Oil & Food Journal June 2014

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The Enchantment of COCOA Pg 09

INDIAN COLD SUPPLY CHAIN: A CASE STUDY Pg 12

Open Letter Pg 24

Creative minds fill food gap Pg 36 Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

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Contents

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Pg 09

The Enchantment of COCOA

INDIAN COLD SUPPLY CHAIN: A CASE STUDY Pg12

How Canadian canola Pg 23 is helping educate India’s poor

Pg 27

The drive to integrate

Pg 32

The History of the Ramen Noodle

Open Letter Pg 24

Smart and Active Pg 29 Packaging

Creative minds Pg 36 fill food gap Pg 39

2014 Global State Of The Confectionery Industry: Beyond Borders

NEWS Breeding Fungus Resistant Oilseed Varieties

20 Government estimates to set up 6 new Agri University in North East

21 Indian Potato shipments hit by Quality Issues

21 Ferro India posted 68% growth with a turnover of over 575 cr

49 Lovely Bake Studio a 100% Eggless Bakery opened in Punjab

35 Kamani Oil Industries Launches its First Range of Trans Free Products using Sustainable Practices 35 War between CCD and Starbucks 43 Tata, PepsiCo JV Introducing nutrient Water brand Tata Water Plus’ across India 43 Food map of India will be made to boost Food Processing 44 Packed Food gone down by 3% in US 2009-13 44 Iran reduces Basmati Imports by 50% due to stringent Iranian Standards 45 Food Grain Storage capacity is on top of agenda-Paswan 45 Our Chocolates are Halal — Cadbury, Malaysia

46 Calorie free Chocolates by a California Man 46 DuPont First Ingredient Company Issued Probiotic Health Claim in Europe 48 Döhler Crystal Clear Colours 2.0 – “Soft Yellow” added to the......

48 Brazil eyes to surpass India in Meat Exports 49 India’s Poultry Sector Margin to Increase during 2014-15-ICRA Report 49 Premium branded fruits introduced in mumbai 51 Record Fruit an Veg output expected this Year 51 Amitabh Bachchan Horticulture Ambassador for MAHA 51 Rajkot Dairy invests Rs 100 cr. in state of the art plat along with NDDB Colaboration 52 Mother Dairy to go hitech via ERP on Cloud for networking with subcontractors 52 Export of Indian Marine Product Exports break all Records 53 Pipavav number one port in Marine Exports in terms of volume 53 Edible oil will not see duty rise by the New Government 54 Agro Tech Foods start Production of Peanut Butter in India 54 Technology Advancements to Drive Demand for Packaging Machinery-Global Industry Analysts 55 QuadTech to Offer solutions at PackPlus 2014 56 Export of tea from India to Pakistan facing stiff competition from Kenya 57 Coffee Exports of India up by 9.32% in Jan-May 57 Food Grains demand to accelerate Fertilizers Market in India, TechSci Research 58 Government Says no to States for hoarding Food Commodities 58

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Editorial

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From the Desk of Editor

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o the Modi government is here at last, with a humongous job to bring “acche din” to the Indian public.

Half a month is less to depict anything, we have to wait and watch. But Modiji has definitely given us beauty with brain – union minister of food processing industry - Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Member of Parliament for Bathinda representing Shiromani Akali Dal. She has brought new dimensions to enhance and develop the food processing industry of India. Her agendas include to curb food inflation by boosting food processing; mitigate post-harvest fruit and vegetable losses; To drive and accelerate food processing industries’ growth; To de-regulate and simplify governmental systems, processes and clearances that delay food processing projects, causing huge losses to the companies putting up projects, and to review the role of FSSAI regarding long delays in clearing product approvals.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal has also met K Chandramouli, chairman, Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), to discuss the problems being faced by the food processing industries in obtaining product approvals. She has brought up the prolonged issue of long delays by the country’s apex food regulator in giving product approvals, which according to sources, remained the bone of contention between the regulator and the industry.

Chairman of FSSAI has assured the minister that for product approval, applications would have to be disposed of 90 days after they are filing. He also assured her that the process of product approval would be streamlined to avoid any delay.

The minister also told the FSSAI’s top notch to take care of and come to a fast decision hundreds of product approval applications are lying with the regulator in the absence of clarity on several ingredients and additives. Licensing and registration and imported foods were also discussed and a mechanism has to be devised to eradicate the differences.

Imported food items were not allowed to enter into the country on account of the non-compliance of regulations in the country, which led to the shutting down of businesses of many importers while there is a litigation going on regarding licensing and registration.

