Beverages & Food Processing Times

India’s Ist Fortnightly Newspaper For Beverages, Food & Allied Industries

Vol.4, Issue 15, May(I) 2012, Rs. 20/-

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aking forward its agenda of promoting Lucknow as a major industrial hub, Uttar Pradesh has planned a Mega Food Park spread over 100 acres in the state capital.

The land is available with the government and the project cost is estimated at over Rs 150 crore. This would be the third major project

planned in Lucknow after two IT enclaves, namely 'IT City' and 'IT Park' spread over 100 acres and 25 acres respectively.

UP Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC) Anil Kumar Gupta said 50-60 companies had already applied for setting up units at the proposed Mega Food Park.

The project would be set up under the union food processing ministry scheme, wherein the central government would provide incentive.

“This matter had been caught in some legal and bureaucratic issues, which we are confident will be resolved by month end,” Gupta informed at an interactive session with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

He informed the state government had urged the Centre to allow for second lease by the UP State Industrial

Development Corporation (UPSIDC) for the food processing infrastructure.

Industry had long been demanding setting up of food parks in UP for increasing farm income and adding value to agricultural produce. The state has a huge potential of food processing and exports due to high production in both foodgrains and horticulture, including potato, sugarcane, wheat, rice and vegetables.

Mega Food Parks could be established for any segment such as fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat/poultry and wine or it could combine different segments.

Such units would provide backward and forward linkages covering the entire food processing value chain and implement best practices in post harvest management.

According to an official estimate, India would need an investment of almost Rs

1,00,000 crore in food processing to raise its percentage to 25 per cent of the total agricultural produce annually.

Experts believe that the 2nd Green Revolution will not be successful unless the imperatives of post harvest management and value addition mechanism in agriculture were adopted.

The percentage of food processing industry is as high as 80-85 per cent in developed economies vis-à-vis under 10 per cent in India. Even Thailand and Philippines had benefited much due to their robust food processing infrastructure.

Northern states in general have been lax in encouraging investment in food processing industry. The previous Mayawati regime in UP had also not actively sought any central aid in boosting food processing.

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Panel to help implement food safety Act

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n expert advisory committee will soon be formed and it will assist the local food and drug administration officials in implementation of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, and Regulations, Rules, 2011, said Mahesh Zagade, commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, Maharashtra.

Zagade was speaking at an interactive session organised jointly by National Agriculture and Food Analysis and Research Institute (NAFARI) and Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA).

Representatives from food processing industries, traders and entrepreneurs attended the session, which was aimed at addressing questions and problems regarding the implementation of the new act and its rules.

The Agri-food Directory, a compilation of addresses of various manufacturers, businesses and industrial production units in the supply chain of food processing, was formally released by NAFARI on the occasion.

Anant Sardeshmukh, executive director general, MCCIA, said such deliberations and interactions in the preliminary stages of the Act were important for its effective implementation.

M A Tejani, member, executive committee, MCCIA, and president of All India Food Processors' Association, said the new act was a long-term vision and aimed at unifying separate legislations. "However, there are some teething problems when the implementation begins. Thus, stakeholders from industry and trade, along with the government, can together find

solutions," said Tejani. Tejani suggested the formation of expert advisory committee which will address stakeholders' problems concerning the act and thus facilitate its effective implementation.

Tejani also sought clarity on the roles of the municipal corporation, Weight and Measure Department, and the state excise authority in the implementation of the Act to avoid duplication and dual enforcement. He added that the definition of "proprietary food" needed to be made clear. "According to present understanding, each proprietary food requires separate approval and licensing, which is highly impractical. Industry associations have already taken up the matter with food safety standard authority in Delhi," added Tejani.

Zagade, in response, said confusion about the provisions of the new act may have been the result of fewer interactions between the state authorities and stakeholders from the industry. "This act is more of a developmental act rather than a regulatory act. Also, the act is not an imposition on business, but seeks expansion of the food industry, enabling it to compete internationally. Complying with the standards of this act will enable the food industry in India reach the international market," he said.

"I have taken up the issue of forming a techno-scientific committee with the centre. Such a committee will come up on the local level throughout the country. The committee will promote more

interaction between the implementing agencies of the act and stakeholders in

the industry," said Zagade, adding that the lacunae in the provisions of the act will also be taken up with the central authority separately.

Vinay Oswal, director, NAFARI, suggested that nominations for the techno-scientific committee should come from the industry. "Also, the process of forming this body will be based on a selection criterion, while its operation will have a specific protocol.

The body will undertake a multifaceted role, making sure that the new act is implemented effectively. One of its roles will be scientific evaluation of issues related to food safety, and food products, eliminating food hazards and the like. The ultimate goal is that consumers should get good, healthy, hazard-free and nutritious food," Oswal said adding that the body will consist scientists and technologists from the food processing industry.

Beverages FoodProcessing Processing TimesMay-I-2012 Beverages &&Food TimesNovember -I-2011

Whey protein malt beverage Amul Pro debuts in India

Dairy News News

Sluggish dairy market gets shot in the arm

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ujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), the marketer of the Amul brand of milk and dairy products, has launched a new whey protein malt beverage brand, Amul Pro in India.

The launch of Amul Pro is part of the company's strategy to increase its market presence in the health and nutrition sector.

