Beverages & Food Processing Times Oct'12 (II)

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

Organised By: In Association with:

Indian Ice Cream Manufacturers' Association

AFTPAI ( An Association of Allied Sectors of Agro & Food Industry in India )

Indian

Ice cream & Expo 2012

Congress

Hyderabad, 19th Dec.

For Participation

Vol.5, Issue 2, Oct (II) 2012, Rs. 20/-

www.timesinfomedia.com

Pilot projects to set up renewable energy run cold chains soon-MFPI

T

he Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) will soon start pilot projects on setting up cold chains run on renewable energy options like solar and biomass, a top ministry official said.“We are planning with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to start about five pilot projects of running cold chains on solar energy or biomass,” MOFPI Secretary Rakesh Kacker told reporters here.

Speaking on the sidelines of the National Food Safety and Quality Summit organised by industry body CII, he added that a study is being conducted on the practicality of the project and its findings will come in the next six months.That apart, Kacker said the Ministry in consultation with food processing industries is trying to establish a

mechanism of self-regulation for the industry.“Quality Council of India (QCI) has been asked to conduct a study on creating an organisation that will function as a self-regulating body for food processing industries. We will receive the study in the next 6 months,” he added.The government will bear the initial costs of setting up the body but finally it should be an industry driven organisation, which will look at the various regulatory and self-regulatory standards in the country, Kacker said.“This body will be voluntary in nature and will not be run by the government. In fact such a system will help the industry in creating world class food safety standards and will ultimately benefit the industry,” he added.

The two-day summit will deliberate

on enforcement of Food Safety and Standards Act and Regulations, 2011 Act, driving upgradation of Indian food processing sector by sharing benchmarks and best practises to make the sector globally competitive.

Sensitisation on the global developments in food safety and quality and to improve engagement of industry with farmers will also be discussed.

Roha has enhanced its capacity by 50 per cent

R

OHA is the fastest growing manufacturer of Natural & Synthetic colours, specializing in the Food & Beverage, Fertilizers, Cosmetics and Pharmaceutical industries. In a recent interview on 40th anniversary of the company Mahesh Tibrewala said, “Today we have numerous international offices across the world covering the USA, Mexico and European zone. That is in total we have 15 offices spread across five continents with 110 distributors and stock points located across the globe, which ensures our customers get a ready supply of finished material, in any conceivable quantity”. He also added, “We have one of the world's largest facilities, with state-of-the-art equipment backed by cutting edge technologies. Strict adherence to international manufacturing norms ensures global standardized process resulting in products that meet exacting scrutiny and consistency.

Roha in 2004 acquired a manufacturing unit in Spain dealing in natural colours and there on has not looked back but has gradually climbed the steps of success. Now they are focusing immensely on natural colours and investing a lot on it. But it's on the only one they are concentrating on in fact they invested around 15 million dollar on synthetic dyes this year too. Roha has enhanced its capacity by 50 per cent. Mahesh said, “I think we are that company who has tasted success in both synthetic and natural dyes and we are getting better with time.”

Read full interview inside.

call or email Tel:+91-22-28555069 9322894786 iice@advanceinfomedia.com

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012 Times-Sep-I-2012

2

Sea Food News

Processed fish products way ahead to raise profitability

T

he fish industry in India is not far away from producing value-added products and this is one of the best ways to raise profitability, suggested Kochi Central Institute of Fisheries Technology director T K Srinivasa

Gopal.

Value addition is an additional activity that in one way or another changes the nature of a product adding its value at the time of sale. Over the years, the demand for processed food, especially for sea food-based products in ready-toeat form, has increased. In India, the market is already invaded by many such imported diverse products.

Fish once considered a poor man's diet now has become rich man's food. With the association of health benefits, more people are being drawn to the consumption of fish.

"India does not stand behind in the production of value-added fish products.

The most prominent among the group of value-added products is breaded and battered products processed out of a variety of fish and shellfish," he added.

Commenting on the future of investment in fishery sector, Srinivasa Gopal said investment in fish processing, cold chains, handling and packaging of valueadded food needed encouragement.

With increasing income and population, demand for value-added food is likely to increase. It is necessary to cater to this challenging demand and at the same to enhance the income of fishers, he added.

Only 10 pc of India's seafood export is in processed form. Most of the export is in frozen form, he said, speaking about the market share of value added products. Srinivasa also explained about different fish products, especially about the ready-to-serve fish products which are a recent innovation for local market. These products have shelf life of more than one year in room temperature. The technology for retort pouch processing of several varieties of ready to serve fish and fish products has been standardized at CIFT and has been transferred to four entrepreneurs in the country. Thermal processed and excellently packed products have longevity, he added.

Pari Chemicals 37, Nagdevi Street, Ground Floor, Mumbai 400003 India Phone: +91-22-66312022, 23470740 Fax: +91-22-23430740, Mob: 9321096352 Email: parichem@gmail.com Web: www.parichem.com

INDENTOR/ IMPORTER / DISTRIBUTOR FOR ADITYA BIRLA CHEMICALS ( THILAND) LTD.

Phosphate Division Pharma / Food Grade Phosphates Mono Sodium Phosphate(MSP) Di Sodium Phosphate(DSP) Tri Sodium Phosphate(TSP) Di Potassium Phosphate(DKP) Sodium Tri Poly Phosphate(STPP) Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate(TSPP) Sodium Hexa Meta Phosphate(SHMP) Sodium Acid Pyro Phosphate(SAPP) Phosphoric Acid – Food Grade

HALAL

KOSHER

SULPHITE DIVISION

FDA

Pharma / Food / Photo / Tech.

Sodium Sulphite Sodium Metabisulphite Sodium Bisulphite Potassium Metabisulphite

FOOD FUNCTIONAL BLENDS Pearl - For Sea Food Corino - For Cheese Gusto - For Meat Noodlephos - For Noodles Flour P - For Atta

PEROXIDE DIVISION Hydrogen Peroxide (Food / Tech) Per Acetic Acid (Food / Tech)

FOOD ADDITIVES / FINE CHEMICALS Available in Bulk/Small packing: Alum (Ferric/Non-Ferric) Ammonium Bi-Carbonate Ammonium Chloride (Pure) Mono/Di Ammonium Phosphate Calcium Chloride(Anhydrous/Lumps/Powder) Calcium Sulphate(Food/LR Grade) Mono/Di Tri Calcium Phosphate EDTA-Di Sodium Salt/Tetra Sodium/Pure Acid Sodium Chloride (Salt) Lodised/ Non- Lodised Sodium Benzoate Sodium Carbonate Sodium Bi Carbonate Sodium Nitrate Skimmed Milk powder(SMP) Citric Acid Sodium Citrate Mono sodium Glutamate(MGS) Sodium Aluminium Sulphate(SAS) Sodium Aluminium Phosphate(SALP) Gums: Acacia/Arabic/Carrageenan/Guar/Xanthan/Pectin Natural/Synthetic Food Colours Various Other Food Grade Chemicals

LABORATORY CHEMICAL Pure/LR Grade Extra Pure/AR Grade IP/BP/USP/ACS Grade Avilable

3

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

A lot of things you buy this Deepawali could be packed on our machines.

With Clients throughout India and Asia Pacific Region, no wonder its frequent to grab a product packed on PACKIT machines.

It could be dryfruits, tea, sugar, nuts, spices, wafers, chips, cheeseballs, pulses or something else.

Each packed greets you with extraordinary freshness and assurance of quality of packing.

And if you are already a valued customer we are sure you would agree with us.

Happy De epawali

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Ready-to-eat food market growing in leaps and bounds, say experts

I

ndian food sector is poised for a major take-off thanks to the growing popularity of ready-to-eat (RTE) food products and the increasing purchasing power of average Indians.

Speakers at a two-day global symposium here on RTE foods have unanimously stressed the need to tap the emerging opportunities in this sector considering its growth potential.

NEW TREND In his keynote address, K. Alagusundaram, director, Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technologies, Thanjavur, said that RTE products has started picking up in a big way with high purchasing power of people and the changing lifestyles and eating habits of Indians.

He said that the production of RTE food products has been witnessing radical changes from traditional methods to most modern techniques with the advent of modern technology.

GROWTH AREA G. Chandrasekhar, Associate Editor, The Hindu Business Line, said that food has been identified as one of the major growth areas in the country and the volume of consumption is significant especially on account of the young generation, which constitutes 55 per cent of the population.

“Expansion of the middle class, nuclear families, rapid urbanisation, evolving food habits etc have thrown up lot of opportunities in the food market,” he said.

Though India has huge market size in terms of population, he said the per capita food consumption in the country is very low. However, a positive trend has emerged in the food market of late because of the spurt in demand fuelled by organised retail.

He said that western and southern parts of the country are the major markets in food with the faster rise in per capita

Food Processing News

4

Bet the farm on food processing

F

or all the talk about “inclusive growth”, policymaking could do with greater inclusivity. Has any policymaker asked a migrant worker or slum dweller why they left home? The most commonly cited reason is the lack of opportunity there. But what do people seek, to be able to stay in the village? One of the main problems is the fragmentation of land holdings, which reach a stage where the produce is not enough to sustain growing families and the fact that no non-farm opportunities have been created. The need to establish enterprise and provide worthwhile employment has been spoken about for years. Aside from the enormous benefits of arresting rural migration to overloaded cities, non-farm initiatives are imperative if the lives of the huge population in villages are to be made sustainable.

The food processing sector would be ideal for adding substantially to employment and GDP. The developed world processes over 35 per cent of its agricultural produce.

We have, with difficulty, now reached about 4 per cent. We are among the largest global producers of fruit, vegetables and milk. Yet, we have high food inflation and an estimated 40 per cent of our production is lost either in storage or during transportation. The government has been talking about a thrust on agriculture for over two decades, but we do not yet have agro-terminals in place, which would be a basic prerequisite (Bharti's initiative in Amritsar is at least a start). Countries like Kenya have had such terminals in place since the 1980s, and the developed countries much earlier. Our fresh food exports are uncompetitive because of the lack of such terminals. Even domestically, litchis are barely known in southern India, or mangosteens in northern India for the lack of a supply chain.

In the mid 1990s, I was involved with a large Indian corporation in attempting to export strawberries and asparagus to the developed world. Having brought in planting material and technology from France, we grew world-class

products. The problem was the lack of a delivery system to sell in the international market, forcing us to move away from perishables and into semi-perishable products like honey. We were pioneers in exporting honey to the developed world, but we could have got better realisations if the government had acted. Thirty per cent of the honey in India is produced in aviaries, the remaining 70 per cent is forest

honey — organic, because who applies fertiliser or pesticide in forests? We do not have the certification infrastructure in place so the returns are much lower. The “hunters” who collect forest honey at great peril to themselves do not get a fair price and often, unscrupulous traders adulterate the honey. Hence, forest honey over the years has been branded as lower quality honey, which is not the case.

Are policymakers aware of this?

India, despite having one of the lowest yields internationally, has immense potential to increase volumes from the same acreage.

With our vast land mass and variety of agro-climatic conditions, there are few products that we cannot grow, including medicinal plants.

Apart from the economic benefits and the reduction of waste, the employment opportunities that food processing would create, especially in rural India, would be huge.

Ancillaries would also come up, creating further job opportunities.

Entrepreneurs would establish minibusinesses, eating places,

photocopying, transportation, construction, etc. With retailing growing in leaps and bounds, the demand for processed foods is also bound to grow. Retailing will also provide better returns to farmers by reducing the number of middlemen.

Farmers would also gain from the food processing unit's need to procure better quality and quantity and so the factory would provide

the necessary expertise and technology to increase the yield and quality in their own interest. Pepsi had established this concept with tomato processing in Punjab in the early 1990s when the government insisted on their engaging in hard currency-earning activity if they wanted to enter the Indian market.

They increased the tomato yield about 10 times with technology. Our network of prestigious agricultural universities and extension workers, who took the benefits of this research to farmers, must be strengthened. Despite the opportunity in food processing having been recognised for decades, why do we still process below 4 per cent of our production? Food processing would be a solution to addressing the lack of non-farm opportunities in rural India. One hopes that the government's renewed focus on reform and commitment to retail FDI translates into real gains.

The writer is director, Grassroots Trading Network for Women. Views are personal.

Proposal for theme park for food processing Referring to the penetration of idlis in the RTE food market, he said idli making has now switched over from traditional chakkis to most modern methods to cater to the highly potential overseas Indians market.

Because of paucity of time and attraction to RTE foods, 'kitchen-less homes' will be the order of the day in India within the next 10-15 years, he said.

He also called upon RTE food companies to cater to the lower income category as million of people in India earn less than $ 2 a day. Catering to this segment can make huge business in RTE foods as their spending will be high, he added.

income.

VALUE CHAIN The two-day interactive symposium was organised by Assocom India in association with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (Icrisat) to address the challenges and issues faced by the RTE industry with specific focus on addressing the challenges in the value chain.

The objective of the symposium was to identify the gaps in value chain and the key interventions and strategies that need to be adopted to promote RTE foods to a wider market through involvement of all the key stakeholders.

