, 65% of chickpea and 37% of lentil area falls in India, corresponding to 93%, 68% and 32% of the global production, respectively (FAOSTAT 2011). There is a steep increase in the prices of pulses due to supply constraints to meet the growing demand due to population increase. The net availability of pulses has come down from 70.1g/day/person in 1951 to 31 g/ day/person in 2008 (Indian Council of Medical Research recommends 65 g/day/ capita). More recently, under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), high priority has been given to increasing the production of pulses across the country to curtail growing imports, reduce protein malnutrition and make pulses affordable to the common man. Pulses are grown across the country with the highest share

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coming from Madhya Pradesh (24%), Uttar Pradesh (16%), Maharashtra (14%), Andhra Pradesh (10%), Karnataka (7%) and Rajasthan (6%), which together share about 77% of the total pulse production, while the remaining 23% is contributed by Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand. Among pulses, chickpea (45.1%) occupies the major share, followed by pigeonpea (15.7%), mungbean (9.9%), urdbean (9.6%) and lentil (7.3%), which together account for 87% of the total pulses production.

Much of the pulses production has been slowly shifted from kharif to rabi and now the rabi share is increased to about 61.0% of the total pulses production.

The research and development investments on each crop should be in proportion to the share of the crop in the respective category.

More emphasis should be given to rabi pulse crops as their production share is much higher and increasing in recent years.Evidence of growing mismatch between demand and supplyA study by Kumar (1998) projected pulses demand to be 30.9 MT, while Mittal (2006) projected 42.5 MT by 2020 and Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR) in its vision 2030 projected pulses demand to be 32 MT by the year 2030.

The projected domestic production from this study is 20.0 MT by 2020 (Graph 1). As per Mittal, the required growth in domestic production (supply) of pulses is 6.51% per annum, while IIPR estimated the required growth rate in production to be 4.2% per annum (IIPR 2011) to meet the growing demand. All these estimates indicate that, to bridge the gap between demand and supply, pulses production should grow at least between 4-6% per annum. However, the current growth rate is only 3.35% per annum. To examine the general price trends in pigeonpea

and chickpea, Graph 2 presents long run trends of prices of pigeonpea (as exemplar of inelastic supply) and chickpea (as exemplar of elastic supply). The long run price trend of pigeonpea increased faster than that of chickpea, which indicates that the supply of pigeonpeas is not able to meet the increase in demand due to supply side constraints such as biotic, abiotic stress and other socio-economic constraints. The prices of chickpea

are less than that of pigeonpea due to technological change in chickpea, which have increased yields and reduced cost of production compared to pigeonpea.

Factors contributing to inelastic supply of pulses Since 1966, pulse crops have been neglected with the agricultural policy environment favoring the spread of green revolution technology in a few crops such as paddy and wheat for food security reasons in India.This inputintensive technology further enhanced the already existing yield gap between major cereals and pulses. Due to prolonged neglect for several decades, yield levels of pulse crops are stagnant (only 12.2% increase from 1966 to 2009 as against the 162.6% increase in yield of wheat). The real price steeply increased for pulses (by 85.4% for pigeonpea and 80.1% for chickpea) compared to a decline for wheat (-19.6%), maize (-9.6%) and millets (-2.3%), mainly due to the low supply response of pulse crops.As a result of the

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widened gap between yields of pulses and major cereals, the relative profitability and competitiveness of pulse crops reduced even though prices increased due to shortage of supply to meet the rising demand. Another important reason for decreased preference of pulses by farmers is continued higher instability in yields of pulse crops than major cereal crops (Chand 2008). The main reasons for inelastic supply of pulses are (i) scattered and thin distribution of various types of pulse crops cultivated mostly in marginal and low productive lands, with each crop contributing a small share in total pulses area – the biggest hurdle for all stakeholders (researchers/ extension/ development/credit/ market support agencies in both the public and private sectors) to provide input and output services and other institutional support; (ii) indeterminate plant type of many pulse crops with low yield potential; (iii) low response to input management; (iv) shifting of pulses to low-productive and marginal lands; (v) high frequency of crop failure and yield instability due to biotic and abiotic stresses; (vi) low priority by policy makers (Materne and Reddy 2007). The major R&D issues identified for pulses are low genetic yield potential, poor and unstable yield, huge post-harvest losses, inadequate adoption of improved technology and low profitability, which need to be tackled. As a result, the area under paddy and wheat was increased in high-productive zones along with high doses of inputs like fertilizer and pesticides, and pulse crops were shifted to marginalized lands with no or little inputs and consequent low supply response even though prices are high. The recent increase in pulses production is attributed to the announcement of higher

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minimum support price (MSP), emphasis on improved seed production and distribution, the increased area in nontraditional areas for crops like chickpea, and higher market prices.