The company aims to improve its market share in the INR25bn ($488.61m) Indian milk food drinks market.

The new protein drink contains 27 nutrients, whey protein and docoashexoenoic acid (DHA), and it comes with a 20% discounted price tag compared to other brands in the same segment, claims the company.

The health drink will come in a glass cube jar packaging. With the new product, GCMMF targets children between the age group of two years to 15 years.

An Amul Pro 500g cube glass jar comes with a price tag of INR150 ($2.93) and 500g refill pack has a retail price of INR140 ($2.73).

Yakult Danone: Spreading in smaller towns

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akult Danone India, a 50:50 JV between Danone of France and Yakult Honsha, Japan, has trained its guns on smaller towns as it looks at a three-fold increase in the sales of its probiotic health product (probiotics are beneficial bacteria which helps to keep our digestive system healthy) by 2015. The company, which has a strong foothold in north India, is working to strengthen its presence in Hyderabad and Chennai this year, followed by Kolkata and tier 2 and tier 3 cities next year.

Yakult, which sells a range of products in the global markets, began marketing its probiotic drink in India in 2008 when the market for probiotic products was at a nascent stage. While the product was new, its distribution was no less innovative. In addition to retail stores, Yakult Danone has put in place a parallel distribution model that engages women to deliver its product to consumers at their doorstep.

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n a move to give relief to milkpowder manufacturers and boost the business of local dairy farmers, in view of the ban on export of milk powder announced by the Centre, the Maharashtra government announced a subsidy of Rs 2 per litre for the conversion of surplus milk into milk powder. The decision was taken by the

industry.

At present, around 26 lakh to 27 lakh litres of milk are converted to milk powder daily in the state.

A delegation of the Peasants and Workers' Party (PWP), led by its state secretary Jayant Patil, had recently met dairy development minister Madhukar Chavan urging him to take measures in

state last week.

Following the ban, milk powder manufacturers had reduced their procurement of milk from local farmers.

Due to the ban, milk processors too have not been robust about the conversion of surplus milk into milk powder as they already have a huge stock of milk-powder. As a result, firms engaged in the making of milk-powder had reduced their demand for milk from the farmers. Dairy farming, which is the major supplementary source of income for local farmers, was therefore severely affected. The state government took the decision on the subsidy as part of its measures to provide relief to the local dairy

the interests of farmers engaged in dairy farming.

Chavan had assured them that a positive move would be made in this regard. Accordingly, the decision to allow a subsidy for the conversion of surplus milk into milk powder was taken.

The Central government had, in February 2012, imposed a ban on the export of milk powder (including skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder, dairy whitener and infant milk foods).

The ban on the export of these milkbased products had caused a decline in the demand for milk as private firms had reduced milk procurement from farmers to a marked extent.

Mother Dairy launches its entire milk products range in Jaipur

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other Dairy launched its entire range of dairy products including yogurt, mishti doi, butter milk, Butter and cheese in Jaipur.

"Having catered to the Delhi market for over three decades, we are now on an expansion mode and wish to make Mother Dairy a pan-India brand," Mother Dairy business head for dairy products Subhashis Basu said in a statement.

This expansion to Rajasthan is a strategic step and the cooperative is positive that people here will enjoy the goodness of our dairy products, he added.

Mother Dairy products will be present in Jaipur through various forms of retail outlets, multi brand and modern retail, he said.

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India Section of AOAC International A

OAC International (Association of Official Analytical Communities) is a globally recognized non-profit association found in 1884. The organization is committed to being a proactive, worldwide provider and facilitator in the development, use, and

harmonization of validated analytical methods and laboratory quality assurance programs and services.

On 5th April 2012, India Section of AOAC International was inaugurated

by Dr.Deepa Bhajekar – President of India Section of AOAC International (MD – MicroChem Silliker, India).

Dr.Deepa a PhD in Industrial Microbiology has over 18 years of

experience food testing and analysis in microbiological, chemical, nutritional analysis, shelf-life studies, pesticide residue testing, heavy metal analysis, dietary supplement analysis. And has expertise in use of various analytical instruments for food & water, standardization & validation studies.

She is on the board of Scientific Panel Member in Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for methods of sampling and analysis also involved in in the method up gradation in the DGHS Manuals. With such an expert background in the analytical field, Dr.Deepa with the platform of India Section of AOAC International can help to provide the Indian analytical industry with opportunities to find a common solution to common analytical problems.

AOAC International based in USA serves to its members and the communities of analytical sciences by providing the tools and processes necessary for community stakeholders to collaborate and, through consensus building, develop fit-for-purpose methods and services for ensuring quality measurements. This is AOAC's mission. Leveraging the knowledge, experience, and expertise of more than 3000 members with one-third of its members outside the United States, AOAC has developed a proven model to achieve its mission and vision and bring value to the analytical

communities that it serves.

AOAC encompasses 16 sections worldwide, representing four continents and over 90 countries outside of the United States. Sections provide opportunities for technical individuals likes scientists, industry professionals, academia, analytical experts and others to share information, build professional contacts, expand leadership skills and gain practical management experience.

India Section can bring additional awareness of AOAC within the country and within the industry throughout the region. Identifying experts in the food arena, including government, industry, and academia and forming members will help identify high priority issues and examine analytical test methods to solve problems specific to the India matrices.