T

he food processing sector, especially in the areas of spices and seafood, seems promising in the state with nearly 40 per cent of the project proposals presented to the industries department during discussions with would-be entrepreneurs in the runup to Emerging Kerala, centering around it, according to officials of the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation.

With Kerala being home to spices, seafood, coconuts, pineapples and more, the possibilities are simply endless and Emerging Kerala plans to devote an entire session to deliberating on how to tap this potential.

KSIDC executive director, T.P. Thomas Kutty, says that the corporation and other government agencies have been looking at setting up special exclusive food processing zones within industrial growth centres.

Proposals have also been received for a theme park for food processing.

Considering that Kerala had the majority share in the Rs. 563 crore export of spice oils and oleoresins by the country and given the number of units and the quality of spice processing done in the state, it could become a hub of this industry, believe representatives of the AllIndia Spice Exporters Forum.

Meanwhile seafood industry sources regret that only around 20 per cent of the potential offered by the Rs. 1,300-crore seafood processing industry is being tapped by the state.

A cold chain could not only help exports but also meet the needs of the domestic market better, they say , stressing that the availability of skilled labour is an advantage the state needs to leverage more.

Kerala has advantages in the food processing sector that need to be

tapped in a big way, especially for export.

The advantage is greater in the areas of seafood and spices. But the disadvantage is that some of the vegetables and fruits are not easily available. Still, if such logistics issues are resolved, they can easily reach processing units.

The biggest advantage that the state has is its skilled labour. Clean water too is available. Kerala also has the advantage of being close to Europe and Africa. And this being a soft industry, it does little harm to the environment.

Kerala food is already well accepted by the Indian diaspora outside the country. And Indian food and cuisine is also to the liking several across the globe.

Building on this advantage, the state can, like Thailand and Vietnam, become a hub of food processing.

The sector needs to be given a big push at Emerging Kerala.

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Kamani’s Range of Products

5

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Mother Dairy eyes No.1 spot in ice cream business

D

airy giant Mother Dairy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board(NDDB) which is aiming to have a national footprint in the next two years, is eyeing the top position in the ice cream business within the next five years.

"We have taken a call to go for a national footprint. In the next one or

"We have a business model which is proven in Delhi-NCR. We have now taken a call to get that replicated across India in all top towns. Last year we have started focussing on Mumbai. This year we have launched our entire products of fresh diary in the city," Basu said.

In March this year, the company launched its ice creams in Bangalore.

two years we will have presence in all metros. We are working on that," Subhashis Basu, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Private Limited's business head, Dairy Product, said here Monday.

Mother Dairy, set up in 1974 under the Operation Flood Programme, currently has four separate business units: liquidmilk, dairy products, Safal (range of fresh fruits and vegetables) and edible oil brand Dhara.

The liquid milk segment is the biggest business of the Rs.5,300 crore firm and other three segments are almost similar in size.

Basu was in Kolkata on the occasion of launching its entire range of ice creams in the city.

He said the firm was witnessing more than 30 percent year-on-year growth in its top-line in ice cream business, while the Rs.1,700 crore industry was growing by about 10 percent to 12 percent annually.

"Of course, I am eyeing the number one position in ice creams business pan-India basis in the next five years," Basu pointed out.

Mother Dairy has presently been within the top three positions in Delhi and Mumbai in ice cream segment.

Sumul dairy to take on local milk suppliers

S

urat District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited (SUMUL) has become the first dairy in the country to launch high fat pasteurized milk.

The dairy launched the milk under the brand name 'Sumulya' on October 2. Sumul aims to capture the market share of consumers buying loose milk in order to get more fat in the preparation of a range of homemade sweet dishes, ghee, buttermilk and butter.

Officials said the high fat

pasteurized milk launched by Sumul is available for Rs 50 per litre and has a fat percentage of 7 per cent and the Solid Not Fat (SNF) of 9 per cent.

Marketing manager of Sumul Manish Bhatt told, "This is the only high fat milk brand in the country.

We have been selling about 10,000 liters of high fat milk per day in the city and it is expected to double in the next few days."

In a recent study conducted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in Gujarat, about 89 per cent of the state's milk samples were not conforming to standards. The highest number of non-conforming milk samples that were collected from urban areas in India as from Gujarat cities.

For instance in Gujarat, 75 of the 89 milk samples that were collected from cities were found lacking the desired Solid Not Fat (SNF) and fat content.

This was due to the dilution of milk with water and other adulterants which could be neutralizers, hydrogen peroxide, sugar, starch, urea, salt, detergent, formalin and vegetable salt.

"The loose milk is not good for human health as it lacks SNF. SNF is one of the most essential components of milk that consists of vitamins, minerals and nutritional components. The price of the milk is based on its SNF and fat contents," Bhatt said.

Dairy & Ice-Cream News

6

Kwality Dairy takes on cloud route

D

airy and dairy products company Kwality Dairy India is taking the cloud computing route to improve its operational efficiencies and productivity as it eyes the global markets.

Kwality Dairy India (KDIL) has one of the largest milk procurement operations in North

efficiencies. “Currently, KDIL processes about 1.7 million litres of milk per day, making it one of the largest milk procurement operations in Northern India.

Our long term vision is to become a global milk and milk products company and to achieve this goal, we have to

India. The Dairy has been facing challenges in managing its cash operating cycle effectively and wanted to streamline business processes and improve efficiency across various operations to deliver quality products. KDIL was previously using non-integrated solutions, which did not help address the business issues and further impacted operational

integrate our operations and improve business efficiency,� said Sanjay Dhingra , Chairman & Managing Director, Kwality Dairy (India) Limited.

The company has chosen IBM's SmartCloud SAP Express Dairy Solution, one of the first such deployments in the Indian dairy industry. This will help KDIL build a more integrated operations system and address

challenges related to milk procurement and payment, production, and fat and SNF (solid not fat) accounting, among others processes.

For example, the solution helps with forecast demand more accurately, generate more efficient production schedules, and see manufacturing processes with greater clarity—which are critical in ever-changing quantity and quality of the nonstandardized and perishable raw materials.

As the solution will be based on IBM SmartCloud, it will provide KDIL with a pay-as-you-go model, and the flexibility and scalability required to manage a growing set of requirements.

IBM will help KDIL develop foundational business intelligence and reporting capabilities while processing efficiencies through inbuilt industry practices.

India is the largest milk producing country in the world, with an estimated annual milk production of over 120 million tonne, which is expected to reach 190 million tonne in 2015.

However, the Indian diary industry is largely fragmented and presents unique challenges in terms of procurement as well as distribution. Hence, the diary companies in India need to build an operation which is flexible and agile, yet cost effective.

SAP Express for Dairy is prepackaged software and services to help midsize dairy companies improve operational efficiency.

IDFC Alternatives invests Rs 155 cr in Parag Milk Foods

I

n an effort to pick up "substantial minority stake" in Pune-based Parag Milk Foods Private Limited, IDFC Private Equity Fund III, managed and advised by the Private Equity (PE) group of IDFC Alternatives Limited has invested Rs 155 crore through compulsory convertible debentures.

The erstwhile IDFC Private Equity

for Rs 155 crore, we hope to acquire substantial minority stake in next 34 years depending on Parag Milk Foods' performance. Parag Milk has created strong pan-India brands and has strengths across procurement, processing and distribution which are unique among private sector dairy companies," said Girish Nadkarni,

is eyeing a 25% internal rate of return (IRR) from the investment which is its second in rural infrastructure and first in the dairy sector. "Having invested in compulsory convertible debentures

partner at IDFC Alternatives.

Parag is one of the leading private dairy companies in India and markets its products under the 'Gowardhan', 'GO' and 'Pride of Cows' brands. The company, with

products made from 100% cow milk, has a strong market leading position in cheese and ghee with many leading pizza chains as its customers. Parag recently launched its UHT milk product under the 'GO' brand.

The proceeds from this deal will be used to build capacities in various product lines, strengthen its procurement infrastructure and provide a part exit to existing investors, Motilal Oswal Private Equity who invested in the company in 2008.

The company processes close to 1.1 million litres of milk per day across its two plants in Manchar near Pune and Palamner in Andhra Pradesh.

Parag has the largest cheese plant in Asia with a capacity of 40 tonnes per day. Parag has achieved a turnover of around Rs 880 crore for FY12, a 40% jump from the previous year.

Meanwhile, Nadkarni said that IDFC Alternatives in near future would be looking at investing in other verticals of rural infrastructure like warehousing, micro irrigation and agro distribution. "We would be interested to invest in anything in rural infrastructure which will improve productivity," he added.

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Indian Cafe Market to be $410 million industry by 2017: Technopak Management consultancy firm Technopak in its recent report on "Indian Cafe Market" said the $230 million cafe market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14% over the next five years to be a $410 million industry by 2017.

Consistent growth of consuming class and increasing timepressured consumer is giving way to convenience-based option, primarily driving the growth of cafes. The market witnessed high growth driven by an addition of 1,250 stores over last 5 years, it observes.

Organised market contributes near 15% to the total food service market in India. Of the $14 billion market in 2012, unorganised sector contributes $12 billion, Technopak says."Quick Service Restaurants would continue to absorb maximum share in

organised market in the next 5-7 years with sustained 50% share in the next 5-7 years," it says.

While Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) is the market leader in terms of retail footprint, international chains like Gloria Jean's, Costa Coffee and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf have a limited footprints in metro and mini metro cities.

Dunkin' Donuts is a recent most entrant, having launched its cafes in 2012, the report says.

Brands are experimenting with offerings of food and beverages and with other items such as desserts and bakery and bringing in customisation as per regional taste palates -- certain brands offer Idli in South while Vada Pao in West India and likewise, certain outlets serve only vegetarian items in pilgrim centers and offer breakfast for working

People 'tend to eat more if food is labelled as small'

D

iners eat more if food is labelled as "small" - even if the meal is actually bigger, a new study led by an Indian origin researcher has found.

For the test, researchers labelled same sized cookies either medium or large and asked people to eat as many as they liked.

They found that in a surprising act of self-delusion, the test subjects gorged on the biscuits that were labelled medium.

The scientists behind the study said that people are easily tricked as they trust the labels and not what they are eating.

Study author Aradhna Krishna from University of Michigan said that the research had huge implications, as

the test findings could be applied to clothing and drinks as well.

The marketing professor said that fizzy drinks varied in size from restaurant to restaurant but if people stuck to a "medium" sized food they could be getting more than they wanted.

"Just because there's a different size label attached to the same actual quantity of food, people eat more," the Daily Mail quoted her, as saying.

"But also, think they've not eaten as much," she said.

She said that over the last 60 years a "large" size had become six times the portions of the past, leading to the rising rates of obesity. (ANI)

Fast-food logos are 'branded' on young brains: study

S

cientists have discovered that kids love so much of junk food because the logos of fast-food companies have been "branded" on their young brains.

Researchers from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center found that MRI scans of children's appetite and pleasure centres revealed they light up when they are shown advertising images of their favourite fast foods.

However, when the logos were well-known brands but had nothing to do with food the same areas of the brain failed to respond, The Independent reported.

"Research has shown children are more likely to choose those foods with familiar logos," said Dr Amanda Bruce, who led the study.

"That is concerning because the majority of foods marketed to children are unhealthy, calorifically-dense foods high in sugars, fat, and sodium," Bruce added.

The study selected 120 popular

food and non-food brands.

Researchers used a type of MRI scanner - functional magnetic resonance imaging - which homes in on changes in blood flow: when areas of the brain become more active, blood flow increases.

Scans were carried out on children aged 10 to 14 as they were exposed to 60 food and 60 non-food logos.

The results showed the food logos triggered increased activity in areas of the brain known to be involved in reward processing and in driving and controlling appetite.

"The theory is the increase in risktaking behaviour in adolescence is attributed to uneven development in brain regions associated with cognitive control and emotional drive," Bruce was quoted as saying by the paper.

"The brains of children are 'imprinted' with food logos.

Without the necessary inhibitory processes to aid in decisionmaking, youth are particularly susceptible to making poor choices about what to eat," Bruce said.

News

7

Who says the corner store will go?

I

t's 9 p.m. and I am struggling with a particularly knotty article when the wife calls. I explain my precarious deadline to her. It cuts no ice. Never mind, she says, but there's no cereal for the kids breakfast tomorrow; pick up a pack of cornflakes or honey drops on your way, she hangs up. So much for that game changer article for tomorrow!

Unlikely to make it to any store before they shut down by ten, in desperation I call my local annachi kadai (neighbourhood store). By the time I reach home, there's a large pack of cornflakes waiting for me with the watchman.

I'm sure this scene is being played out in hundreds of homes in our cities. The corner store coming to the rescue. Home delivery, monthly credit, exchange stuff, return it, spoilt coconut, get a fresh one…why, once when I didn't have money to pay the vegetable vendor, I even borrowed money on the tab! They are already into biometrics — your face is your password to credit.

The small picture

In all this debate over the big picture, big retail et al, I thought I should look at the small picture, at our own shopping habits. After all, one is a microcosm of the great Indian shopper. So, I asked the wife how she likes to shop. Rice, dals and such stuff come in bulk from a local mom-pop-andseveral-children store which delivers at the drop of a hat.

For the better quality rajma,

sooji, there's the local Nilgiris.