Short-run policy responseIn response to shortage and higher prices, the Government of India reduced import duties on all pulses, banned exports (except kabuli chickpea), and enabled imposition of stock limit orders by state governments. The Government has also undertaken publicity campaigns to popularize the consumption of yellow peas, and measures have been taken by Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to distribute the same through the Public Distribution System (PDS) @1 kg per family per month at a subsidy of Rs 10 per kg. All these activities are effective in the short run to reduce prices. However, to reduce supply demand gap in the long run, there is a need for greater R&D efforts to reduce cost of production.

Long-run policy response The low priority for pulses resulted in low investments in R4D and other drivers of production growth. If such policy support and investments were in place, they would have increased pulses productivity more rapidly, making them more affordable to the poor and

expanding their environmental benefits (Planning Commission 2008). After experiencing a steep rise in prices and declining per capita availability of pulses, the government has encouraged pulses production through various programs with little success. The National Food Security Mission (NFSM)-Pulses is an ongoing program to increase pulses production in India. It is an integrated effort of the state extension system, National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) and ICRISAT. NFSM-Pulses covers 16 major pulses producing states and covers about 97.5% of the pulses area

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in the country. This has resulted in some improvement in the production of major pulses, including chickpea and pigeonpea.

It is only since 2001 that the growth rate of pulses production is significantly high due to supply response to rising prices; for example, the growth rate of chickpea is 6.32% per annum and pigeonpea is 2.05% per annum, while that of total pulses is 3.35% per annum, which is much ahead of the population growth but way below the growth in demand of about 4-6% per annum.India has also launched the Accelerated Pulses Production Program (A3P) in 2010 as a part of NFSM-Pulses for demonstration of production and protection technologies in village level compact blocks. Assistance is also being provided to the farmers under other crop development programs, such as integrated development of 60,000 villages of Pulses under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) program, Macro Management of Agriculture (MMA), Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGEI) in rain fed areas across the country for increasing crop productivity and strengthening market linkages. The price of pulses in most years has been more than the MSP for all crops, which indicates that the R4D should focus on reducing cost of production. As a first step, efforts will have to be made to fill up productivity gaps of the existing technologies and their scaling up through proper extension mechanisms through supply of inputs, institutions and proper governance.

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In some regions, pulses are replacing other dryland crops, which needs to be promoted by providing improved seeds of pulses, availability of specific nutrients such as sulphur and phosphorous and better market linkages (Planning Commission 2008). The MSP needs to be linked to market prices, but there should be a mechanism to provide stable prices to protect farmers from high year-to-year price fluctuations and incentivise farmers to adopt new technology and increase area under pulses.

Adoption of improved varieties of chickpea in South India: A success story Introduction of the chickpea crop into non-traditional areas such as South Indian states is an example of technological and institutional breakthrough that has the

potential to be replicated in other areas and also in other crops. The area under chickpea is shifting from northern states to southern states (Graph-3). During the period 1991-93 to 2006-08, the highest increase in productivity of chickpea has been recorded in Andhra Pradesh (124%), followed by Karnataka (63%), Maharashtra (52%) and Gujarat (40%).

There is still scope for productivity enhancement in the states to increase production to meet growing demand at the national level (AICRP on chickpea, 2012).

Many institutional and technological factors contributed to the expansion of area into South India. These include introduction of chickpea into black cotton soils, availability of plenty of rabi fallow lands, adoption of short duration and high yielding varieties (KAK-2, a Kabuli

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type with higher market demand; and short duration and wilt resistant varieties like JG-11), stable yield and prices, and well developed land lease market, which facilitated large scale mechanization.

This large scale mechanization facilitated consolidation of operational holdings, contracting out of major labor demanding works such as harvesting and threshing to address the labor shortage, helped in scale economies in procurement of inputs as well as in production and marketing of output. Overall, even though investments increased in chickpea cultivation due to the adoption of technology, it helped in reducing costs of production due to steeper increase in yields and profitability. The wider availability of highly subsidized cold storage warehouses helped farmers to store chickpea during the peak harvest season to overcome lower market prices and to reap profits from higher prices during later periods. Importance of successful government programs like NFSM, subsidized seed distribution and mechanization, encouragement for cold storage structures and higher MSP helped in the chickpea revolution in South India.