The objective to start such a prestigious analytical organization in India by Dr.Deepa Bhajekar was to bring bringing AOAC closer to the Indian analytical communityand to serve as resource for timely knowledge exchange, networking and high-quality analytical information for Indian analytical community.

At the seminar various experts from the industry and academia were present along with Dr.S.S Ghonkrokta (Director Enforcement- FSSAI) and Mr. Mahesh Zhagade (CommissionerFDA) from the regulatory department

to support this organizationwhich will act as a driving force to bring together experts from the industry, academia and regulatory for a collative analytical movement in India. India Section of AOAC International will provide a unique platform for the analytical industry to recognize current and upcoming analytical trends which pose as a challenge for the industry and develop feasible upgraded solutions, upgrade Indian laboratories on the global map for technical expertise and also provide a networking platform for the analytically inclined. It will be a bridge between the private and public sector.

India Section of AOAC International – Inagural Seminar (5Th April 2012) , From left to right in pictureDr. Kaushik Banerjee (President Elect, India Section of AOAC, National Fellow, National Research Center for Grapes) Dr. Sumit Sen (Chemist Technology Based Expert & Foreign Inspection Cadre Member, US FDA, and PastPresident, AOAC Southern California Section) Mr. Mahesh Zhagade (CommissionerFDA) Dr.S.S Ghonkrokta (Director Enforcement- FSSAI) Dr.Deepa Bhajekar (President, India Section of AOAC, MD-MicroChem Silliker)

Natural vanilla losing its flavour in India

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he production of natural vanilla has come to a halt as companies are preferring to use synthetic vanilla, instead of natural vanilla due to a substantial price difference between the two. Synthetic vanilla is much cheaper and considered more useful than the natural version.

Vanilla is mainly used in ice creams and as a flavour for bakery items. Of late, companies prefer synthetic vanilla, thanks to the marked price advantage. Vanillin, the extract of natural vanilla, costs Rs 20,000 a kg, whereas the price of synthetic vanilla hovers around Rs 1,000 a kg.

Also, the number of farmers engaged in vanilla production fell to 100 from 200,000 during the peak time. A majority of farmers shifted to production of nutmeg and natural rubber.

For eight years from 1999, vanilla cultivation attracted thousands of farmers in the country's peninsular part, especially Kerala. The wane started from 2007, and on Friday the spice has lost its flavour among growers in the country. Reason: A heavy drop in prices owing to an

absence of demand, both in India and abroad.

Strikingly, the country currently has no local market for the spice. Even the Spices Board does not have an idea about the latest production figures of vanilla in India. Officials in the Board say their office maintained no data about the production or sale of vanilla for the past couple of years. “After November 2011, there was no export.

During the month, just 160 kg of processed beans were shipped,” a source told Business Standard.

Growers in Ernakulam district of central Kerala, where the cultivation was abundant a decade ago, also have little idea about the present status of their crop. The Vanilla India Producer Company Ltd (Vanilco) says upstate Kannur district has some belts like Iritty where a few farmers are currently engaged in vanilla cultivation. “The crop is also grown in some parts of Karnataka” says Vanilco Director M C Saju. “The combined area (in Karnataka and Kerala) cannot be above 200 hectares at present, as against 5,815 hectares in 2005-06,” he added.

The production of processed beans

peaked at 236 tonnes in 2004-05, against a few kg at present. The export was at its peak in 2008-09 — 305 tonnes valued at Rs 26.70 crore, against 210 tonnes valued at Rs 18.25 crore in FY08, said Saju.

The heavy fall in prices of green vanilla beans, coupled with the advent of cheap synthetic vanilla, drained the lucre out of natural vanilla production.

Due to a series of crop failures in Madagascar, the world's largest producer, during the second half of the 1990s, demand for the crop from other countries, including India, increased.

This led to a steady rise in its price.

During 2001-02, the global price of vanilla green beans rose to Rs 3,500 a kg. This attracted a large number of southern India's farmers to vanilla, as happened in the case of cocoa during 1980s. Till 2007, vanilla prices were on a high, but then they began to fall sharply. Towards the end of 2007, the open market price of green beans dropped to as low as Rs 250 a kg. In subsequent years, it fell below Rs 100a-kg. The current global price is Rs 250-300 a kg, Saju added.

But, compared to synthetic vanilla, the

price of the natural variety is still high.

Hence, synthetic vanilla is used widely for all applications across the world.

“This huge gap in prices of natural and synthetic vanilla has led to a collapse in the production and marketing of the natural stuff,” Saju said. Natural vanilla is not an essential item; it is only used to add flavour. On the other hand, synthetic vanilla is useful for more than one purpose.

Saju added that the 2003-founded Vanilco still has a stock of 500 kg of vanillin, lying idle for want of demand.

In its good times, Vanilco had a contract with Amul, ensuring regular purchase of vanillin. Then Union commerce minister Jairam Ramesh assured that Amul would get the difference between prices of natural and synthetic vanilla as a price subsidy for promoting natural vanilla. But, the government did not keep its word, prompting Amul to back out.

This upset the working of Vanilco and has left it in a bad shape. The entity is now searching a way to clear the stock.

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Food Processing News News

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‘Delhi consumes maximum Safer way to ripen mangoes found processed food' W

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elhi is the largest consumer of processed food among all metropolitan cities in the country, states a survey.