And, in-between is the local grocer for all the branded stuff — from toothpaste and soap to breads and biscuits.

And, come to think of it. He's not so 'local' any more. The stores in the area where I live, not to mention in most other parts of the city, have got their act together. They stock a bewildering variety of stuff now.

Mayonnaise? He's got it.

Peanut butter and cheese spreads in different flavours, yes. Why, he's even got knickknacks that no big retail stocks — from scissors to trim moustaches to those racquets to whack mosquitoes like shuttlecocks.

Nor has our local store been cowed down by Indian-owned big box retail. The local More outlet closed down, there's a Spencer's round the corner, a Nilgiris across the road, not to mention other sundry supermarkets. But the local store does roaring business. With a number of schools in the vicinity, it stocks confectionery for 50 paise to a variety of stationery.

Buy, and stock where?

A straw poll of the womenfolk in the office shows that they can't do without the local kirana even though many make forays to a Big Bazar now and then and stock up in bulk. I did that once, coming home triumphantly with six packs of toilet cleaners as I got them on an offer.

The wife gave short shrift to it with an icy, “And, where will I keep it?” So, if one has to sally

forth and buy lots at big retail because prices are better, remember to buy some stocking space as well.

Given the size of most Indian homes, can they really buy and stock in bulk? A question to ponder.

So, if foreign big retail come, where will they set up shop?

Most cities are squeezed for space; so it will have to be on the outskirts. Our roads are going to be even more gridlocked with more new cars hitting the roads.

Given that the price of petrol is going to be always on the way up, I wouldn't fancy driving anywhere when the cost of petrol will outweigh whatever gains you make on discounted shopping.

So, it's the local kiranas and the corner stores that will continue to thrive.

The doyen of advertising, the late Mani Ayer, said that India operates on many levels and you can market to each level differently.

So too with shopping, I guess; there will be shoppers for each level of market.

But, don't ignore pester power.

My kids don't fancy the local store. For them it's the large airconditioned stores where they can go berserk in the aisles, raiding the shelves for all manner of stuff one doesn't need and emptying out pockets.

An interesting retail future beckons.

(This article was published on October 5, 2012, The Hindu Business Line)

Extended winter likely to hit walnut output in India, says USDA Walnut production in India is expected to decline by 12.5 per cent to 35,000 tonnes (in shell basis) due to extended winter in Kashmir during the peak flowering period from April to May, says a USDA report.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a report said that the recent rain in the Kashmir valley will not affect output, but it may have some impact on quality.

“Indian walnut production is expected to reach 35,000 tonnes (in shell basis) in marketing year 2012-13 (August-July), down 12.5 per cent from previous year,” the USDA said.

The typical harvesting season extends from August through September, but this year will carry into the first week of October with market arrivals peaking later in the month, it added. In India, walnuts are generally grown in rocky terrains of Jammu and Kashmir and to a lesser extent in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and North eastern India.

Walnut consumption in marketing year 2011-12 is estimated to have reached 22,000 tonnes with about 32 per cent of the domestic production dedicated to the export market, it said.

“Assuming normal market conditions, walnut consumption is expected to grow to 25,000 tonnes in the current marketing year. About 40 to 50 per cent of Indian walnut production is consumed domestically of which nearly half is consumed during the festive season (September-January), it added.

An estimated 10 per cent of domestic consumption goes to the bakery, confectionery and ice-cream industries, the USDA said. Roughly 3 to 4 per cent of walnuts (typically lower quality nuts) are used for oil extraction by soap and cosmetic manufacturers, it added.

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Confectionery News

8

Hershey's goes for the kill People prefer chocolates over traditional mawa

T

he American confectioner has finally paved the way for the launch of its brands by buying out Godrej from its

India joint venture.

But the company will have to differentiate itself in a market that has well-entrenched players like its nemesis Kraft, American chocolate maker Hershey's has struggled to find its foothold in India, despite being around for five years. Kraft, too, which is the second-largest foods company in the world after Nestle, struggled for almost a decade before finally settling for a $19.7-billion deal to acquire Cadbury in 2010. The acquisition ensured Kraft got the much-needed gateway to India — something it had been seeking for long. Hershey's has also found a way out in an effort to ramp up its presence in the country — by simply opting to buy out the balance 49 per cent stake in its five-year-old joint venture with the Godrej Group.

This way it has full control of operations in the country securing its presence in a market it considers key. J P Bilbrey, president & chief executive officer, The Hershey Company, had said at the time of the announcement to buy out the 49 per cent stake in GodrejHershey's, “India is a key focus market for the Hershey Company.

Our partnership with Godrej provided us with the insights and understanding of consumers and customers in India.”

Mathew Lindsay, managing director, Hershey India, had said, “With this new phase of the Hershey business in India, we aim to drive growth in this important market through product innovation, brand building and investment in our people and processes.”

But while Kraft and Hershey's were united in their struggle to find their feet in a market they considered key, their roadmaps to grow here will be different. Kraft has used the strengths of Cadbury to relaunch brands such as Oreo, Tang and Toblerone - all of them different products - one a cookie, the other, a powdered beverage, and the third, a premium chocolate.

In chocolates, it calls the shots with a 70 per cent share of the market. In confectionary, it has a decent presence in a market that is fairly fragmented.

Hershey's then, say experts, will have to differentiate itself, if it has to grab share especially in chocolates - a Rs 3,000-crore market in India. Bilbrey had added at the time of the stake-buy

announcement, “Confectionery and beverage category growth in India is solid and we're excited about our opportunities. We'll make the necessary investments in India to accelerate growth, leveraging our core strengths and business model.”

But is it as easy as it seems? In confectionary, Hershey's has Indian brands such as Nutrine and Maha Lacto, which according to persons in the know, contributes over half of the nearly Rs 400crore turnover of the joint-venture company, which will soon be rechristened Hershey India. The balance comes from brands such as Jumpin and Sofit. But persons in the know say they are not very large, though brands such as Sofit, which is a soya-milk drink, shows enormous potential in a market that is increasingly opting for healthier options. Jumpin, on the other hand, competes in the juice-drink space dominated by the likes of Frooti, Maaza, Slice etc. This market is not easy to crack given the presence of wellentrenched players.

The only product from the Hershey's stable that was part of the JV was Hershey's Syrup, which is a niche product.

A mail sent to Lindsay seeking replies to how the company's proposed to move now that it had full control of operations in India, elicited no response till the time of going to press.

But persons in the know say that Hershey's focus will be on chocolates and confectionary.

Beverages will be its second priority and the company is likely to selectively invest in this area to step up its presence.

While there has been some speculation in the marketplace about the likely date of launch of Hershey's chocolates, market experts say that it is not likely to happen in this calendar year.

Brands such as Hershey's Chocolate, Kisses and Reese's may dot Indian shop shelves in the next calendar year, since the company unlike Kraft will have to build on distribution and supply-chain prior to launch. And this is likely to take time. Even Kraft took almost a year to integrate and roll out Oreo following the Cadbury acquisition in 2010.

Like Kraft, however, which did keep Indian tastes in mind when relaunching Oreo, even ensuring the name Cadbury figured on the biscuit pack to help consumers identify the product as coming from the same manufacturer that produced Cadbury chocolates, Hershey's too is likely to tweak with its chocolates to suit Indian tastes.

Traditionally American chocolates tend to be bitter than their European counterparts. And Indians thanks to Cadbury's have preferred sweeter rather than bitter chocolates. This is not likely to be lost on Hershey's.

A

midst fear of unscrupulous traders adulterating mawa during the festive season,

adulterated and high-priced traditional sweets available in the market," said D S Rawat, ASSOCHAM secretary general

of spurious mawa increases as some traders push in adulterated products in the market just to make a few bucks more. Though the practices have been largely foiled after raids but it has dented the reputation and business of sweets houses. Riding on these fears, the chocolate companies have captured the huge chunk of the sweet market.

"People are finding the dry fruits and cookies more appealing. Apart from fear of spurious mawa, long shelf-life of bakery products, chocolates and dry fruits also works in their favour. Sweets can be stored up to a week whereas chocolates and biscuits can be stored for months," said, Sunil Mittal of Kanha Sweets.

chocolates and dry fruits has emerged as a substitute of sweets.

From traditional ladoo and mithai, many people are now migrating to dry fruits, chocolates and bakery products.

A report released by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) on October 9 indicates that the demand for chocolate during festivals has received a big push.

"Ahead of the festival, the demand of chocolates has increased by 35% more than last year in urban areas due to rising awareness about

while releasing the chamber's analysis on trends.

These trends are evident in the markets too. All major shops in the town have altered their product list with more focus on bakery products, dry fruits and foreign and in-house made chocolates this year.

"Customer demands are clearly changing. People now demand more of dry fruits than going for mawa sweets. Shopkeepers have to keep those items which are in demand," said Rakesh Haritwan of Kanji sweets.

However, there are few mawa traders who claimed it to be negative publicity floated by the branded chocolate companies.

"Most of the shops in the city use in-house mawa for manufacturing of mithai. It has become a custom to malign sweet sellers in the name of spurious mawa," said Abhinav Kumar of Jodhpur Misthan Bhandar. He added, "There is no denying that some small shopkeepers are involved in such malpractices. But then there are shops which have maintained their quality since ages and are trustworthy."

During the festive season, the sale

Mango Bite' raids on Parle factories set to rock food industry India's food industry that was given numerous incentives in the last decade has come under the scanner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when it raided Parle Biscuits Pvt Ltd's factories to seize its branded Mango Bite candies with more than permissible levels of lactic acid.

The move is set to rock the industry which requires a new set of standards in keeping with new research findings on food preservants.

The FDA has seized candies in their factories amounting to more than Rs 2 crore from Raigadh, Nashik and Bhiwandi factories of Parle Biscuits last month and sent them for lab testing to confirm the “excessive levels” of lactic acid as alleged.

Based on the lab report, the authorities are planning to file cases against the country's one of the top candy-makers and erstwhile owners of Thums Up which they had sold to Coca Cola in the 1980s, in one of the industry's first sell outs to an MNC. The seizure is set to destablize the food-processing industry which is huge and fast-growing in India.

Currently, the market size of confectionery in India is estimated at $1.1 billion, growing at the rate of 11.9 percent per annum. It is estimated to grow up to $2 billion by 2014 by Datamonitor in its 2010 report.

Arup Chauhan, MD of Parle Products, said: “The goods from some of the factories have been seized, but we have not yet got any further instructions from the FDA.” Assistant food inspector (FDA headquarters, Mumbai) K V Sankhe said the product, though positioned

categorized as sugar-boiled confectionary, has excessive amounts of lactic acid amounting to recall of the product from several places last month. Parle has denied that the product was recalled but said lactic acid was not harmful and used by confectionaries all over the

world.

Lactic acid is used as foodpreservant and its mild acidic taste gives it sour flavour. It is nonvolatile odorless and is classified under GRAS (generally regarded as safe) by FDA in the US. It is a very good preservative and pickling agent. Addition of lactic acid aqueous solution to the packaging of poultry and fish increases their shelf life. In India, its usage in food industry was allowed but within certain limits.

In fact, FICCI has asked for more clarity on the issue two years ago.

Since there is variation in certain standards which are conflicting and contradictory, industries use varied levels of acidulants made from lactic acid. For instance, usage of Acidulants in chewing gum and bubble gum was omitted from main ingredients list and put in a different Table (13)(G).

However, regulation 3.1.12 allows different limits of acidulants for “miscellaneous foods”. In new table 13(G) L(+)Lactic acid is not incorporated, while in regulation 3.1.12 L(+) lactic acid is allowed “as an Acidulant in miscellaneous foods” at GMP level and Miscellaneous food is not specifically defined still, says the a FICCI report on the industry.

As both the above rules contradicts each other, a FICCI report sought more clarification on the ingredient's use in different products.

The use of lactic acid (chiefly found in milk products) was banned in foodstuff after a court verdict found it not good for consumption for its tooth decaying side effects but has been allowed under India's new Food Safety & Standard Act of 2006.

In the United States, the US FDA allowed it as an ingredient in food with no limitation other than current good manufacturing practice and is categorized it as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) as a direct human food ingredient is based upon its use: (1) as an antimicrobial agent; a curing and pickling agent; a flavor enhancer; a flavoring agent and adjuvant; a pH control agent and a solvent.

(2) The ingredient is used in food, except in infant foods and infant formulas, at levels not to exceed current good manufacturing practice.

The raids by India's FDA will provide an in-depth study of the safety usage of lactic acid in candies which are meant for children and elders alike.

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Confectionery News

9

Indian Cocoa Sector Rough Road Ahead D umping by foul means by unscrupulous Chinese operators, operating crossborder also from Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia, engage in manipulative and unfair trade practises by pushing not only low grade and poor quality products on unsuspecting Indians, but also manipulating their own export agencies to provide them with incentives to do so in terms of cash support as well as misdeclarations about the quality and origins of their products and wrongly enjoying massive duty concessions to gain windfall profits.