In Andhra Pradesh, the yield of chickpea increased from 393 kg/ha to 1375 kg/ ha from 1987 to 2011, while the area increased from 52.2 thousand ha to 542 thousand ha, which resulted in a production increase from 19.9 thousand tons to 730.7 thousand tons during the same period (Graph 4). The annual compound growth rate (ACGR) of area is 12.41% and that of yield is 5.80%, which resulted in a whopping 18.21% per annum growth in production from 1987 to 2008.

Technological options Through integration of conventional breeding approaches with cutting edge technologies such as genomics, molecular marker-assisted breeding, transgenics, it is possible to develop suitable varieties that tolerate biotic and abiotic stress, have high input use efficiency and desired quality traits.

Exploitation of heterosis and yield genes from wild relatives Windows opened for technological breakthrough in pigeonpea In 2012, ICRISAT scientists mapped the pigeonpea genome sequence; it is a breakthrough that helps in speeding up the development of improved varieties that

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addition to developing varieties that are suitable for rainfed cropping, there is a need for developing varieties responsive to high input conditions. This will require substantial restructuring of plant types.

can provide stable and also higher yields.

The genome sequencing will enable the identification of the structure and function of more than 48,000 genes of pigeonpea.

There are some unique genes that impart drought tolerance to pigeonpea. These can be exploited to develop high yielding varieties. This would also help cut down on the time taken to breed new varieties, from 10-12 years to just about 5-6 years.

To break the yield barrier in pigeonpea, ICRISAT and partners have developed medium maturity hybrids, ICPH 2671 and ICPH 2740, which have produced 30-40% greater grain yields than the popular varieties across farmers’ fields in India. However, there is not enough seed production and distribution of these hybrids either by the private or public sector due to the high cost of production and distribution and low ability of farmers to purchase at higher price. Hence, the adoption rate of these hybrids has not picked up.

Production and competitiveness of pigeonpea can be increased through (i) Popularization of an extra early and stable dwarf type suitable for multiple cropping and improved crop management in sequence with wheat under irrigated

conditions in the states of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Haryana, Punjab and northern parts of Madhya Pradesh (MP), (ii) Replacement of other dryland crops like cotton in states with less water availability like Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, (iii) Popularization of rabi pigeonpea in the states of Orissa, Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar and eastern UP, (iv) Increasing area through inter-cropping of pigeonpea with soya bean in MP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan; and with cotton, sorghum, pearl millet and groundnut in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, MP and UP, which is expected to get additional coverage under pigeonpea by at least 1 million hectares by the turn of the century and (v) Pest management of pod borer, fusarium wilt and sterility mosaic. have also been identified as promising avenues for breaking yield plateaus (IIPR 2011). The past breeding efforts have been concentrated on development of varieties suitable for rainfed cropping systems.

There is a limit on productivity in rainfed agriculture. The proper management of rainwater to provide pulses with lifesaving irrigation is very important. In

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Low adoption of technology There is a big gap between research station technology and farmers’ technology, which has resulted in low yields. Yield gap I, which is the gap between research station and on-farm trial yields, is highest in the South Zone (30%) and lowest (17%) in the Northwest Zone. Yield gap II, which is the gap between on-farm trials and zone average yields, is large in all zones, ranging from 64% in the Northeast Zone to 148% in the Central Zone. Wider yield gap-II is an indication that there is a large gap between on-farm demonstration yield and zone average yield, which can be bridged by wider adoption of existing technology by farmers. The existing technology has the potential of doubling production at national level without increasing area under chickpea if farmers adopt the recommended package of practices (Reddy et al. 2007). A similar yield gap exists in pigeonpea also.

Abiotic and biotic stress management Pulse crops reported huge losses due to biotic (pests and diseases) and abiotic (drought, high temperature, etc) stresses.

Some of the studies estimated the losses in the range from 15% to 20% of normal production (IIPR 2011). This means, India can increase pulses availability by 15% to 20% with investments in appropriate crop protection R&D. As a strategy to cope with this situation, cultivars having combined resistance to most frequent and major biotic and abiotic stress factors need to be developed and adopted by the farmers. The scope for development of multiple resistant varieties has increased after recent advances in genomics and needs to be exploited further. The past success in management of biotic and abiotic stress is encouraging. Instability in yield decreased from 13.6% to 5.5% due to the adoption of biotic and abiotic stress resistant varieties and adoption of plant protection technologies (Graph 5).

Instability for both chickpea and pigeonpea reduced significantly between1961-1980

51 www.agronfoodprocessing.com

PULSES MANAGEMENT

for enabling smallholder farmers to shift from low input-low-output to high-inputhigh-output agriculture. But access to credit by these farmers is low because of their low asset base, low risk bearing ability and high risk environments.