According to the survey, metropolitans are going to be the biggest consumers of processed food because of their increasing per capita income and changing lifestyle.

Over 2,000 respondents were surveyed for this study conducted by the Associated

Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM).

Over 82 per cent of workforce prefers packaged food rather than eating outside or from roadside dhabhas in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and others.

Eighty eight per cent of the parents surveyed said that packaged foods are preferred mainly by nuclear families where both husband and wife are working or by bachelors who try to avoid hotel food or people who do not have the time or expertise to cook.

The survey further states that Indian food processing market is expected to show fast

paced growth in next five years, clocking an annual growth of 40-60 per cent. “This all will be encouraged by changed trade rules and increased demand among the people,” states the study.

Key drivers for this demand include changing demographics, increase in income levels, urbanisation, growth in organised retail, improvement in packaging, easy access to freezer facilities and increased demand for frozen non-vegetarian foods.

Key players in the packaged food industry include Hindustan Lever which sells tea, instant coffee, biscuits, pulses, instant beverages; Nestle which sells instant coffee, milk and milk products, ready-to-eat foods; PepsiCo which sells aerated drinks, fruit juices, cereals, snacks and Haldirams which sells sweets, namkeens, syrups, crushes etc.

The study further highlighted that the Indian packaged food industry is likely to touch a record $30 billion by 2015 from the current level of $15 billion, which include snack food, ready-to-eat food, healthy and functional food.

ondering how the just-concluded mango fair was organized in the city at a time when ripening of mangoes using the harmful carbide is banned? The department of horticulture has come out with a alternative solution for mango ripening called ethylene treatment.

horticulture, said "Keeping in view the demand from farmers to provide them an alternative to carbide treatment, we used this technique successfully."

Experts said the gaseous treatment can be used for banginapalli, imam pasand, suvarna and juicy varieties like

This gaseous remedy has come as a big solace to the mango farmers ever since the use of carbide for ripening of mangoes was prohibited under GO 288.

Scientists at the Fruit Research Institute (FRI) at Sangareddy, Medak, say that it is safe. "Ethylene treatment for ripening is already in place for bananas. Unlike carbide, which is dangerous, it's not harmful and does not pose any health hazards to the consumer," Adapa Kiran Kumar, scientist at FRI, told TOI. Asserting that ripening of the fruit in a big chamber using ethylene is not detrimental to one's health, K Jyotirmayi, scientist at the Central Food Technology Research Institute, Hyderabad, said this treatment is a natural process.

In this treatment, mangoes are kept in ethylene gas chambers for 24 hours for ripening and getting the colour. Ethylene treatment is presently available only at a private cold storage at Vanasthalipuram. L Venkata Ramireddy, deputy director,

chinnarasalu, peddarasalu and cherukurasalu. Ethylene gas cylinders cost Rs 50,000 each and are bought from Tamil Nadu. But some aver that any artificial treatment of fruits to ripen them is fraught with danger and could pose health problems. Apart from ethylene, etheryl treatment was also suggested under which the farmers would need to soak the fruits in the solution. "But etheryl is a chemical solution like carbide and could be harmful for consumers. Also, farmers are not coming forward to use it as the treatment costs Rs 500 per tonne of mangoes," explained Somireddy, assistant director, horticulture.

Though carbide use is banned, huge quantity of the chemical is still sold openly in Gaddiannaram market, sources said.As many as 400 metric tonnes of mangoes worth Rs 2.5 crore were sold in the mango fair, which was organized between April 15 and May 15.

Japan looks at food processing, logistics for investing in Kerala

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apanese investors are looking at the food processing, services and logistics sectors for committing funds in Kerala.

Mr Shinya Fuji, Director-General, Jetro (Japan External Trade Organisation), and Mr Masanori Nakano, ConsulGeneral in Chennai, conveyed this to newspersons here.

Automotive components and supply chain management are two other major sectors which are of interest, Mr Nakano said.

EXPORT BASE India is already a major export base for Japanese manufacturers. This status is sought to be further consolidated, going forward.

In this connection, Kerala proposes to pitch its position as a prospective

investment base for specified Japanese investments.

Mr T. Balakrishnan, Managing Director, Inkel Ltd, a government arm for channelising private capital into infrastructure, disclosed this to newspersons.

Mr Balakrishnan is also Chairman and Managing Director of Kerala High Speed Rail Corporation, which is setting up the country's first high speed rail corridor.

This gigantic project has already seen some Japanese connection with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) being the main lender.

“Expected to cost Rs 1.5-lakh crore, this is a very large project by any standard, be at the state or central level,” Mr Balakrishnan said.

LENDING AGENCY “In fact, we are now of the view if we would need to engage more than one lender or it would need to be a combination of tappable sources of funds,” he added.

“Jica, the state and central governments, external commercial borrowings, subordinated debt, suppliers/manufacturers' credit…all these options are being explored.”

The project has perforce to go several stages for final clearance. Giving an update, he said the request to Jica has to go from Department of Economic Affairs, New Delhi.

“A detailed project report is ready, and we have formed a special purpose vehicle for the project,” he added.

Interestingly, this also throws up the

possibility of involving some Japanese investments in advance components required for the high-speed trains.