Lacklustre monitoring and misplaced policies of Indian government adds to the hidden miseries of unsuspecting Indian consumers and industry. On one hand, WHO specified CODEX specifications are over looked while allowing low grade and contaminated imports of such products into India. On the other hand, government provides a discount of 50-65 per cent by means of import duties concessions on such products. The foreign traders and exporters lure Indian consumers by misusing the AIFTA treaty, a free trade treaty between India and ASEAN countries, meant to boost

exports from India, by pretending and obtaining false origin certificates certifying goods are of ASEAN origin whereas in fact those goods are from Africa or other non-ASEAN origins, without adding the required value to such goods, and by restrictive trade practices forbidden by such treaties as well as WTO. Malaysia-based operators, hell bent on destroying Indian industries and unduly influence Indian consumers, are systematically destroying Indian processors by selling cheap cocoa by-products on one hand and exploiting the concessions of duties on the other hand. They are exporting 95 per cent of total cocoa produced even though not much of Cocoa fruit is available in Malaysia (99 per cent of all cocoa fruit is imported from Africa for crushing).

They only have 1 per cent local fruit and 99 per cent imported cocoa beans, paying absolutely no imports duty, and adding no significant values either. E.g. if cocoa beans are available from Africa at $ 2500/mt, they make an all inclusive processing margin (labour, overheads, costs and profits) of a mere $ 250! So one wonders how even after processing locally with imported beans of cocoa, they are

Cadbury expands its Oreo portfolio in India

C

adbury India, part of Kraft Foods, has expanded its Oreo portfolio in India with the launch of a new flavour of the biscuit, Oreo Choco Crème.

Cadbury had launched the brand of

India said that with the launch of Oreo Choco Crème, the company aims to further strengthen Oreo's brand equity and expand the reach.

“There is tremendous opportunity in the Indian biscuit market, especially

biscuits last year in the classic vanilla crème flavour. The new variant will be available in two SKU's- Rs. 15 for a 6 unit slug pack of 58.8 gm and Rs. 30 for a 12 unit slug pack of 117.6 gm, across all retail outlets pan India.

in the chocolate cream segment.

Indians love the chocolate flavour, which is the single largest cream flavour in the Indian market with a share of 45 per cent of the cream segment fact. 44 per cent of Indian households are sole chocolate cream consumers. I believe that with the brand equity of Oreo established, the launch of Oreo Choco Crème will drive further growth for the brand in India. Oreo Choco Crème will be our second pillar that will drive the success of this brand among Indian consumers.”

Cadbury will be using the 'Family togetherness' proposition to attract consumers and will be following a 360 degree communications campaign.

Speaking on the launch, Chandramouli Venkatesan, Director – Snacking & Strategy, Cadbury

Court allows Glaxo SmithKline to market Nutribic

I

n a setback for Britannia Industries, the Madras High Court allowed GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) to restart marketing and distribution of Horlicks Nutribic biscuits in the market with immediate effect.

Last month, Britannia filed a suit in the Madras High Court alleging that GSK's Horlicks Nutribic biscuit was a copy of its NutriChoice Oats biscuit. GSK had launched Horlicks Nutribic in Chennai on August 20.

Britannia argued before the court that Horlicks Nutribic had adopted similar packaging style and colour scheme to ride on the reputation built by the company for over 13 years for its NutriChoice brand. It

said GSKCH had also infringed on its registered trademark Nutribix.

The court then restrained GSK from using the Nutribic trade name, but has now vacated the stay. The case, however, has not been dismissed.

In response to judgment, GSKCH said the company valued ethical and responsible business conduct and was deeply committed to compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. "GSKCH adopted Horlicks Nutribic mark honestly and the registration of Britannia's Nutribix since 1999 without any bonafide use for the last 13 years could not prevent any person from using any similar mark (like Nutribic)," it said in a statement.

giving tough competition to processors in India and elsewhere in the world.

According to the Indian processors the quality of imported cocoa from Malaysia is very poor and due to treaty with India they are able to send it to India with no additional cost while on the other hand geographically Malaysia is not far from Southern coasts of India.

Another Cococa processors says “it takes very less time and logistics cost if they import cocoa from Malaysia to South India on the other hand Cocoa by-product takes equal time if we bring them from other parts of India”. Although such low value does not merit any

concessions, such exporters allegedly manipulate data and their certifying agencies to comply, in order to obtain such major concessions; and certifying agencies

turn a blind eye to promote their brethren, obviously for fees.

Indian processors also say the import duty on Cocoa beans in Malaysia is 0 per cent; however the same is 30 per cent in India. So the local processors have no standing competition with the cocoa coming from Malaysia as they enjoy 50-65 per cent advantage over domestic industries, forcing some of the big processors to turn importers of products instead. Paradoxically India has only 10-15 per cent duty on cocoa products imports from ASEAN countries and Malaysian importer have found this loophole in the system thereby exporting low quality cocoa product with only 1015 per cent import duty to India and making huge profit margins along with their counter parts in India.

This has not only resulted into damaging for local processors but also harmful for Indian consumers.

Malaysian processors are also not following norms set by CODEX for food safety.

Further miseries are added by similar operators from Indonesia, except with one twist; they grow the cocoa fruits, of much lower quality than India, but the Indonesian exporters have successfully lobbied with their government to levy upto

15 per cent export tax on cocoa fruits. This makes exports of cocoa fruits outside Indonesia impossible.

India's processing capacity of 86,000 tons of Cocoa Beans is under threat from Countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

According to a Malaysian exporter, Malaysia produces only around 5,000 T of beans grown locally and rest of the 390,000 T beans are imported from Africa. The total Output of Malaysian Cocoa products is about 400,000T i.e. approximately 1 per cent local fruit and 99 per cent imported beans from African countries. Indonesia on the other hand will not sell its cocoa fruits to the world, but instead enjoy benefits for concessional exports from its domestic industries.

So now is the right time for the government to increase cocoa production to meet the rising demand from the 15-billion-rupee chocolate industry and to cut dependency on imports of low quality cheap cocoa coming from imports. This will not only help India in saving foreign exchange but also provide guarantied buyers for farmers, brighter future for processors and good quality products for consumers.

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012 Times-Sep-I-2012

Health

10

Global Health Group Identifies Alarming Trend in Childhood Obesity Conversation

T

he Indian food industry is today one of the fastest growing industry and has made a place for itself in the international stature. But to be the best the Indian food processing industry has to be very intellectually involved with the food safety aspect. I personally believe that if the food regulations rules are followed as per given than no one can stop the Indian food industry to reach the zenith.

Unfortunately recently India’s food industry that was given numerous incentives in the last decade has come under the scanner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A big company like Parle is under the scrutiny of FDA. As a matter of fact The Food and Drug Administration has asked Parle to recall its popular candy product — Mango Bite — owing to irregularities in the presence of lactic acid in the candy after raids conducted on its factories in Maharashtra's Nasik, Raigad and Bhiwandi factories. The FDA has seized candies in their factories amounting to more than Rs 2 crore and sent them for lab testing to confirm the “excessive levels” of lactic acid as alleged. Based on the lab report, the authorities are planning to file cases against the country’s one of the top candymakers.

Candies all across the world use lactic acid to keep the sweets from sticking. In India, there are some issues with the amount of lactic acid to be used in a product but then that does mean that full-size company like Parle needed to exceed the given content of lactic acid.

Lactic acid is used as food-preservant and its mild acidic taste gives it sour flavor. It is non-volatile odorless and is classified under GRAS (generally regarded as safe) by FDA in the US. It is a very good preservative and pickling agent. Addition of lactic acid aqueous solution to the packaging of poultry and fish increases their shelf life. In India, its usage in food industry is allowed but within certain limits. And according to FDA, Parle exceeded that limit.

In fact, FICCI had asked for more clarity on the issue two years ago.

Since there is variation in certain standards which are conflicting and contradictory, industries use varied levels of acidulants made from lactic acid. The use of lactic acid (chiefly found in milk products) was banned in foodstuff after a court verdict found it not good for consumption for its tooth decaying side effects but has been allowed under India’s new Food Safety & Standard Act of 2006.

Anyhow some experts of the food industry are quite troubled by this development and believe that this seizure is set to destabilize the food-processing industry which is huge and fast-growing in India.

Currently, the market size of confectionery in India is estimated at $1.1 billion, growing at the rate of 11.9 percent per annum. It is estimated to grow up to $2 billion by 2014 by Data monitor in its 2010 report.

Validating its point Parle says that in the United States, the US FDA allowed it as an ingredient in food with no limitation other than current good manufacturing practice and is categorized it as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) as a direct human food ingredient is based upon the facts that – lactic acid acts as an antimicrobial agent; a curing and pickling agent; a flavor enhancer; a flavoring agent and adjuvant; a pH control agent and a solvent. It can also be used as food ingredient, except in infant foods and infant formulas, at levels not to exceed current good manufacturing practice.

The raids by India’s FDA will provide an in-depth study of the safety usage of lactic acid in candies which are meant for children and elders alike. The FDA people think the product, though positioned categorized as sugar-boiled confectionary, has excessive amounts of lactic acid amounting to recall of the product from several places last month. Thus they had asked the company to recall ‘Parle Kaccha Mango Bite' from the market, since it contained lactic acid which is prohibited.

Biscuits major Parle Products alleged that FDA has asked it to recall the stock of its popular candy ‘Parle Kaccha Mango Bite’ and not ‘Mango Bite' as was reported in a section of media. As a line of course Parle Biscuits has asked the FDA for more information regarding the test results that are being carried out on the candy, and is awaiting the results.

The company in its fight adds that lactic acid is widely used in several food items of daily consumption including curd, paneer, bread and milk powder, tomato ketchup, garlic paste and of course they are fully co-operating with the authorities in this regard.

Hopefully all works out in the right line and this conflict does not affect the enhancement of the food industry as well does not relent on the image of an old and giant company like Parle.

GLOBALHealthPR IHSMS 2.0 Initiative Reveals Opportunities for Healthcare Providers, Communicators, Industry and Public Health Advocates to Shift Dialogue Related to Global Health Crisis

he online dialogue about childhood obesity falls surprisingly short considering its prevalence, according to a recent research initiative by GLOBALHealthPR. IHSMS, in its second year, is a calculated, cross-cultural social media listening approach that focuses on different public health issues across the globe. This year, the IHSMS analysts discovered that while childhood obesity is a global problem, it's not exactly a global conversation. Today, GLOBALHealthPR, the largest independent public relations organisation dedicated exclusively to health and scientific communications worldwide, released an infographic on the shortcomings of the childhood obesity conversation online.

GLOBALHealthPR, which is represented in India by the integrated services health communications firm MediaMedic, revealed that while one in 10 children worldwide is obese, there were only 15,189 online conversations in one month –one per 23,440 obese children.

Also, GLOBALHealthPR analysts uncovered that while obesity rates of many nations are quite comparable, the bulk of conversation still occurs in the U.S. Included below are key insights revealed through the

Listening has shown that there is huge opportunity for growth with respect to the childhood obesity conversation.

Opportunity begins with simple steps, such as parents, health care providers and school leadership collaborating more closely within online communities, as well as engaging with outside online influencers to share how their fitness and nutrition initiatives are succeeding.

In many regions, particularly within South America, almost no conversation about childhood obesity exists, despite its rise in prevalence. In these areas, there is an opportunity to develop this conversation, driving awareness and helping to prevent childhood obesity from becoming as widespread as it is in the United States.

In India, the conversations were few, and parents think the child to be a 'healthy child'.

Educational content is not reaching families who need the guidance, accounting for this considerable gap in the level of conversation versus the incidence of this condition.

“While levels of childhood obesity are rising worldwide, the levels of conversation around this disease are not sufficient to effect change,” said Anthony LaFauce, Director of Digital Strategy for GLOBALHealthPR U.S. “In India, with the booming economy, advent of fast food & working parents, children are increasingly taking decisions about their food patterns and eating habits are changing rapidly.

The younger generation is quite prone to obesity, but the awareness levels are very low – clearly seen as a result of the study” said Dinesh Chindarkar,

IHSMS 2.0 initiative: Given that child obesity is a preventable but widespread condition, GLOBALHealthPR analysts were surprised to find that the levels of conversation around prevention and treatment are extremely low, compared to less common diseases with few or no treatment options. For example, leukemia is connected with 7,813 times as many conversations as childhood obesity, despite the fact that leukemia affects fewer people per capita and is not preventable.

VP – Operations at MediaMedic Communications who lead the Indian social media study. “There is an opportunity for child nutrition products to use social media to increase targeted education and awareness around childhood obesity & give healthier solutions while engaging them.

The IHSMS 2.0 team employed the Social Framework™, GLOBALHealthPR's online listening, evaluation and strategy development methodology, and took a one-month survey of seven

T

Dr.Joseph Lewis

countries across the globe. The group looked at how the digital conversation around child obesity stacked up in Argentina, Australia, India, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Mexico and the U.S. The new infographic is available online and can be embedded on other sites with credit to GLOBALHealthPR. About IHSMS In 2011, during the first International Healthcare Social Media Summit, GLOBALHealthPR convened to present data and reveal insight from a global listening program which spanned 15 countries, assessing the impact and conversation around malaria. The Social Framework™ revealed insights into how malaria is discussed across the globe in the online space and illuminated opportunities for reaching target audiences in an impactful way.