This can be effectively tackled by the insurance-linked credit to pulse crops without any collateral security. The scale of finance should be sufficient enough to cover all the costs of the recommended practices (Reddy 2009).

and 2001-2010. However, instability in yield is lower in chickpea (11.3%) than pigeonpea (15.4%).

Focus on kharif pulses to reduce cost of production For kharif pulse crrops (pigeonpea, mungbean and urdbean), cost of production is far higher than for rabi pulse crops (chickpea and lentil) (Graph 6) due to cultivation under more uncertain conditions. In the recent years, the share of kharif pulses is decreasing in total pulses production. There is a need to focus on kharif pulse crops to evolve varieties that sustain uncertain environments. The cost of production is less than the MSP in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh for both chickpea and pigeonpea, which indicates the cost competitiveness of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh in pulses production. In the case of chickpea, cost of production is also less in Andhra Pradesh. This indicates the scope for expanding area under pulses in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh based on competitiveness and profitability. It is important to increase yield to reduce cost of production; for example, the cost could be reduced by 6% in pigeonpea if its yield levels increase by 10% (CACP 2012).

Overcoming socio-economic constraints Awareness and access to new technology: Farmers’ awareness on improved varieties and seed availability of improved

varieties are the key factors in the spread of improved varieties. The television will be the most popular media for increasing awareness; FPVS trials and farmers’ fairs/field days will also be helpful.

The identified technology needs to be subsidized for wider adoption.

Semi-formal seed systems: Even though there is a good number of High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) released for all major pulses in India, and there is enough Breeder seed and Foundation seed produced, there is a shortage of Certified/Truthful seed at farmers’ level.

Both public and private agencies have not been able to meet the requirement of quality seed and the seed replacement ratio is very low. There has been some success in establishing semi-formal seed systems to produce Truthfully Labelled seed, in which linkages were established between the formal and informal seed sectors through supply of basic quality seed by the NARS, and quality of seed production is monitored by universities/ non-governmental organizations/farmers’ associations. If this system is continued, there will be enough quantity of seed production at the local level. It should also be coupled with FPVS, which gives farmers an opportunity to select from a range of improved varieties (Abate 2012).

Cash and Credit: Cash is a key element

Vol.10 Issue 12 October 2015

Farm mechanization: One of the reasons for success of expansion of area under chickpea in Andhra Pradesh is the increased mechanization of farm operations. Farm mechanization can further be enhanced by developing varieties suitable for harvesting by combine harvesters. Hence, farm mechanization in peak season activities such as harvesting and threshing needs to be encouraged through the distribution of subsidized farm machinery to cope with labor shortage and higher wage rates.

Supplemental irrigation: With the expansion of irrigation facilities through groundwater and also through canal irrigation systems, there is a scope for expansion of irrigated area under pulse crops, especially summer, rabi and spring season crops, as yield response is higher. Harvesting and management of rainwater through watersheds rather than exploitation of costly groundwater needs to be emphasized.

Marketing: Markets for legumes are thin and fragmented due to scattered production and consumption across states. Farmers sell their marketed surplus immediately after harvest, while some large traders/wholesalers trade between major markets and hoard pulses to take advantage of speculative gains in the offseason. Due to this, farmers do not benefit from the higher market prices of pulses.

Investments in market infrastructure, warehouses, market information systems both in public and private sectors through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models and economic viability gap funding models need to be encouraged in SAT India.

52 www.agronfoodprocessing.com

Kamani Oil Industries to be the first Indian Edible oil firm to get FDA license

K

amani Oil Industries are the first Indian vegetable oil company to get a FDA drug license for manufacture of pharmaceutical grade oils and fats (IP/BP/USP/NF). This certification will assure the customers about the integrity of their manufacturing process as well as compliance with the stringent FDA regulations.

At its Khopoli plant near Mumbai the company has the capacity to produce 100 tonne per month at. The manufacturing facility at Khopoli now meets with the requirements of Schedule M of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

The overall pharmaceutical grade oils and fats market size is about 1,500 tonne a year.

Kamni Oil Director Prakash Chawla said, "Earlier, the pharmaceutical companies used to import the oils and fats. Now they will have an option in the country itself," adding the technology used for this segment has been developed in house by the company.

The company produces a range of culinary oils like rice bran, sunflower, groundnut, coconut and supplies bulk edible oils to bakery, nutrition, and confectionery industries as well.