BULLET TRAINS The Japanese are past masters in this area of business, with a successful shinkansen (bullet train) network under operation.

According to Mr Fuji and Mr Nakano, India serves as a prospective base and export hub to manufacture some of the components.

Mr Balakrishnan said Kerala could try to set up some facility to manufacture some advanced components, if not the shinkasens themselves.

The state proposes to take this up during the Emerging Kerala investment summit, where Japanese would be represented in large numbers.

EventNews Report

Beverages FoodProcessing Processing TimesMay-I-2012 Beverages &&Food TimesNovember -I-2011

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Canvironment Week, a global initiative ends this year with glamorous appeal (A gala event marking success of Canvironment Week 2011) India's rag pickers who are the main link in the recycling chain” Anuj Sharma, ace fashion designer and also a National Institute of Design (NID) alumni was appointed to conduct a 'Sustainable Design Workshop' with the lifestyle and accessory department at the National Institute of Design to innovate and devise outfits with tins and scrap materials along with students which was worn by models at fashion show. This years show stopper dress, was made only out of KINGFISHER CANS and was designed by Anuj which was worn by Drashti Dhami, brand ambassador of Canvironment Week. Anuj Sharma comments on the successful outcome of Canvironment Week 2011, “I always appreciated Hindustan Tin Works for their initiative of Canvironment Campaign and my sentiments are as similar as anyone who knows the importance of our moral duties towards our environment.”

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he much awaited Canvironment Week Grand Finale 2011 has come to an end marking a grand celebration of the global sustainability campaign for the year 2011, Hindustan Tin Works Ltd, a leading Indian can maker and the initiator of the campaign has created a platform across 11 countries in 5 continents. This year Canvironment Campaign was kicked off in May 2011 at Metpack and Interpack International trade shows in Germany by ringing the “Sustainability Bell” by leading can makers, industry leaders, and government bodies representing different countries.

In India, during Canvironment Week, health camps were conducted on 1000 rag-pickers, painting competition for rag pickers children and vocational training in music was provided to their children to encourage them to lead an alternate life other than rag picking in association with NGO Chintan. Foodcanter activities were also organized at famous locations in and around Delhi where many people came on the canter to experience the food recipes made out of canned food. Metal can keeps the food safe, nutritious, helps in the reduction of food wastage, promotion of processed food and acts as a portable warehouse owing to its unique characteristics of preserving food

without any requirement of a cold chain infrastructure.

The chief guest of the event Mr Harsh Mariwala, President FICCI and CMD Marico Ltd highlighted the importance of the packaging industry and mentioned that the need of the hour is to use green technologies in order to reduce environment foot print of the products, he appreciated the efforts of Hindustan Tin Works in initiating this global sustainability movement.

CanCussion 2011, an attempt to showcase the young talent of India happened this month at Shri Ram College of Commerce at North Campus, Delhi University. The high energy event had percussionists from leading bands from Indiain addition to a rag-picker segment. Leading drummers from different bands performed with materials made from tin and other scrap items. Mahinder Bhatt was crowned as the Canvironment Week Talent of the Year 2011 and 'Krish' band, winner of the rag picker segment performed at grand finale. Later Mahinder, Ankur and Nirvan, the top 3 winners of CanCussion fused a melody with tin drums and floored the grand finale audience to an act which was to watch out for.

Mr. Atit Bhatia, Sr. Vice President, Hindustan Tin Works and President,

Canvironment Week, had ideated the campaign and promoted extensively on global platform since 2010. Atit Bhatia shares his experience and tells, “I feel very pleased today, at the end of the second in the series of this global sustainability campaign focusing on the eco friendly nature of metal cans. We have had a very successful year and have received world acclaim for Canvironment Week in 2011; while delivering a fantastic and a promising story for the global metal packaging industry. Each Canvironment member has come up with very innovative and out of the box ideas to promote the industry and has raised the global benchmark to promote a packaging material. We wish to drive this campaign forward with full enthusiasm and spirit to promote our industry and position metal cans as the sustainable package of the future. We promise to be back next year in 2012 with a much more exciting and fun filled Canvironment Week”.

Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, Managing Director, Hindustan Tin Works Ltd says “Promoting the sustainability and environmentally-friendly performance of metal packaging is becoming increasingly important to the industry.

Through the Canvironment Campaign, we are aiming to achieve this goal while simultaneously helping some of

Dhrashti Dhami an actor of STAR One- ' Geet – Hui Sabse Parayi ' also the brand ambassador of Canvironment Week this year exuberantly tells, “When I was told that I am going to wear the show stopper dress and Kingfisher is the fashion partner for the event, my heart started palpitating but when I wore it and walked on ramp, I could easily make out that 'I did it'.”

This year Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Food Processing Industries are supporting the whole campaign, companies and institutions like Hindustan Tin Works Ltd, United Breweries Ltd, Micro Inks, Tinplate Company of India Ltd, European Metal Packaging (EMPAC), International Packaging Association (IPA), Indian Institute of Packaging, World Packaging Organization, Tinplate Promotion Council, Metal Containers Manufacturers Association, NGO – Chintan and Exnora are coming up together to urge consumers for using eco-friendly cans.