One of the key takeaways was that higher prevalence markets view the contraction of malaria similar to the contraction of the common cold, whereas in low prevalence markets, the conversation is focused on disease epidemiology and science. This year, the program has evolved to IHSMS 2.0, which focuses on a semi-annual study of highly relevant public health issues such as childhood obesity, diabetes and AIDS. GLOBALHealthPR GLOBALHealthPR, founded in 2001, is committed to serving health and life science clients that span the globe. Its dynamic world-wide partnership provides best-in-class communications results by combining global expertise with targeted local

market insight. An independent, hands-on approach differentiates its partner firms and enables delivery of smart, strategic programs that effectively meet the needs of clients. The network is represented by independent agencies in 16 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S. The organisation is headquartered in Washington, D.C., at Spectrum.

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Health

11

Riding the waves of consumer preferences is key to success: BENEO W

ith the World Health Organisation (WHO) citing childhood obesity as one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century, is it any wonder that

recently by BENEO which shows that consumers, no matter their nationality, expect prolonged and balanced energy as well as mental performance enhancement from their

more and more food producers are looking at repositioning existing brands to make the most of the rising wave of consumer health consciousness? Koen van Praet, Managing Director at BENEO Asia Pacific looks at the some of the success stories of 2011 and discusses the growing impact of ingredients that provide added-value to food and beverages.

functional beverages. BENEO's quantitative research, which was carried out across Germany, the UK and the US, shows only slight differences in priorities across the beverage sectors, with the over-riding message that functional beverages need to deliver new forms of energy provision and mental performance if they are to prove successful in the long-term.

New functional carbohydrates, such as BENEO's Palatinose™ (isomaltulose), help manufacturers to respond to increasingly demanding consumer requirements for more nutritional benefits in their beverages. Palatinose™ provides the human body with full carbohydrate energy in the form

Following the 'big boys' A look at some of the largestgrossing global drinks brands reflects the importance of responsiveness to changing consumer preferences.

According to BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2011, “Diet Coke surpassed Pepsi as the No. 2 soft drink brand in market share”, (with Coca Cola in first position), which reflects the ongoing preference for low sugar products in the face of global health and obesity concerns. Commenting within the same report, David Seabrook, Client Director at Mindshare noted: “The most interesting thing going on in the [drinks] category at the moment is the growth of drinks that are there for specific needs or functions, so for example the launch of Gatorade products, the launch of the vitamin waters, the launch of more and more energy drinks.”

Low GI energy in beverages This is backed up by more targeted research carried out

of glucose, the essential energy source of mental and physical performance. It does this in a balanced way, ensuring a low effect on blood glucose levels, whilst providing the consumer

with energy over a longer period of time. Palatinose™ can thus be regarded as a carbohydrate that provides “smart energy”.

Derived from beet sugar and as the first fully digestible sugar which is truly kind to teeth, it is processed like sucrose and is therefore suitable for a wide variety of beverages including sports and energy drinks, dairy drinks, tea, beer, and instant drinks.

Reducing calories in bakery It isn't only the drinks category that is experiencing moving consumer thirst for all things healthy; the bakery and cereals categories are also seeing a rising demand for products which deliver health and nutritional

benefits. Health is within the top two trends for new product launches across the entire bakery category.

BENEO's sugar replacer ISOMALT is ideal in bakery and cereal products, as baked products with the sugar replacer have the same taste, body, colour, pore size distribution and fluffy consistency as if sugar were used but can be claimed “sugar reduced”, “calorie reduced” or “no sugar added”. Being the only sugar replacer derived from pure sugar beet it has a comparable sweetness profile as sugar as well as a sugar-like taste. As a bulk sweetener with a milder sweetening, it replaces sugar in a 1:1 mass ratio but is low calorie and very low glyceamic. The variant ISOMALT ST also offers food producers the opportunity of creating crispy, biscuits which are even crispier than a similar product that uses sugar because of its low solubility. It can be used in hard baked goods while BENEO's ISOMALT GS can provide the same technological benefits when used in soft baked goods.

With its clean, sweet taste, BENEO's Orafti® oligofructose acts as a natural sugar replacer.

It has 30% of the sweetness potential of sucrose but far fewer calories. While sugar contains 4kcal/g, oligofructose contains 2kcal/g, which is ideal for reduced calorie or sugar-reduced confectionery, baked goods or cereals. With its good binding properties, moisture retention and additional fibre and prebiotic properties, Orafti® oligofructose is a highly attractive alternative to sugar in a wide range of baked and cereal products. Also, there is increasing scientific evidence to suggest that Orafti® oligofructose, as a single ingredient, has the potential to decrease energy intake providing substantial advantages for

manufacturers wishing to formulate food and beverages that can help the Indian population to manage their caloric intake in an efficient way.

Wholegrain benefits in cereals These days, wholegrain is the exception rather than the rule.

Food and drink producers alike are increasingly having to find innovative ways of combining consumers' desires for the health benefits of 'wholegrain' products, with the taste and texture of refined ones. Well known as a wholesome cereal grain, a large proportion of the nutritious ingredients of rice can be found in its outer layers and the germ; the rice bran.

Rice bran contains the fibres, functional starches, proteins, minerals, vitamins and healthy plant-based fats necessary for the grain to develop. Thus it offers food producers a wide range of benefits, including optimised product stability and a high nutrient content. In addition to being hypoallergenic, wholegrain, gluten-free and rich in anti-oxidants and phytosterols, BENEO's rice bran RemyLiVe also improves the structure, shelf-life, texture and machinability of food products.

Key applications for BENEO's shelf stable rice bran include cereals and bars, baked goods and meat. In cereals it can allow wholegrain rice claims and enhances as well improved bowllife and crunchiness. If BENEO's RemyLiVe is combined with white rice flour at a ratio of approximately 12 percent, wholegrain products such as cereals and bakery goods can be manufactured with the appropriate nutritional profile.

As well as being able to make wholegrain claims, the addition of RemyLiVe to products has a wide range of technical benefits for consumers and producers alike. When added to cereals for example, RemyLiVe improves the product's bowl-life and crunchiness. The fibre and protein content in BENEO's rice bran increases the degree of hardness of the extruded end product, so cereals made from rice, wheat or maize stay crunchier for longer, whether in the pack or in the bowl. At the same time, cereals with RemyLiVe develop an even pore size and a smooth surface.

As consumer trends continue to push food and beverage producers to explore the opportunities presented by functional ingredients, new combinations of existing favourites are increasingly being created.

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Cashew Export Council seeks Rs 100 cr for modernisation

T

he Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI), a body under the Ministry of Commerce for promotion of cashew nut trade, has sought a manifold jump in the allocation of funds for mechanisation and automation of cashew processing units in the 12th plan period.The CEPCI, in a proposal sent to the ministry of commerce, has sought close to Rs 100 crore, a jump of 11 times over Rs 9 crore released for automation of the industry in the 11th plan period. The proposal is currently awaiting the approval from the Central government. “The CEPCI implemented the “Modernisation and Diversification”, scheme during the 11th plan period extending financial assistance to member exporters for up-grading and improving their processing and manufacturing facilities. We have submitted a proposal for process mechanisation and automation of cashew processing units, quality upgradation, food safety certifications and generic promotion of Indian cashews overseas during the 12th plan period,” Hari Krishnan R Nair, chairman, CEPCI said.

The modernisation of the cashew processing sector is essential in order to face overseas competition, he said in his address at the 57th annual general meeting of CEPCI. The Council had also requested the government to include cashew among the eligible items in the new Status Holders Incentive Scrip (SHIS) scheme to withstand competition. In the new scheme, he said, status holders in labour intensive sectors are eligible to use this scrip to import capital goods for upgradation of technology. Cashew is one of the most labour-intensive export sectors in the country, he said and added that cashew producing countries such as Vietnam and Brazil have modernised their industry with significant government support.

Referring to exports during 201112, he said the foreign exchange earned by the country through export of cashew kernels, cashewnut shell liquid and allied products was $928 million (Rs 4,450 crore). The country exported 131,760 tonnes of cashew kernels valued at Rs. 4,390.68 crore and 13,575 tonnes of cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) valued at Rs 59.46 crore.

This is an all-time record both in quantity and value terms. There was 24.59% increase in the quantity of cashew kernels exported during 2011-12 compared to that of 201011. Export to American Zone was 37%, European Zone 27%, West Asia and Africa 23%, South East and Far East Asia Zone 12% and Oceanic Zone 1% of the total exports. The USA, UAE, Netherlands and Japan were among major buyers of Indian cashew kernels.

As regards to production of raw cashew nuts, Nair pointed out that states such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have shown significant increase in productivity. However, it is declining or stagnating in Kerala, Odisha and Goa. Nair called upon the state Horticultural Departments of these states to make use of the resources available under the National Horticulture Mission (NHM) and give focus to cashew cultivation to replicate the success achieved in Maharashtra.

As per the estimate of Directorate of Cashew Nut and Coca Development in 2011-12, Maharashtra led the chart with production of 223,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 110,000 tonnes, Odisha with 97,000 tonnes, Kerala with 73,000 tonnes and Tamil Nadu with 68,000 tonnes.

The raw nut production was up 6% to 692,000 tonnes in 2011-12 compared to 653,000 tonnes in 2010-11.

Corporate News

12

Clean-In-Place Systems – Necessity in the Food Industry acid, and concluded by final rinsing with water to wipe out the residual chemical and food residue. Typical CIP temperature varies between 65°C to 85°C and typical cycle time varies between 10 mins to 20 mins, as per requirement.

Introduction Foods are natural media for growth of micro-organisms. The food processing equipment, therefore, demands frequent sanitization and cleaning to maintain hygienic conditions and prevent product spoilage. However, use of cleaning agents and detergents for scheduled repetitive cleaning of the equipment result in effluent discharge; and the consequent environmental hazards definitely cannot be overlooked.

Such requirement coupled with limitations has led to the advent of Clean-In-Place systems which have become a necessity in the food processing industry.

What is CIP? CIP stands for Clean-In-Place. CIP is a method of cleaning the interior product contact surfaces of pipes, vessels, process equipment and other associated fittings without disassembly. Cleaning liquids are circulated through the process pipe lines or sprayed over the internal surface of the equipment at required concentration, temperature and velocity for certain length of time. The parameters are specific to the nature of the foods and the design of the equipment.

What is the procedure for CIP? CIP involves various cycles like pre-rinsing with water to remove the superficial residue, followed by rigorous cleaning with alkali or

What are CIP systems?

Each equipment can be provided with an independent CIP module for a localized cleaning. Such local CIP setup involves dedicated tank for cleaning liquid, individual pump selected as per velocity requirement, separate heating system and devoted instrumentation. However, such localised modules involve high water usage, increased chemical usage, high energy consumption and excessive effluent volumes.

Advancement to these local CIP systems is the centralised Integrated Automated CIP stations. Such systems can perform the CIP of the entire process plant from one source; and the cycle sequence can be automated with PLC logic and the operator can conveniently control and monitor the CIP cycles from a single work station.

Advantages of CIP systems!

Centralised CIP systems are advantageous in reducing the consumption of water, chemicals, steam and power; eventually limiting the effluent discharge. In such systems partially soiled water can be re-used in the pre-rinse step; cleaning solutions can be re-used by dosing only the required amount of chemical to maintain the concentration; a single heating system with a set of pumps and instrumentation can sufficiently perform the CIP of the entire pipe line and process equipment.

Components of CIP System Typically, centralised CIP systems consist of multiple tanks for process water, pre-rinse water and cleaning liquids. Each CIP circuit consists of pumps, filters, heating

system and a set of instrumentation and control. The CIP solution is heated in heat exchanger provided with steam and condensate setup.

High capacity centrifugal supply pumps and self-priming centrifugal return pumps are provided to match the equipment CIP requirements.

For small scale plants flow diversion plates can be provided to select the equipment to be cleaned.

In large scale plants, which demand sophisticated automation, mix proof valves can be provided to isolate the CIP circuits from one other. The number of CIP circuits and the volume of the CIP tanks are decided depending on the plant area and the quantity of the equipment to be cleaned. All the CIP circuits can be controlled and monitored from a single workstation.

Automated CIP stations also enable logging of the CIP data for troubleshooting and analysis.

Conclusion Integrated centralised CIP modules have become a necessity in the Food Processing Industry including pulp, beverage, dairy, confectionery sectors and so on. The economics of the cleaning process in conjunction with plant sanitation and strict hygienic requirement cannot be neglected any more.

Food Safety standards like HACCP and ISO demand effective CIP procedures, to eliminate microbial contamination of the foods being processed, which might consequently lead to food poisoning at the consumers' end.

Eventually, the demand for properly designed and automated CIP systems is increasing by day; and installation of new stations or replacement of the older setup is no more an option that can be omitted.

Author Mr. T. K. Radhakrishnan DGM, SBU – Food Systems HRS Process Systems Ltd.

TajSats to provide food for Starbucks outlets in India

T

ajSATS Air Catering, India's largest provider of meals to domestic and international airlines, will be supplying the food that will be sold in Starbucks cafes to be operated by Tata Starbucks in India.