Chawla said this foray though does not show any major jump in our topline. But, we will be the pioneer in this segment by being the only one to get the FDA approval. Looking at the growth chart, overall, including our consumer and institutional business, we are expecting 20 per cent increase in revenue in the next three years."

Looking at the growth the company is also expanding its overall capacity at its Khopoli plant to 800 tonne per day from the current 500 tonne in the next one year and has invested Rs 50 crore for this purpose.

NEWS

Global Food prices fell sharply to hit seven-year low in August

A

slump in energy prices and concerns over economic slowdown in China has affected the Global agri commodities prices which fell sharply to hit seven-year low in August due to ample supplies.

Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations measured that, the food price index averaged 155.7 points in August 2015, down 5.2% from July, the sharpest monthly drop since December 2008, with almost all major food commodities registering marked dips. The trade-weighted FAO Food Price Index tracks international market prices for five major food commodity groups: cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.

Triggered by a bumper output in 2015, global cereal price index averaged 154.9 points in August, down 7% from July and 15.1% from last year - a decline driven by falling wheat and maize prices that reversed two consecutive months of modest increases. Continued improvements in production prospects for 2015-16 were largely behind the cereal price slides.

Global cereal production in 2015 at 2540 million tonnes, 13.8 million tonnes more than expected in July, but still 21 million tonnes (0.8%) below the 2014 record.

The upward revision resulted from more buoyant production prospects for coarse grains, wheat and rice across the world, estimates FAO. The FAO study further said that the "Unfavorable weather condition in the winter harvesting season lowered yield in India. Consequently, India's overall cereal output is estimated to be lower by 1.8% at 234.1 million tonnes in 2015, the second year of consecutive decline, from 243.2 million tonnes and 238.4 million tonnes in 2013 and 2014 respectively. India's

Vol.10 Issue 12 October 2015

2015 wheat crop is estimated to decline by 5% (5 million tonnes) from the 2014 record due to crop damage caused by heavy rains, strong winds and hail."

India's overall rice output is expected to remain higher at 103.5 million tonnes, 0.9% more than the disappointing figure of last year, despite concerns about the possible incidence of planting delays.

But, India's overall export of foodgrains is estimated to be lower due to a tightening of supplies and growing domestic requirements. FAO estimates India's rice shipment to be lower by 20% in 2015.

For now, the vegetable oil price index averaged 134.9 points in August, down 8.6% from July, and its lowest level since March 2009. The fall primarily reflected a six-and-a-half year low in international palm oil prices, mainly the result of slowing import demand, notably by India and China, amid expectations of rising production.

Also, a large drop in prices for milk powders, cheese and butter pushed the August dairy price index down by 9.1% to 135.5 points, with much of the weakness attributed to softening import demand from China, the Near East and North Africa. A sharp fall in the sugar price index down by 10% from July to an average of 163.2 points in August was largely the result of the continued depreciation of the Brazilian Real against the US Dollar and firmer expectations that India, the world's second largest sugar producer, will become a net exporter in the current 2015-16 season.

Falling energy price has helped reduced overall transportation cost in the last one year. The benchmark brent crude oil price fell by 50% to the low of $40 a barrel on August 24 and rebounded thereafter to trade at $49 a barrel.

53 www.agronfoodprocessing.com

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121, 1st Floor, Rassaz Multiplex, Mira Road (E), Thane - 401107. India. Tel: +91-22-28555069 / 28115068.Email: info@indianicecreamcongress.in Web: www.indianicecreamcongress.in INDIAN ICE CREAM MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION Sudhir Shah-+91-9849025027 (Secretary IICMA) Samrat A. Upadhyay- +91-76988 69800 (Secretary General – IICMA) Regd. Ofce : A/801, 8th Floor, “Time Square” Building,C. G. Road, Nr. Lal Bunglow Char Rasta, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad - 380 009, Email: info@iicma.in Web: www.iicma.in

Vol.10 Issue 12 October 2015

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SUSTAIN

Future Group increasing Food Manufacturing to reach US$154.2bn over the next six years

F

uture Group is planning a major push in food manufacturing as part of its drive to increase sales to INR10trn (US$154.2bn) over the next six years.

Future Group's partners and suppliers, founder and CEO Kishore Biyani said that the company believes investments in food manufacturing and small format stores will drive compound sales growth up by 25% from current levels of INR2.2trn. Additional growth is also anticipated from Future's digital strategy, the executive added.

Biyani said that Future has already started its push into the Indian food sector. Nine months ago, the company inaugurated a food park where it will manufacture products across a variety of categories and build a manufacturing base.