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New Control Center For All Cognex Vision Systems And Industrial Id Products

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ognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems and industrial ID readers, today announced the release of the Cognex Explorer™ control center. This unique utility displays a graphical view of all Cognex vision systems, ID readers and visualization systems connected to the network. It also incorporates powerful maintenance tools for backing up, restoring or cloning systems, carrying out firmware upgrades and much more.

Cognex Explorer has been designed for control, production and maintenance engineers who will find the intuitive point and click interface easy to use without any training required. The new control center offers the ability to: Display the identity, type and status of all Ethernet-connected In-Sight® vision systems, DataMan® ID readers and VisionView® display devices on the network View device settings including IP addresses, firmware/software versions, etc.

Wheat exports to Iran near certain; to help settle fuel import bill

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he government is working out the details of wheat exports to Iran, a move that can help India settle part of its fuel import bill with the oil-rich nation and also reduce its grains stockpile at warehouses.

New Delhi is keen on increasing exports to Iran to be able to part-settle its oil import bill of about $12 billion every year through a bilateral mechanism. Payment through regular banking channels has become difficult because of the sanctions imposed the US and the EU on Tehran to force it to abandon its nuclear programme.

"A decision will be taken soon on the amount of wheat that we can export to Iran and the orders will be issued soon," a government official told ET. Iran's demand for wheat and India's own problem of surplus foodgrains were discussed at a meeting on Thursday between Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and minister of state for food and consumer affairs, K V Thomas.

India's ambassador to Iran and a senior official from the cabinet secretariat also attended the meeting.

Sharma, however, said the decision to export wheat to Iran will be purely commercial and that India is keen on exporting to other countries as well. "We have been exporting wheat for the last few months. We want to expedite the process," Sharma told reporters on Friday.

Iran, whose food imports have been disrupted by US and EU sanctions, had expressed interest in buying up to 3 million tonne of wheat from India earlier this year.

Execute firmware updates Backup and restore multiple systems simultaneously Clone systems when adding more systems to the network Add licenses for VisionView “The Cognex Explorer control center was designed to help our customers achieve additional efficiency improvements and cost savings when using Cognex vision systems, ID products or visualization platforms. It eliminates the complexities of installing and maintaining automation equipment,” says Carl Gerst, Vice President and Business Unit Manager, ID Products.

He continues, “Once a Cognex product has been deployed, we want to make it easier for our customers to monitor and maintain the system with one common utility.

Cognex Explorer is a convenient way to monitor, manage and maintain all deployed Cognex products on a network regardless of where they are located.”

The Cognex Explorer control center is available now and is free of charge to all Cognex customers. To download the utility or for more information, please visit www.cognex.com/explorer.

Beverages FoodProcessing Processing TimesMay-I-2012 Beverages &&Food TimesNovember -I-2011

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China ignores Pakistan's concerns, approves Indian basmati imports

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hina has made a rare trade move opening up import channels for Indian basmati rice although it might hurt exports of similar produce from its close ally, Pakistan. According to sources, this is a politically sensitive move that suggests that Beijing is no more willing to walk the extra mile to protect Pakistan's interests.

China has been importing Pakistani aromatic rice for the past few years.

Islamabad is known to have been persuading China not to allow Indian basmati because it will affect its already small export basket. What is more, Pakistan has begun to push

China to buy more of its cotton yarn after New Delhi slapped a partial ban on cotton exports.

Though New Delhi and Beijing signed the basmati protocol 2006, it has taken China over five years to give the green signal because the Pakistan factor played a role in its thinking, sources said.

The first Chinese delegation to visit India to examine the product for quarantine purposes was in 2009.

Indian officials have earlier complained that China's approval process is very time consuming and it takes years to obtain approval for one agriculture product.

"It is a hard won achievement. We expect this decision will lead to opening up the Chinese market for other agricultural goods," Nagraj Naidu, counselor (trade and commerce) at the Indian embassy in Beijing told.

"We hope Indian companies use the opportunity to build brands and develop the market."

Despite political backing, Pakistani basmati suppliers have not been able to make a dent in the Chinese market because of failures at the branding and marketing areas. The challenge lies in taking the product into the homes of upper class Chinese and expatriates

instead of focusing only on the restaurant industry, sources said.

"India has a strong brand as the producer of 70 per cent of world's supply of basmati," Naidu said. A recent convention of the food and hospital industry in Shanghai evoked strong response from buyers when freshly cooked Indian basmati filled the auditorium with its aroma, he said.

China buys rice from Vietnam and Thailand in vast quantities. Though the Chinese market for rice is a vast one, Indian can hardly meet the demand because it has little surplus in the nonbasmati category of rice, officials said.

Indian Interest grows in Pakistani potatoes

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zam Ishaque, director of Harvest Tradings, said that India will not get a bumper crop this year, and in order to cater to the domestic market and processing industry, the private sector is turning to Pakistani grown potatoes.

Potato ranks third among food crops in Pakistan, one of the largest potato producing countries in the world. The total production of potatoes stood at 1.8 million tons in 1988/99, which increased to 2.94 million tons in 2008/09.

Around 127,75,000 hectares of land were given over to cultivation to make these figures achievable.