“The TajSATS team has done extensive market research working with the Tata Starbucks team to develop adequate capabilities for development of the popular range of Starbucks bakery and confectionery items and also in Indianising some of the flavours in food items to give it a local twist,” said a top Tata official familiar with the plans. The joint venture between Indian Hotels Company and Singapore's SATS a leader in airline catering and ground handling services in Asia, provides in-flight catering at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Amritsar, Goa and Bangalore airports.

It also manages airport lounges in Mumbai and Chennai and

runs two cake shops in Delhi under the Taj SATS – Cake & Bake brand and another four such shops in Chennai. “Twists in the menu for Tata Starbucks would include things like a cardamom flavour in desserts or Parsi style chicken cutlets for sandwiches,” said the top Tata official.

Ahead of the launch of the first Starbucks café in India late this month, the Tata group has moved a key global resource in charge of its ready to drink business at the UKheadquartered Tata Global Beverages as senior director (marketing) at Tata Starbucks, its 50:50 joint venture with the world's largest coffee chain.

Sushant Dash, global director at Tata Global Beverages, has been moved to Mumbai as senior director marketing and category (food and beverage) at Tata Starbucks to support Tata Starbucks CEO Avani Saglani Davda, who lacks prior experience in the food and

beverages business. Dash's mandate is to ensure the Indian venture beats the global Starbucks average of around a fifth of revenues from sale of food products, by having a higher contribution from its carefully selected food offerings.

While Davda was involved in the negotiations for formation of the joint venture, she has little line experience in the F&B business as she was the chief of staff in the office of RK Krishna Kumar vice-chairman at Indian Hotels Company and Tata Global Beverages. Dash on the other hand has a keen sense of the beverages business. The Tatas had earlier moved Sumit Zaveri, a former IHCL hand, as chief financial officer of Tata Starbucks. Zaveri brings in experience in the food and hospitality business helping round up the top management team at Tata Starbucks.

TAjSATS prepares cuisine in different styles such as Indian,

Peshawari, Oriental, Mexican, Arabian and Continental such as Avadhi, Chettinad, Thai, Chinese. It also sells Taj premium assorted chocolates, shahi mithai, fresh cream cakes, tea cakes and plum cakes.

Incidentally TajSATS also supplies Costa Coffee outlets in Mumbai and Delhi with a range of food options for the chains patrons.

Tata Starbucks is expected to open its first Starbucks in a Taj property in the shopping arcade of the iconic Taj Mahal Palace Colaba, Mumbai. “The area that was occupied by Ermenegildo Zegna will most likely be taken up Starbucks,” said a senior IHCL official. The first Starbucks store in India too is coming up this month, opposite Horniman Circle in a Tataowned stone façade building in the tony South Mumbai area of Fort.

Tata Starbucks had previously signed an agreement with Tata Coffee to locally source espresso

coffees for use in its proposed cafes in India and also some overseas markets. Towards this end, Tata Coffee set up a 375 tonne a year coffee roastery in Karnataka's Coorg region, which is billed as the Scotland of India.

The US giant Starbucks had in 2011 created a China and Asia Pacific division in its global structure signalling its focus on markets in Asia, which are home to two of the world's most populous countries. Starbucks has been trying to enter India for almost five years where it hopes to emulate its success in China which is forecast by 2014 to become the largest non US market the Seattle based chain operates in.

“The pricing for Tata Starbucks menu offerings in its café will be comparable to Costa Coffee and the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf upmarket cafes in India in keeping with the brand imagery of Starbucks,” said a top Tata official.

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

McDonald's potato supplier to double crop area in Gujarat

E

ven as Big Mac invests Rs 750 crore to open 250 new restaurants in the next three to five years in India, its potato supplier, McCain Foods India, plans to double the contract farming area for the tuber to 8,000 acres in Gujarat.

McDonald's alone will increase its potato procurement in Gujarat from 30,000 tonnes now to 50,000 tonnes in three years as a key ingredient for outlets across the country. Through its Canadian partner McCain, that supplies potato for French fries and other products, Big Mac has provided the latest technologies and new seeds, particularly the

Sheopody variety, to potato growers, mainly contract farmers, in Deesa (North Gujarat) and Kheda (Central Gujarat).

McCain, which set up its potato processing plant in Mehsana, Gujarat, in 2007, with an investment of about Rs 100 crore, is now increasing acreage for the tuber's contract farming. It had begun to contract potato farmers in 1998. At present, the company has contracted about 1,200 farmers over 4,000 acres in Gujarat to cultivate 'processed quality' potatoes. “Last year, we sourced 40,000 tonnes of processed quality potatoes from farmers,” Vikas Mittal, Managing Director, McCain Foods India, told.

Contract farming has increased the crop yield from 25-30 tonnes to 4050 tonnes per hectare.

The organised market size for snack foods in India is about Rs 3,000 crore per annum, and potato is a major ingredient in it. The market for processed potato products is growing at the rate of 15-20 per cent annually.

The Mehsana plant, which was

initially manufacturing the international range of McCain products, is now producing products tailored to local Indian tastes, including aaloo tikki, tandoori veg nuggets and chilli garlic potato bites.

Mr Mittal said prices are negotiated and mutually-agreed upon each year and the farmers are paid a remunerative price before they plant the seeds. The price depends on the seed price, the variety grown (yield factor), irrigation system used and regular potato price trends.

Besides upgrading the yield and quality of local potato varieties (Kufri Chandramukhi and Kufri

Chipsona-1), McCain's agronomy team has also introduced international potato varieties (Shepody, Santana and Kennebec) to Gujarat farmers for processing high quality French fries, he said.

Asked about the destruction of hundreds of tonnes of potato by farmers due to over-production a few months ago in North Gujarat, Mittal said McCain only works with contract farmers and takes the entire crop from them. They are protected from market fluctuations.

Moreover, McCain uses only “processed quality” potatoes, he added.

McCain Foods also plans to double its retail network to 9,000-10,000. It will increase its reach from 50 TierI and II cities to about 90 in three years.

Asked about exports, Mr Mittal said the McCain branded frozen products are becoming popular both in India and abroad. “We are exporting our 'Made in India' products to China, South-East Asia, the Middle East, the UK, the US and South Africa.”

Bengal receives Rs 500-cr investment proposals in food industry

T

he West Bengal Government has received investment proposals worth Rs 500 crore in the food processing industry over the past year.

“The State Government has investment proposals worth Rs 500 crore in the food processing sector, including proposals for setting up food parks,” State Minister for food processing industry, Ujjwal Biswas, told reporters.

INFRASTRUCTURE SUBSIDY He was inaugurating the three-day international food and hospitality exhibition, Foodtech India 2012, in the city. About 75 companies, including some international

brands, are participating in the exhibition.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING The minister said the Government would offer a subsidy of up to Rs 50 lakh to develop infrastructure for the bakery industry.

According to him, plans are on to kick-off an entrepreneurship training programme for the micro and small food processing enterprises.

“We are prepared to start this training in 100 blocks as a pilot project,” Biswas said.

Food Ingredients Corporate News

13

ITC takes on Britannia, Nestle to become the leader in FMCG sector

I

n August when ITC cornered a share of more than 28% in cream biscuits in urban India as per Nielsen data, it was a wake-up call for the largest cream biscuits maker Britannia.

Although Britannia did not share data with ET, numbers obtained from an industry official suggests that ITC may have nosed ahead of Britannia in this segment by roughly 1 percentage point, at least for the month of August. However, both ITC and Britannia declined to confirm this (Britannia did not respond to an email with questions on the threat from ITC).

Although a Nestle India spokesperson termed the initiative as a dealer engagement programme, a recent report by Kotak Institutional Equities said Nestle's discount scheme for Maggi is possibly the first in 1015 years.

Credit Suisse also points out that in salty snacks, ITC had gained a 15% market share in June with Bingo! potato chips, a business that has broken even in five years. PepsiCo is the leader in this business, and its spokesman said the company has strengthened its market position over the past year with the help

which 70% of the launches don't make the cut after the first two years. "ITC has shown the courage to launch multiple products in a year unlike most other FMCG companies that might launch at best 2-3 products annually," says Chawla.

ITC's decision to begin bottomup in FMCG may have worked in its favour. As Credit Suisse analyst Arnab Mitra says: "Unlike P&G, which starts with premium products and slowly moves down the pyramid, ITC has started at the bottom of the pyramid to build volumes in

Biscuits is just one fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) category in which the cigarette, hotel, paper and packaging giant has garnered scale and share.

Within foods, salty snacks and noodles are two categories in which ITC is making rapid gains; and, in personal care, the Kolkata-headquartered marketer is making headway with its shampoos, skin care, and soaps.

This combined assault within the consumer space - along with contributions from fragmented categories like stationery helped ITC's non-cigarette FMCG business clock a top line of Rs 5,545 crore in fiscal year 2012, with foods bringing in 60% of those revenues.

More importantly, the company has hit near breakeven levels, according to a recent Credit Suisse report. "Despite being relatively new in all these segments, we have been witnessing rapid growth and have established significant market standing across most categories," says ITC Ltd executive director Kurush Grant, who heads the FMCG business that includes cigarettes, packaged foods, personal care products and stationery products.

If, in cream biscuits, ITC is taking the fight to Britannia's labels like Bourbon, Treat and Pure Magic with its own battery of brands like Dark Fantasy, Choco Fills and Dual Dream Cream, in noodles it has thrown down the gauntlet at Nestle's Maggi. As per the recent Credit Suisse report, ITC's instant noodles brand Sunfeast Yippee! has gained double-digit market share within two years of launch, and is the second largest brand after Maggi.

Nestle has now started to offer aggressive discounts and incentives to retailers on Maggi to protect its market share.

of 25 new product and variant launches, including Baked Lay's, Aliva Multigrain Waves, Kurkure Puffcorn and Kurkure Monster Paws. In personal care, the Credit Suisse report says ITC has gained a 6% share in the highly competitive soaps market within four years of launch and 2% in shampoos.

Manish Jain, a financial analyst with Nomura Equities Research, says the gain in market share in soaps is impressive, considering the presence of established players like Hindustan Unilever and Godrej Consumer Products.

"The shampoo performance has been somewhat underwhelming, although the anti-dandruff segment is growing faster. To correct this, ITC has re-launched various varieties," adds Jain.

Devendra Chawla, president, Food Bazaar category at India's largest retailer Future Group, says the success rate of ITC' FMCG brands is better than the norm in the FMCG industry in

trade, leveraging its strong distribution, and then focused on premium products backed by very strong advertising support."

ITC recently revamped the entire FMCG portfolio by launching a richer and premium variant at each level. As Mitra points out, ITC has managed to reduce the share of mass market glucose biscuits from over half of biscuit sales five years back to less than a fourth now with premium launches like Sunfeast Dark Fantasy. And, in staples, ITC has consolidated its leadership position aided by the strong performance of Aashivaad Multi Grain atta.

In personal care, ITC has launched premium products across its three main brands: Fiama Di Wills, Vivel and Superia. ITC's divisional chief executive (personal care) Sandeep Kaul says the Vivel brand is now used by one-fifth of Indian households.

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Food Ingredients Biscuit News

14

Regional brands aim high, attempt to carve out pan-India presence

I

n the 1990s, a north-based biscuits company, Bakemans Industries, gave industry leaders Britannia and Parle Products sleepless nights with its aggressively-priced offerings in the Marie and Glucose segments. The regional brand with an enviable 13% share, most of it coming out of Uttar Pradesh, was going places until it decided to go national.

An attempt to carve out a pan-India presence ended in disaster with it plunging into a sea of red. To wipe out its losses, Bakemans raised prices on its home turf, in Uttar Pradesh. That move proved to be the proverbial final nail in the coffin; Bakemans not only failed to become a national player, it lost pole position in the market in which it once ruled the roost. The company was put up for sale, but even the acquisition by a Sri Lankan biscuit player ended calamitously.

The Bakemans debacle serves as a grim reminder for regional brands seeking to go national.

"Their ability to grow beyond their home turf is typically stymied not just by capital but also by a difficulty in building the right kind of organisation to create national strategies and more sophisticated brand launch and promotion models that can be sustained," explains Justin Sargent, managing director, Nielsen India.

Such apparent dangers are not deterring a clutch of regional powerhouses like Ghari detergents in the North, Wagh Bakri tea and Balaji Wafers in the West, SAJ Food Products (which owns Bisk Farm) in the East and Cholayil (which owns brands like Medimix and Cuticura) in the South from looking beyond their backyards.

Consider Wagh Bakri, which rules the roost in Gujarat. Over the past couple of years, the company has forayed into Mumbai and New Delhi with its tea lounges. Says Parag Desai, executive director at Wagh Bakri: "Our strategy is to completely swamp every district in one state in distribution and marketing before moving into

another."

Darshan Patel, a co-founder of Paras Pharma who broke away from his elder brother in 2006 to start up the Vini group four years later, says going national is not an option but a necessity. "If one doesn't have the resources, build the resources but go national. It is all about taking risks because regional brands cannot grow beyond a point."

However, he does add a rider. "The mantra has to be: differentiate or die," says Patel who has launched brands like Whitetone face powder, Jinjola talcum power, 7X itch cream and Quco hair perfume.

The New Delhi-headquartered personal care firm Vi-John is another regional player that is putting up national outposts. Says CEO Vimal Pande: "Our field force in the South and the East is now as strong as it is in the North. Our presence was weaker in Maharashtra and we are in the process of strengthening it."