Future Group over the time has ventured into a frozen food business, dips and sauces through a brand called Sanjay's kitchen. Their biscuit factory, rice mill, flour mill, spice mill are getting into production. The company is launching a brand in the next 15-20 days... where it will offer hundreds of varieties of flours, 26 variants. Future group are also looking at creating a brand around vegetables and fruits called So Fresh in the southern part of India.

Another area that Future has “bet big” is processed oats, Biyani said, “We are

G

setting up a huge plant in Sri Lanka to process oats. We really looked at food and searched, it came out to be a food that mothers would love to give to their children because it is a very filling food, a very healthy food that can be mixed with other food items. We will be launching a brand here and probably in the next 4-5 months we want this oat brand to be a part of every kitchen household in the country.”

Elsewhere, Future entered into a partnership to bring Sunkist juice to India and the company is now looking at extending the Sunkist brand into confectionery in the market. Future is also stepping up its presence in bakery and dairy. The company entered these sectors via its acquisition of Nilgiris and Future intends to roll the dairy brand out on a national basis. Future is also working to expand in the frozen dessert

and ice cream sector and the company is looking at joint ventures in the space to fuel growth, Biyani revealed.

Future Group has a number of advantages over its rivals as it works to grow in India.

In particular, Future plans to leverage its relationship with Indian consumers.

As part of the drive into food and other FMCG areas, Future also revealed that it has entered into a tie-up with Patanjali Ayurveda. In addition to Patanjali's existing line-up, the firm intends to launch instant noodles to take advantage of the space in the market created by Nestlé’s temporary withdrawal of Maggi noodles.

While Biyani insisted that the company is eyeing “profitable growth, but “We are not going to pursue mindless growth we are going to pursue good growth, profitable growth...The disproportionate allocation of capital is only going to be put where we can grow profitably. We are not going to increase debt but use our cash flows.”

Future believes that expanding its food production business will go hand-in-hand with growing its food retail interests. The company said it will increase the number of small scale outlets that it currently operates from 500 to 4000. The group is targeting 70% of sales through its food stores, which include the Big Bazaar format, to be own label.

GMR, Japan's JGC co-develop Food Processing park in Kakinada Sez

MR Infra today said its subsidiary Kakinada SEZ Pvt Ltd has signed an agreement with Japan's JGC Corporation (JGC) for co-developing Japanese Oriented Food Processing Park at its Kakinada SEZ. The park is planned to be spread over an area of 300 acres having both value added and ready to eat products.

JGC and GMR will jointly undertake a detailed study for developing and operating the export oriented food

processing park catering to various food and agro processing sectors like sea food, fruits & vegetables, pulses & grains, dairy and spices & nuts.

The significant traction built by the governments of India and Japan and the recent discussions between the CM of Andhra Pradesh and the Ministry of Economy Trade & Industry (METI), Govt of Japan have persuaded Japanese industry to increase investments in India.

Japanese organisations like JBIC, JETRO,

Vol.10 Issue 12 October 2015

METI, Ministry of Land Infrastructure & Transport (MLIT) and Ministry of Agriculture Forestry & Fisheries (MAFF), Government of Japan as well as other Japanese financial institutions have expressed their support for this park, GMR added.

GMR Group has 10,500 acres of industrial region at Kakinada which is strategically situated on the Eastern Coast rich in oil and natural gas deposits.

55 www.agronfoodprocessing.com

NEWS

India to boost the ailing tomato-growing sector in Ghana three plots of five acres each in three different regions to the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), which is leading the Indian effort.

G

hana, traditionally a gold and cocoa economy with a population of 27 million with a good Indian presence, has a diversified economy with a growing agriculture sector and industry.

It has, however, been struggling with its tomato farming over the past two decades.

India will help enhance the sick tomatogrowing sector in Ghana. A combination of high-yielding varieties and latest farm techniques will be tested on the West African nation’s soil.

The Ghanaian government has allotted

With the Centre launching a major Africa policy and set to host the Indo-Africa Summit in October in New Delhi, with 54 African nations expected to take part, this is one of the many projects on the anvil. The Ministry of External Affairs had firmed up the bilateral, $2-million project.

H Purushotham, Chairman & Managing Director of NRDC, said, “A team from NRDC will be going to Ghana on September 29 to kick-start the project in collaboration with the CSIR-Ghana, which runs a string of national institutes on the lines of the Indian CSIR (Council for Scientific &Industrial Research).�

According to the International Food Policy Research Institute in a study pointed out Ghana has not been able to sustain processing plants, and is also finding

the going tough in terms of improving livelihoods of those households involved in tomato production. Despite government interventions that include establishment of tomato-processing factories, tomatoes of the right quality and quantity for commercial agro processing are not being grown. Many farmers still prefer to plant local varieties, typically with high water content. Low average yield, lack of access to markets and competition from imports makes life difficult for the tomato farmers.