Indian traders from Jammu and Kashmir have already started importing potato from the border posts of Srinagar and Poonch with zero import duty, said Ishaque, adding that Pakistani potato is cheaper than the Indian variety by 20-40 percent. "Owing to the considerable price difference, import is expected to increase further as several more traders are open to sourcing potato from Pakistan," he said. India's potato production is expected to be 33.5-34 million tons this year, which is 10-15 percent less than last year. This is due to lower production in Bihar, West Bengal and certain parts of Uttar Pradesh. With a small crop to be harvested in Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka in August, prices are expected to remain steady this year, he said.

"A good bumper crop in Pakistan, coupled with a stronger Indian rupee against the Pakistani unit is creating opportunities for traders to import Pakistani potato," he said.

Beverages FoodProcessing Processing TimesMay-I-2012 Beverages &&Food TimesNovember -I-2011

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Will India go nuts over doughnuts?

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he humble looking ring-shaped friedcake or the doughnut, which till now was one of the least fancy items in a patisserie, has found its own special place in the Indian confectionery market.

The recent launch of popular US based chain Dunkin' Donuts in India has turned the spotlight on the gooey fritter.

Moreover, its entry has brought intense competition for Singapore based Mad Over Donuts (MOD), India's first doughnut chain, set up in 2008. MOD until now had a fairly monopolistic status because except bakeries and patisseries, there were very few exclusive doughnut brands in India.

'Dough'ing differently?

Though both Dunkin' Donuts and MOD offer classic, savoury and fruit flavoured doughnuts, have approximately the same number of doughnuts in their range, and are also similarly priced; the two are positioned differently. While MOD claims to cater to all age groups across categories, Dunkin Donuts is positioning itself as a 'hang out' zone for the urban young.

In terms of the menus too they differ widely. With only doughnuts and coffee in their product portfolio, MOD has maintained its focus largely on its eggless fried doughnuts. With 'Love at First Bite' as its tagline, it has positioned itself as a fun brand and involves consumers in experiencing the cooking process with its live kitchen concept.

The more the merrier The positioning of Dunkin' Donuts, on the other hand, is that of an all day food café.

The menu consists of a whole range of beverages and sandwiches besides doughnuts. Explaining the business model further, Dev Amritesh, COO and President, Dunkin' Donuts India – Jubilant FoodWorks, says, “Dunkin' Donuts is known for its donuts for sure, but is also about coffee, sandwiches, all day snacks and other beverages. The brand name in India has the sign of “Dunkin' Donuts & More” to signify our wide product range and the unique experiences that our restaurants offer. In addition, there is a chilled out, modern and relaxed environment. We are confident that Indian consumers will love our format and our product offering.”

To bring the brand to the Indian shores, the international baked goods and coffee retailer has entered into an alliance with the fast-food operator Jubilant FoodWorks, which runs Domino's Pizza chain in India.

With a broader product portfolio, Dunkin' Donuts seeks to fill the vacuum space in between the QSRs, which according to Amritesh are transactional in nature, and cafes, which offer an experience but not necessarily many food options. It is directly competing with another famous international coffee chain, Starbucks, slated to launch in India soon.

According to Ramanujam Sridhar, Founder CEO, brand-comm, a wider menu will work well for Dunkin'. “Doughnuts can give you a point of entry but if given a choice, Indian consumers will move back to staple food options. An esoteric, niche market loses it steam after some time. So this strategy will give them a wider fare without losing its basic appeal,” he opines.

In the view of Ashwani Arora, Research Head at Market Xcel, while this strategy will give an edge to the brand, consumer's choice will be the ultimate deciding factor.

The craving by frequent travellers to

consume international brands will work in its favour.

MOD, however, doesn't perceive this as a looming threat. Their focus remains on doughnuts and providing items that compliment the product like juices, bubble tea and cup cakes.

Adding an Indian touch Doughnuts are an international offering and to make it suitable for the Indian palette and have a wider consumer base extending across all genres, both brands have localised several products in their range.

Dunkin' Donuts has focussed on palette localisation as opposed to concept localisation and most of the fillings, spices, and proteins used in their products match the Indian taste buds. The beverages include an alphonso mango milkshake and a litchi milkshake, especially introduced for India. In addition, while most of their doughnuts are the same as the international range, mango and roasted coconut are the two new flavours included in the Indian menu. Interestingly, the two brands also offer almost their entire range of doughnuts as eggless to have a wider appeal.

Commenting on the localisation in the MOD menu, Tarak Bhattacharya, COO, MOD, says, “We have regular, seasonal flavour festivals designed especially for the local taste palette. These are launched once in five weeks and are a treat to one and all.

One of our festivals was the Savoury Donut launch. They were widely relished and accepted; in fact they few of them with salsa sauce, cheese, pesto are on our permanent menu.”

India: Mad over doughnuts yet?

Both chains have come up with innovative strategies to capture a larger share of the pie but has the size of the pie grown over the years? Has this sweet dessert found acceptance among Indians or is it still the indulgent food of a select few?

According to Sridhar, doughnuts are a relatively new food category in India.

“Doughnuts are a new concept in India. Its primary customers are the affluent people who have tried and liked the product in their travels abroad and are happy to satisfy their indulgence back home. The customer base is gradually increasing through word of mouth,” he explains.Sridhar, however, has some reservations about the likely time in the day that these doughnuts are to be consumed, considering they are by and large a breakfast meal in the West. On the other hand, Arora optimistically feels that in certain sections, doughnuts may well replace the traditional Indian snack – samosa.