Jyothy Laboratories is a great example of how a single-product

(Ujjala liquid fabric whitener) regional marketer went on not just to command a national presence but to acquire a multinational rival Henkel India, the Indian arm of the German laundry & home care corporation.

Post-Henkel, Jyothy today is a multi-brand consumer products company with a panIndia, rural and urban presence.

the time but we do not have the appetite for a grand national plan. It

Ullas Kamath, joint managing director of Jyothi Laboratories, has a few tips for brands seeking to go national. One, go national only if you have a differentiated product; and two, only if the regional brand has operating margins of at least 15%. He advocates a 'big bang theory when going national.' "Trial and err or

cannot work.

You cannot sit in Kanpur and understand Karnataka or Kerala," he adds.

There are those like the Rajkotheadquartered Balaji Wafers that prefer caution to extravagant expansion.

Balaji has relied largely on word-ofmouth publicity to capture consumer mind space over the past two decades.

Managing director Chandu Virani says, "I do not see the need to be overtly ambitious. We have financial investors chasing us all

will happen very gradually," he explains. Also being cautious is the 500 crore SAJ Food Products. The company, which dominates eastern India with biscuit brand Bisk Farm, is now venturing into other markets, albeit selectively. Says managing director Vijay Kumar Singh: " Each state especially in foods has its own nuances and it is pointless to get into markets where your brand cannot break the clutter and you land up being a me-too." Brand consultants say entrepreneurs like Virani and Singh have good reason to play it safe. "It can be a vicious circle of dreaming big without the resources. It makes good business sense to grow state-wise and each state in India is the size of France.

So why go on this big expensive ego trip to go national," asks Sunil Alagh, chairman, SKA Advisors.

Alpana Parida, president, DMA Yellow Works, a brand consultancy, says there are not too many regional brands that have a differentiator other than price.

Damodar Mall, foods director at Future Group, says, "Unless one has the right product, adequate production facilities and a supply chain to back a national venture, national food launches can fail miserably."

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Greener pastures

H

orticulture today is more than just planting and maintaining trees. With a range of opportunities in both the public and private sector, this could be the right time to pursue a career in this field, says Nishant Kumar.

Horticulture , the science and art of gardening, has today emerged as a field, which offers a range of job options. Thanks to the green consciousness and due attention from the government on food security and productivity, the scope for employment and entrepreneurship in horticulture is growing.

"India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. Today, horticulture alone accounts for 30% of India's agricultural GDP from 8.5% of the cropped area. It is playing a pivotal role in strengthening the country's nutritional security besides generating employment avenues," says KR Dhiman, vicechancellor , Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Himachal Pradesh.

Career Prospects Be it cold storage chains, ripening chambers or horti-clinics , ample prospects are available for horticulture graduates. Several schemes initiated by the government through National Horticulture Mission, National Horticulture Board, Horticulture Technology Mission for NorthEast and National Mission on Food Processing have opened up new avenues. Besides, the entry of private players has increased the scope manifold.

"Every year, more than half of the fruit and vegetable produce in India goes waste due to lack of proper retailing and adequate storage capacity. To deal with post-harvest losses, government agencies and corporate houses are setting up cold storage chains, which demand skilled manpower for operations. In addition, several environmental-friendly ripening chambers are being set up across India," says Navin Nainwal, assistant director, Amity Institute of Horticulture Studies and Research.

Another important aspect is the change in consumption patterns.

Dhiman points out, "Owing to high nutritional value, health components and vitamins , noncereal items are getting preference over grains, thus increasing its share in the food basket. This has put the spotlight on horticulture."

Fertile Ground Huge potential in this field lies in plantation, nursery, orchards, contract farming, seed production, pest management , procurement, landscape designing , green houses, botanical gardens , postharvest management, food processing, teaching, marketing and research.

"Research is an important aspect of this field. A trained horticulture professional has to work to improve plant quality, food safety and health benefits from fruits and vegetables. This is one of the best paid areas in the field," says HR

Gautam, senior horticulture scientist.

Work profile in public sector includes maintenance of parks, botanical gardens , official lawns, etc, with employment opportunities in departments like PWD, forestry, irrigation, town planning , archaeology, banks, cooperatives and community centres, etc.

Growing Opportunities With time, several new segments have emerged in horticulture. For instance, therapeutic horticulture has emerged as a popular career choice. Floriculture is another emerging area. Likewise, the growing fondness for ayurveda, naturopathy and aromatherapy has opened new vistas for horticulture graduates.

"Today, there is a lot of scope for students in floriculture, food processing , landscaping, orchards, and tea and coffee gardens. Also, there is a demand for skilled manpower in countries like Ethiopia and Kenya, which are focusing on floriculture," says N Kumar, dean, horticulture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.

Mustaq Mohammad, who did his MSc in floriculture and landscaping, is a leading hortientrepreneur with an annual turnover of Rs 1.25 crore from protected cultivation of lilium, carnation and rose.

"While protected cultivation is a profitable venture for horticulture professionals , polyhouse cultivation (protected cultivation) and tissue clinics are futuristic prospects," says Dhiman.

The growing concept of green homes and urban landscaping has changed the outlook of horticulture as a career choice. Ritika Bansal, a horticulture graduate, who works as a landscape designer says, "If outdoors and greenery is what fascinates you, a career in horticulture may be a perfect fit for you. From landscaping to setting up nurseries , there are several options in the market."

At a Glance Students can opt for a BSc in horticulture after they have cleared their +2. Those looking for specialisation in any of the preferred subjects can go for an MSc. And if you are looking for a career in research, PhD programmes are on offer at several universities. TNAU, Coimbatore, Kerala Agricultural University , Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli, Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth (MAU), Parbhani, College of Agriculture, Mysore, Akola, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore, and Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, are amongst the popular institutes in India to pursue horticulture education.

Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) also conducts a common entrance exam for admission into various institutes .

Over the years, new courses like BTech horticulture and MBA horti-business have been introduced . Horticulture courses are also on offer at several private institutes.

F&V News

15

Fruit & vegetable extract mkt to touch $690 mn by 2017: Frost & Sullivan

I

ndian fruit and vegetable extracts market is set to touch $690.5 million in 2017 from $400.5 million in 2011, according to an analysis by Frost & Sullivan.

Consumers' health consciousness and inclination towards health foods would drive the growth, the analysis pointed out. During the past four years, the food and vegetable extracts market has witnessed robust growth and product types

planning to expand product offerings, and would launch health snack products in India.

Companies selling fruit-based products need to innovate and expand range of offering with a focus on health foods, according to an analysis by Frost & Sullivan.

“Further, manufacturers are conducting trials to derive fruit pulp, purées, and juices from seasonal fruits and store them for

have changed rapidly based on consumer preferences. Several companies, which were selling aerated beverages, have been compelled to shift to fruit juice based products, or are selling the both simultaneously, according to the analysis by Frost & Sullivan.

Early this month, Del Monte that sells fruit extracts has told that it is

future use,” a Frost & Sullivan Research analyst said in a statement. “They are striving to make seasonal fruit products available throughout the year,” the analyst added.

The report also pointed out that the booming retail sector has benefited the food processing industry, including the fruit and vegetable

extract market, in India.

However, the market will not see “explosive growth in the next five years”, though manufacturers have been innovating. Lack of variety and insufficient infrastructure for managing agricultural waste would hit growth rate, the analysis pointed out. Raw-material storage system in India is inadequate for the projected growth in production.

The study also indicated that post harvest loss of fruit and vegetable produce would certainly affect availability and pricing. Limited availability of varieties suitable for processing would hit volume and hike processing costs, it added.

However, backward integration process will help mitigate the issues of inconsistent raw material quality and product availability, according to the analysis.

The market will get a boost from favourable trade policies and the government's focus on the agrobased sectors. The government has already said that it would set up 30 mega food parks towards the end of 2012. Fruit and vegetable processing units are exempt from taxes, and the industry has been identified as a priority sector.

“The government plans to generate world-class infrastructure for growth through food parks,

integrated cold chain, and modernization in the next five years,” noted the analyst.

Question mark on govt fruit & vegetable wastage figures The government has often defended its decision to open multi-brand retail to foreign direct investment (FDI) by saying modernisation of the sector through fresh investment would bring down wastage of fruit and vegetables. But experts and traders argue the wastage figures cited by the government are not based on any scientific research or study.

For instance, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has said there is a 35 to 40 per cent wastage in fruit and vegetables in the country. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, too, in his recent address to the nation,

said: “One third of fruit and vegetables at present are wasted due to storage and transit problems.”

However, the number could just be a “guesstimate” and nobody knows the source of the “35-40 per cent wastage” calculation, say experts.

So, where has the number come from?

“The figure has been in the air for long, so it has become acceptable.

However, there is no hard study to back this number,” said Pronab Sen, principal adviser in the Planning Commission.

Sen told Business Standard the figure might just be a “guesstimate as he has serious doubts if such a study could even be conducted, especially for vegetables, which are seasonal and too diversified, unlike food grains and fruits”.

The 35-40 per cent loss claim does not even figure in the Planning Commissio n's working group report on agriculture marketing infrastructu re for the 12th FiveYear Plan.

It states that among vegetables, the postharvest loss ranges between 6.8 per cent and 12.4 per cent, with the lowest loss in cauliflower and the highest in tomato. According to a study by the Indian Council on Agricultural Research (ICAR), among fruits, the minimum post-

harvest loss is in sapota and the maximum in guava at 18 per cent.

“The number for fruits is still believable as fruits are not seasonal in nature, but vegetables are seasonal, which makes data on production and wastage even difficult,” said Sen. Among cereals, the post-harvest loss ranged from 3.9 per cent to six per cent, with the lowest loss in sorghum and the highest in wheat.

In pulses, the lowest loss was seen in chickpea at 4.3 per cent and the highest in black gram at 6.1 per cent.

A department of industrial policy and promotion paper on multi-brand retail in 2010 had said: “As per some industry estimates, 25 to 30 per cent of fruits and vegetables and five to seven per cent of food grains in India are wasted”. This paper quoted industry estimates and not any hard study. However, even this number does not match the 35-40 per cent wastage being cited by the government now.

The traders' community, too, has slammed the government for “cooking up” the figure. “Based on the ICAR study and the Planning Commission working group report, these post-harvest losses are nowhere around the staggering percentage quoted by the government. It appears that the government is coming up with these bogus figures for making up a case for allowing FDI in multi-brand retail,” said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders.

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

16

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Exclusive Interview

17

ROHA DYECHEM COLOURING THE FUTURE R

Excerpts from the interview: Roha today is a leading Color brand globally, how do you view the journey of Roha in the past 40 years?

Roha was initiated in 1972, at that time it was just a small company that was into dyes and colours. My father took over its rein in 1978 and completely refurbished it. At that time this company was producing two tones per month of synthetic colour. My father, started off with a dream to make this company one of the top most in its league, though the business of colour in those days had not been a huge line but still he dreamt to make this company to be the best in its contours.

Roha is a resultant of my father's passion and aggression. His hard work and dedication led this company to have a production turnover of 10 MT per month only within 2 years that is by 1980.His innovation, inspiration and trust made Roha to turn out to be a top notch Natural & Synthetic colours company.

We became the first color company in India to bring about the spray tank technology which augmented the capacity to 25 MT per month.

Roha has been a company that has pioneered a lot of new technologies in India –like the lake pigments which are used when dyes are unsuitable due to their solubility in water. Some of the most common applications of Lake Pigments are coating application, icing application where the colour must not bleed, baked treats where colour migration is an issue.

In 1990 one of the multinational company, seeing our products to be of international standard suggested a Joint venture. The need was mutual as they needed entry in India while we needed to spread our wing further, thus a JV was put through.

Our First International office was in South Africa which opened a gateway for us to get all the required exposure and experience to be a true global venture.

Today we have numerous international offices across the world covering the USA, Mexico and European zone. That is in total we have15 offices spread across five continents with 110 distributors and stock points located across the globe, which ensures our customers get a ready supply of finished material, in any conceivable

quantity. We have one of the world's largest facilities, with state-of-theart equipment backed by cutting edge technologies. Strict adherence to international manufacturing norms ensures global standardized process resulting in products that meet exacting scrutiny and consistency. We also have 5 offices in the Asian subcontinent and apart from that Roha has ten manufacturing locations and ten application laboratories. Today Roha covers the entire continent and function 24×7 on 365 days of the year.

Roha has also ventured in the art of going natural. Today natural dyes and colorant have gone beyond an art form to a highly regulated and technically advanced industry. With an increasing awareness of what goes into a can or cosmetic product, natural food colours are not just capturing the imagination, but also have a burgeoning market base.

Natural food colours are obtained from a variety of herbs, spices, vegetables and minerals. Natural colour pigments extracted from their raw material origin, transfer to the natural goodness of their inherent qualities onto the products that they colour.

In 2004 we acquired a manufacturing unit in Spain dealing in natural colours and there on we have not looked back but have gradually climbed the steps of success. Now we are focusing immensely on natural colours and investing a lot on it. But it's on the only one we are concentrating on in fact we invested around 15 million dollar on synthetic dyes this year too. We have enhanced our capacity by 50 per cent. I think we are that company who has tasted success in both synthetic and natural dyes and we are getting better with time.