The NRDC will get seed companies, equipment manufacturers and agriscientists from India to implement the effort over the next three years. The Ghana government will provide local resources, farmers and capabilities here.

A few years ago, the corporation had helped set up a Centre for Technology Demonstration in Ivory Coast. About 250 technologies from India were on demonstration. Over the past five years, the move has helped 166 small and medium enterprises take shape with local entrepreneurs, he said.

Tata Chemicals plan to produce new brand for Food portfolio to treble revenues to Rs 5,000 crore in 5 years

T

ata Chemicals, the maker of branded salt and pulses will shift existing portfolio of pulses and spices under i-Shakti label into a new brand "Sampann" which will also house future launches in the staples and food segment. The company is all set to create a new umbrella brand for its foods portfolio as it looks to treble revenues to Rs 5,000 crore in 5 years by entering newer product categories.

According to Richa Arora, chief operating officer of Consumer Products Business at Tata Chemicals, "The Indian consumer believes that the best nourishment comes

from a thali and we want to be part of the change by adopting more branded food.

So, all products that are part of the thali are candidates and which of these will we enter is a matter of timing and phasing," The company will use its learning and distribution strength of its salt portfolio that accounts for nearly 80% of its consumer products division with nearly 69% share. As part of its 'Grow More Pulses' initiative with Rallis, the company engages with 1,50,000 farmers across four states for sourcing and will expand retail footprint to 2.5 million outlets from its current 1.43 million outlets. The food market in India is pegged at Rs 6 lakh

Vol.10 Issue 12 October 2015

crore, including rice, staples, flour, spice, pulses with many segments controlled by unbranded players including local kiranawallahs. However, Tata Chemicals wants to replicate its success of converting loose salt market 25 years ago into a category that is two-third branded now.

It won't be easy as unlike salt, many segments such as spices, additives and staples have strong regional preferences where local brands dominate. Within spices, there are many regional players.

In pulses, the challenges are different.

56 www.agronfoodprocessing.com

NEWS

Dinshaw’s Dairy all set to raise $100 million from private equity capital

D

inshaw’s Dairy Foods Ltd, a leading milk and dairy products manufacturer with a pan-India presence, plans to raise $100-120 million in private equity capital.

The Nagpur-based company plans to dilute about 25-30% equity.

The company is in the process of appointing an investment banker and is in discussions with Moelis & Co. for the mandate.

Jimmy Rana, managing director, Dinshaw’s Dairy Foods Ltd said, “We keep evaluating various fund raising options, including debt and equity, from time to time to support our growth plans.

As a company policy, we do not respond to market speculation.”

The company may be valued at $300-350

million (Rs.2,000-2,300 crore) as part of the proposed fund raising.

Dinshaw’s was established by brothers Dinshaw and Erachshaw Rana as a small dairy business in Gittikhadan, on the outskirts of Nagpur in 1933. In the

same year, the company entered the ice cream business. The company entered a new phase of growth when the family’s second generation (Sam Rana and Jimmy Rana) joined the business in the 1970s.

Between 2002 and 2010, the business

was expanded into other products such as paneer, ghee, curd and milk powder. The company now has a large dairy business with a handling capacity of 500,000 litres per day. It has a presence in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, UP, and parts of Karnataka, Rajastan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and Jharkhand Indian dairy sector is experiencing a strong growth in consumption largely driven by formalization of the market from loose to packaged products and growth of the value-added dairy segment. Private regional players aspiring to become semi-national/ national will require capital to integrate the business, expand the product portfolio and scale up across different geographies.

This is where the role of private equity as well as strategic investors will remain

Amul MD RS Sodhi gets an extension for another five years.

D

airy major Amul's Managing Director RS Sodhi gets an extension for another five years.

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which owns Amul brand, took the decision to extend the tenure of Sodhi was taken last week in a

board meeting.

2014-15.

GCMMF Chairman Jethabhai P Patel, said, "Sodhi has done a good work as Managing Director of the company, so the board decided to extend his tenure for one more term of five years.

Its daily milk procurement is about 14.85 million litres from 18,536 village milk cooperative societies, 17 member unions covering 31 districts, and 3.37 million milk producer members.

Patel added that Sodhi has done a remarkable job especially in marketing.

He has a long experience of working with the cooperative and had worked with Dr Kurien.