“Snacking is at an alltime high. Today's young urban generation is always in a mood to experiment. Donuts is increasing finding acceptance in India, currently the product is consumed by the upwardly mobile, but with youngsters ever wanting to try new

things the phenomenon may take less time to become a mass consumption item. With increase in vendors selling coffee and snacks on the go, products like pastries, donuts, cookies become side items to be enjoyed with beverage of the choice,” Arora opines.

Both the players and experts therefore agree that the primary motive is to popularise the food in India and enhance the consumer base and that more players will only add to the growth of the category.

“The experts in the industry believe there is enough space to grow and add, hence the entry of new players in the organised market is seen to contribute and grow the market, then eat away the share of the existing. The brands basis price points will have their own patrons and segments to cater. The consumers will benefit and so will the trade. This may pose win-win situation for both, though the margins for the smaller brands will receive a hit but volumes will drive the growth and have a significant positive impact on the bottom line,” says Arora.

According to Amritesh, the evolution of all the three categories the international brand operates in, namely beverages, sandwiches, and doughnuts is still in its early stages and competition will only help it to grow and tap the potential in India.

Price: A dissuading factor?

Many feel the product is priced in the higher range, which makes it a niche food category catering to only the urban affluent class. For instance, a single doughnut at Dunkin' and MOD is pegged at Rs45 and Rs 50, respectively.

“At present, doughnuts are projected as a premium product that is consumed abroad and the pricing is on the higher side because of the same reason. The price will have to stabilise over time once it gets more exposed and if it becomes a deterrent,” says Sridhar.

However, Market Xcel's Arora doesn't see price posing a challenge to the products success. “The category product is surely targeted at the upper segments of the society, later than sooner should price be the selling proposition. The people no more are hesitant to shell out a 100 rupee note for

a cup of coffee and there is no reason that the price factor would dissuade a real connoisseur. The product line is not targeted at the base of the pyramid and is going to stay the same for some years.

Think of how Pizza entered India and now is an omnipresent offering, in all versions and at all price points, yet we believe it is an Italian dish was meant for discerning consumers,” he explains.

The players however, choose to differ.

Dunkin's Amritesh feels the pricing to be fair. To lower costs, Dunkin' Donuts is in fact sourcing most of the ingredients locally. A lot of their initial investment was made to overcome the existing backend challenges in India and Amritesh believes that by removing such challenges, many brands are being able to provide a value proposition to Indian consumers.

“Our gourmet, eggless donuts are an affordable indulgence and easily available due to our wide-spread reach. Given the imported ingredients we use and hygiene and quality we emphasise upon, we are a value for money brand. Our customer base is huge and covers all income groups,” says Bhattacharya from MOD. Sweet temptation According to inputs from Market Xcel, the bakery industry in India is pegged at Rs 3,000 crore and though the current size of such products may be negligible, but with category products growing at 40 per cent year on year, it is inevitable for such products to assume substantial share within the urban space in the coming years.

Mad Over Donuts, which boasts of 3,30,000 fans on its facebook page, recently opened its first store in Bangalore. It currently operates 34 stores across India in Delhi/NCR, Pune, Mumbai, and Bangalore and targets to reach 100 stores by 2013.

Similarly, with an intended investment of 12 to 13 crores this fiscal year, Dunkin Donuts has huge expansion plans for India.

In their first year, they plan to open ten company owned stores in Delhi/NCR and 80 to 100 stores across India in the next five years.

If the expansion plans of the two brands and their road map for India is anything to go by, doughnuts are clearly a profitable food category fast gaining ground in India.

Beverages FoodProcessing Processing TimesMay-I-2012 Beverages &&Food TimesNovember -I-2011

UP govt to frame new agri, industrial policies

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etting up the development agenda of the state, the Uttar Pradesh government said it would frame new agriculture and industrial policies and expand e-governance services, an official spokesman said here.

Besides, the government has set a revenue realisation target of Rs 73,000 crore for this fiscal, he said. After deliberations at top level development, the agenda has been finalised in which 100 points related to agriculture, power, industry, education, medical and health, infrastructure and social welfare have been included, he said.

For speedy development and to make schemes effective, proposals and suggestions have been invited from the departments concerned.

The spokesman said the government would frame new agricultural policy to increase production.The existing agriculture policy was framed in the year 2005, which would be reviewed and a new policy would be framed accordingly, he said.

Similarly, new policies would be framed for horticulture, food processing and integrated development of potato farming.

To create industrial atmosphere in the state and speedy development of industries a new policy would also be framed by the government.

The spokesman said that last time industrial policy was framed in 2004, which would be reviewed and a new policy would be framed.

As per the agenda construction and maintenance of roads on public private partnership model would be promoted.

On this basis expressway between Agra and Lucknow and northern peripheral road would be constructed.

He said that effective steps would be taken to construct an international stadium at Lucknow and international airports at Kushinagar and Agra.

On power front while under-construction generation units would be completed efforts would be made to set up new units on priority basis.

Under this Jawaharpur, Anpara D, Harduaganj extension, Panki and Obra C thermal projects would be completed.

Besides, a new generation policy based on solar power would be framed and implemented.

To ensure that the agenda was implemented as per the intentions of the government a quarterly review of points incorporated would be done by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.Besides, chief secretary would also review progress of the agenda on monthly basis.

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