Our commitment to the colour industry, and the food industries at large, has inspired us to equip our facilities with future-ready technology, along with teams of highly experienced researchers and technicians. Expertise in various industries and areas of applications enable us to provide our clients with customized colour formulations, for niche products as well as large scale offerings. We in fact launched a new animal feed product range, last year and its manufacturing is taking

OHA is the fastest growing manufacturer of Natural & Synthetic colours, specializing in the Food & Beverage, Fertilizers, Cosmetics and Pharmaceutical industries. Through constant progressive ideation, up gradation and adoption of cutting-edge technologies; this company has maintained a leadership attitude in providing innovative solutions and future-ready products to our ever-widening base of global clients. This has constantly invested in ideas and personnel that propel them to their main aim: Colouring the Future; A philosophy that the company believes will always keep them ahead, in dynamic and challenging markets globally.

These masters of colour have intense commitment to the colour industry, and the food industries at large, that has inspired them to equip their facilities with future-ready technology, along with teams of highly experienced researchers and technicians. Expertise in various industries and areas of applications enable them to provide clients with customized colour formulations, for niche products as well as large scale offerings.

Roha indulges to work closely with their clients on their product and application requirements which are evident in its Quality, Stability and Control.

Mahesh Tibrewala, the Director of ROHA DYECHEM PVT LTD in an interesting interview with Firoz.H.Naqvi, Editor, Beverages & Food Processing Times, elucidated us about the 40 years journey of ROHA, their achievements and the future plans for coloring the globe. place in Thailand. And we are starting a facility of this in Mexico.

The future plans of Roha is to expand our net work further and are also planning to open few more manufacturing unit across the world. We just put in a 10 million dollar renovation for our US facility, in UK we are making more unit, in Mexico too we starting a manufacturing unit. In Thailand by March we expect to have another new facility added to our profile..

Our ideology is to work closely with our clients on their product and application requirements which are evident in our Quality, Stability and Control. Present and prospective clients are always welcome to visit our Application Labs, R & D Labs and Technical Centres to evaluate projects and research programs.

Roha on whole has had a successful journey and we are now trying to relax and relish this journey of 40 years.

There was time when colors were considered a secondary aspect in the food industry, but with changing time and culture, awareness, competition and appearance of food has unlocked a new era for the color industry.

Do you believe that today colour has become the one of the crucial needs of the food and beverage industry?

I truly believe that one first eats with his eyes – if food is a blessing to the eyes then only it's heavenly in the mouth. The equation is simple if you don't like look of a food product you will never eat it. This is where colour plays a pious role; they add life and vivacity to a product. Cumulatively colors have great impact on food products and their sale value. Color in itself has become a brand and a style status.

Colors are very cost effective but at the same time it very important to make them safe. That is why it is very imperative to check out the quality of a colour before using it in a food product. Superiority of food color product is of utmost importance and thus it is essential to

control the heavy metal in it to make quality products.

High levels of safety govern the manufacturing and processing of all color products, at ROHA. Our suppliers adopting stringent quality control norms and system At ROHA there is a set maintenance of highest standards of the quality and safety of our products. Towards this we have set up self-regulatory policies that have earned us globally recognized certifications for manufacturing, processes and product development. We meet all applicable safety related regulatory and statutory requirements through our Food Safety Management Systems, corporate policy, quality policy and various other aspects.

If a customer procures certain color from ROHA, Do they insist on patenting the particular colour so as to maintain exclusivity, or do you people have a universal form of colour sale?

We manufacture color with the best quality for all our clients and customer. But if a certain customer needs a specific colour for his product, he is always welcome to our application laboratory; work with our technicians to shape out his requirements. And certainly depending on the customer we do sign confidentiality agreement with them to protect their products and maintain distinctiveness.

How do you view the growth of your company in the next five years and what are your future global investment plans as whole?

We do have huge investment plans but unfortunately I cannot disclose it at this point, the only thing I can share with you is that we have around 40 plus people working in our laboratories always in the tow of innovating something new and we at ROHA at present working a lot on the extract.

As I have already mentioned that we have invested 15 million dollar to enhance our synthetic colour production and capacity. Also we are focusing a lot on natural colours

as the new generation is more tilted towards the use natural and organic products in today's time. We are in fact augmenting the capacity of the entire manufacturing units across the globe, like in the United States we have recently invested 10 million dollar to enhance the manufacturing capacity of the unit over there.

Our total investment in the next two years would be around 60 to 70 million dollars while our turnover is close to 400 million dollar.

How focused is ROHA DyeChem towards the food and beverage industry and how do harmonize your development vis-à-vis with that of the food industry?

Roha is company that is faithfully into food colour for food industry, as you can see we produce food colors of much different nature and presently we have gone into pet food, seafood and many more food items for which we are the only one that provide colors.

I believe that with time the food industry will grow more as the global population is growing with that the demand for food is rising, and because of this we are hugely investing in our business and insistently augmenting our capacity.

We are planning ahead after analyzing the future needs and demand of the food industry. We have a lot of ideas to stake out and dedicated commitment towards our clients and customers.

What particular sector of the food industry is your company focusing on more as compared to others?

Fortunately for us we well corded with all the industry. We have a specialist for each and every sector of the food industry. So ROHA as a company is concentrating on the entire customer portfolio.

As ROHA is spread around the entire continent could you elaborate on what type of customer services you provide and how intense is your

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012

Exclusive Interview

relationship with your clientele?

Our customers are the primary reason why we have made 10 application laboratories across the world. We indulge in teaching to customer on how to use colour and sometime we even advise them to change colour of their product so as to get a high-quality and striking effect.

Today most of the customers are well educated and have a highly qualified technical team with them.

So the best part of this is that both ours and their technical team can interact to get great results and satisfied customer.

But in the unorganized sector, the customers do not have much knowledge and for that our technical team travel to educate them and create awareness about how to use colours. Like this year as we are celebrating our 40 years, Roha has started a scheme where we are going to small - small cities with our entire sales team and technical team, and even I go to some places with them to meet the customer who need our help and assistance.

In this plan, we get to meet the customers; we invite them for interaction/ communication with our entire team to understand how to use colours.

It is a very open interaction that METAL DETECTION SYSTEMS from … gives them the insight on how to use colours, …applications in the Food / Pharmaceutical / Textile / Tyre / Mining etc… when to use colors and what type of colors to Pipe-Line version for Conveyorized version Gravity feed version for use. It is for PACKED & LIQUID / VISCOUS / PASTE / altogether an POWDER & GRANULES UNPACKED products MEAT etc… association with etc… a conducive result.

C.E.I.A – (AR) Italy

DEDUSTER & METAL DETECTOR - COMBI SYSTEMS from …

LEAK DETECTION & OPTICAL INSPECTION machines from …

PharmaFLEX – Belgium …

CONVEL – Italy … … for LIQUID Filled Pharmaceutical (Vials / Ampoules / Cartridges etc…

… for Pharmaceutical (Tablets / Capsules) Confectionery (coated gum / lozenges etc…

End-of-Line “BULK” Packaging Solutions from …

PATTYN Packing Lines nv. - Belgium Carton ERECTION

Bag LINING

FILLING

MOISTURE & DENSITY Measuring Instruments with

TEWS Elektronik – Germany (based on MICROWAVE Resonance technology)

Bag CLOSING

Carton CLOSING

THICKNESS SORTING & VISUAL INSPECTION machines from…

MASCHINPEX – Germany … for Coated / Uncoated tablets / Hard Gelatin capsules / lozenges / candies Food / Pharmaceutical / Confectionery industries etc…

Exclusive Representation in INDIA:

SNS Pro-Pack Equipments Pvt. Ltd.

emerging … beyond technology

B-904, Sneh Bandhan, Off E.E Highway, Mulund (E), Mumbai: 400081 INDIA Tele-Phone: +91 22 25636640 / 65013015 / 9820303233 Tele-Fax: +91 22 2563 8024 Email: Neel.Desai@technoptions.org Web-site: www.technoptions.org

18

ROHA is also trying to be one point centers to the customers where we can help them develop color, cater all their problems related to the use of colours, above all we are also participating in helping them to understand the latest food regulation. In fact we have printed a booklet about the FSSAI rules and regulation to help all the customers.

We try to be as cooperative as we can so that when a customer's comes to us he is completely satisfied.

What effect will this new regulatory law by FSSAI have on big established companies as ROHA? It may be difficult for some in the beginning, because many do have the knowledge of the food regulation but eventually in the future it will be very beneficial for the entire industry.

Would you like to convey some special message to your customers, clientele and the entire industry?

First of all I would like to thank all my customers who have been with us for the last 40 years, it is only because their trust and loyalty that we are today among the top notch colour companies.

It's all about building relationship and that's we have done. We consider all the people we work with as our friends and partners and touchwood in the next 40 year our next generation would be sitting and saying the same thing and by that time we would have reached a miraculous milestone. Thank you all for being there when you were needed. We will be there for all of you every day of the year at anytime.

19

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012 Join Indian Ice-Cream Manufacturers Association Organised By:

Global Trends In Ice-Cream Industry

In Association with:

AFTPAI ( An Association of Allied Sectors of Agro & Food Industry in India ) Indian Ice Cream Manufacturers' Association

Presents

Indian

Ice cream Congress & Expo

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

India’s Only Monthly for Processed Food, Agro Commodities, Edible Oil & Allied Segments

19th Dec. 2012. Hyderabad

Travel Partner:

Silver Sponsor

Silver Sponsor Silver Sponsor

Co. Sponsor

V AIM EVENTS 301-A, Diamond Kiran, Shrikant Dhadve Marg, Mira Road (E), Thane Mumbai-401107. India Tel +91-22-28115068, TF: +91-22-28555069, Mob.:9867992299, 9867601701 E:mail: aim @advanceinfomedia.com

INDIGENOUS COCOA POWDER

NATURAL ALKALIZED DARK BROWN COCOA POWDER

Now Introduces Real Choco Chips/Buttons Real Chcolate Slab

(Manufacture & Marketing By)

Jindal Drugs Ltd. Contact Person:-Pankaj Rawal

Bhaktawar,229, Nariman Point. Mumbai-400 021.

Office:-022-2287 1633. Fax:-022-2202 0690. Mobile:-98332 85771 .E-mail:-pankaj@jcocoa.com/ sales@jcocoa.com, Web.:www.jindalcocoa.com

Beverages & Food Processing Times-Oct-II-2012 Ministry of food processing forges bilateral co-operation ties with developed nations

T

he ministry of food processing industries (MOFPI) has entered into agreements with certain developed countries such as Germany and France for bilateral co-operation in the field of food processing. This includes processed food segments such as fruits and vegetables, as per informatio n provided by the minister of state for food processing industry, Charan Das Mahant.

Besides, the department of agriculture & cooperation has entered into a number of agreements with developed countries such as USA, France, Canada, Netherlands, Argentina, Austria and Brazil for bilateral co-operation in the areas of agriculture and allied sectors which generally include agro and food processing. Apart from this, MoUs have been entered into by two institutions under

the MOFPI, namely national institute of food technology entrepreneurship& management (NIFTEM) & Indian institute of crop processing technology (IICPT) with universities in such industrialised countries.

These MoUs relate to collaboration in teaching and research in the food processing sector.

According to the ministry, to help the food processing sector of the African countries under the framework of India Africa forum summit-II, the ministry is implementing one food processing cluster, five food testing laboratories and five food processing business incubation centres in Africa. For capacity building of the African food processing industry sector, various short-term training programmes in the areas of food safety & quality, food packaging, food testing skills, entrepreneurship and agribusiness development are also being organised by the ministry.

Back Page

20

''Mega Food Park to turn Orissa

into world food processing hub

A

mega food park will be established in the State with assistance from the Government of India.

It will be functional within a period of two years and will provide employment to more than 10,000 people after its full completion.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) has been formed in the publicprivate partnership (PPP) mode, called MITS Mega Food Park Ltd. The MITS Group of the State is the lead promoter of the project along with State-run IDCO.

Minister Health & Family Welfare and MSME Dr Damodar Rout visited the MITS Bhubaneswar campus and reviewed the status of the project along with senior officials. He was satisfied with the project and shared his experience for development of the food processing sector in the State. He said the food processing sector is a top

The project is expected to be a game-changer for Odisha as the State would emerge as an international destination in food processing industry, said official sources.

The newly-formed Department of Micro, Small and Medium (MSME) has been entrusted with development of the food processing sector in the State.

Consulting Editor Basma Hussain

priority area and one of the thrust sectors for development of the State.

The Minister was also of the

view that the mega food park would benefit farmers and MSME-based agro and food processing industry. He promised to extend all necessary cooperation to the mega food park team for its successful establishment.

Dr Rout was also felicitated by Chairman of MITS Group BK Panda for his contribution to the State's development, particularly that of the farming community in general.

The meeting was attended by former IAS officer from Punjab and current Chairman of Global Agri System Pvt Ltd Gokul Patnayak, MSME Department Special Secretary Panchanan Dash and IPICOL CMD G Mathivathanan.