Amul is expecting its turnover to jump by 18 per cent to Rs 24,500 crore on the back of rising consumption in 2015-16.

Sodhi has been working with Amul for the last 34 years and was supposed to retire on December 31, after completing his term of five years.

Amul is one of the country's largest food product marketing organisation and had an annual turnover of Rs 20,733 crore in

Vol.10 Issue 12 October 2015

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NEWS

Ruchi Soya to bring Edible Oil from Japan by next year

R

uchi Soya is bringing Soybean Germ Oil with the assistance of Japan's edible oil major J-Oil Mills and global trading firm Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) by next year.

Talking about yet-to-be-launched product, Ruchi Soya Industries CEO (Consumer Brands Division) Nilesh Mazumdar said the oil is extracted from a soybean seed and it has absolute zero absorption of

cholesterol.

Throwing light on the Joint Venture, Mazumdar said the company has 51 per cent stake, while J-Oil has 26 per cent and TTC 23 per cent stake.

The Joint Venture is to expand the product portfolio by bringing healthier products into the Indian market and Ruchi Soya will provide raw material and marketing

and distribution assistance to the Joint Venture. While J-Oil will provide technical assistance and TC will provide management assistance for accessing international markets through its network.

Earlier, the company announced their tieup with Protein Foods and Nutrition Development Association of India (PFNDAI) to advise it on Soya brand Nutrela.

Nutrela and PFNDAI will implement a nutritionist outreach programme in Karnataka and Maharashtra, Mazumdar said.

"The two sides will be jointly reaching out to more than 200 nutritionists each in Mumbai and Bengaluru alone in next two months," he said.

Cargill is set to invest $100m in its soybean oil crush

C

argill is set to invest $100m in its soybean oil crush operation in Borg El Arab, doubling capacity in order to meet the soybean meal and vegetable oil demand in Egypt.

The new development will see an addition of a 3,000t production line to the company's existing facility to enable Cargill to maximize the economy of scale and efficiencies in its production process for both soybean meal and oil.

Cargill Middle East and Africa grain and oilseeds business head Johan Steyn said: "This investment fits with our strategy of growing our business in Africa and the Middle East.

"The demand for soybean meal and oil continues to grow, and expanding our capabilities in Egypt will enable us to

better serve our customers in the local market with high-quality products, crushed and produced locally."

expected to start in November this year and the expanded facility is scheduled to be operational by mid-2017.

Under this initiative, the expanded crush plant will feature the latest technology, which will result in the production of an enhanced high-protein meal.

Expansion work at the port of Dekheila is also due to begin in November, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year.

Meanwhile, the company will also install equipment that will enable significant savings in power consumption for the new and existing plants.

As part of the new investment, Cargill will also construct an additional 42,000t of storage capacity within its existing premises at the port of Dekheila in Alexandria.

This extension will allow the company to strengthen its supply chain in a bid to achieve improved efficiency in the timely delivery of grains to its Egyptian customers, and to its crush plant at Borg El Arab.

Work at the Borg El Arab facility is

Vol.10 Issue 12 October 2015

58 www.agronfoodprocessing.com

S

NEWS

Seed funding for Online organic Food brand Naturally Yours

erial entrepreneur and angel investor Sanjay Mehta is funding Mumbai-based online organic food brand Naturally Yours in an undisclosed amount.

to achieve a run rate of between 10,000 and 15,000 orders per month in the next 12 to 24 months,” Vinod Kumar, founder of Naturally Yours, said.

With this investment, Naturally Yours plans to expand to new product categories and increase the product range.

Founded in 2010 by husbandwife duo Vinod Kumar and Priya Prakash, Naturally Yours has about 100 products under its brand name.

It sells on portals like Amazon, Flipkart, shopclues, Healthkart and Pepperfry, besides on its own website NaturallyYours.in.

“The money will also be used to expand the core and the support team as we plan

“We are one of the leading brands on Amazon India in their health and gourmet section executing over 2,000 orders per month. And, we see this increasing over

Vol.10 Issue 12 October 2015

40 per cent, month-on-month,” Kumar added.

Stating that with more Indians consuming organic food, the Indian organic food market is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 30 per cent and is set to touch $1 billion in 2015, Kumar said Naturally Yours was planning to focus on selling purely in the online medium over the next 12 to 24 months.

“We see a huge gap in a lot of product categories in the organic and wellness industry and we will launch about 100 new products over the next 12 to 24 months to fulfil this gap,” said Priya Prakash, co-founder of Naturally Your.

59 www.agronfoodprocessing.com

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