The heat is on for the new government; ironically heat is on for the Delhites too, as long power cuts invade their lives making them wonder “where are the good days. Thank god I live in Mumbai……

Extreme temperature is torturous and can sap everyone’s energy but the ice-cream makers’. The Rising temperatures can sap everyone’s energy but the ice-cream makers’. The more the heat, the higher their energy level. If El Nino weather phenomenon prolongs the summer as anticipated, ice-cream sales will see a boost notwithstanding the recent hike in ice-cream prices, making the manufacturer-marketers’ business prospects all the sweeter. Summer is the most crucial season for these companies, with over 40 per cent of their annual sales occurring in the 3-4 month window.

Ice cream is loved by everyone, kid or adults it does not make a damn difference, this month with extreme temperature the ice cream market though in demand is finding it badly hit as the power scenario has reached its worst.

Despite huge demand from upcountry market, the branded ice cream are avoiding exploration of the markets in neighboring districts because retailers are not ready to bear additional cost on generators to deep freezers operational. According to the traders the market was growing at the rate of 25% per year in the last decade.

But now, a decline of 25% in trade is evident during peak season. The traders said that when Modi became PM, they expected for some improvement but when the situation started worsening more, they have started waiting for some mercy from state government for improvement in power scenario.

Amid heat, temperature soaring, power cuts, IICMA is all set to organize the – Indian Ice Cream Congress & Expo (IICE 2014) at Mumbai on 18-19 Sep 2014 at Bombay Exhibition Center, Goregaon, and Mumbai.

This is amongst the most important events for the ice cream industry devoted towards to development and growth both globally and domestically. This eminent affair is always organized by ‘Indian Ice Cream Manufacturers’ Association’ (IICMA) to top and most innovative body of ice cream manufacturers in India.

IICE 2014 is the platform where the manufacturers and allied sectors meet, understand and assemble together. There are presentations made, new technologies are launches and discussion take place regarding the latest trends in the global market of packaging, processing, ingredients and innovations.

IICMA has a huge contribution to the enhancement of ice cream industry in India, but I wonder how much we have to work towards achieving the best.

I sincerely hope the minister works towards betterment of the industry and the NDA works toward restoring the power problems trailing in the capital city and IICMA work to globally elevate the Indian ice cream industry becomes fruitful.

Take care. And as usual rest is next.

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Cocoa

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The Enchantment of

C

ocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is a native of Amazon region of South America. The bulk of it is produced in the tropical areas of the African continent. There are over 20 species in the genus but the cocoa tree Theobroma cacao is the only one cultivated widely.

Though cocoa has been known as the beverage crop even before tea or coffee, it is relatively a new crop in India. Cocoa being primarily an item of confectionery industries is the produce of Cacao plant mostly grown as a companion crop interspersed within the irrigated Coconut and /or Arecanut gardens. Even though Cocoa comes under the definition of plantation crops pure plantation of cocoa as such is absent in India. The commercial cultivation of cocoa however commenced from 1960’s only. Various Cocoa products are confectionery in nature and palatably consumable. Internationally it is an item largely consumed in developed countries..

cocoa industry, with significant and steady growth in the market predicted.

The biggest question today is how we can adapt to changing global appetites, while maintaining a steady price for cocoa and chocolate. Achieving this will mean consumers are protected from sudden changes in the market, and that we can continue to steadily improve the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa farmers around the world.

Rising demand for cocoa creates fresh opportunities

China’s economy in regard of cocoa production is expected to overtake the United States within the next three years, and “luxury” indulgent products such as

This is an intriguing time to be in the Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

Alongside a steady growth in demand from traditional markets, there is a rapid acceleration in emerging markets such as in Asia, with a surge in disposable income and a newly discovered taste for cocoa and chocolate-flavoured products. Cocoa being a tropical crop, so India offers considerable scope for the development.

Cocoa is mainly grown in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

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chocolate will undoubtedly be among those that benefit from this new spending power. We are already seeing a swift growth in sales of powder-containing goods such as chocolate milk, cookies and cakes.

The resulting 2–3% annual rise in demand is good news for everyone in the cocoa sector, but it is an opportunity that can only be leveraged when we overcome the challenge of ensuring sufficient supply.

Over the next decade, we will need to source about a million extra metric tons of cocoa. To put this in perspective, that is the equivalent of finding the entire crop of Ecuador – one of the world’s larger producers – every two years.

Cocoa supplies can be unpredictable Cocoa is a vulnerable crop; relying as it does on variable weather conditions and smallholders with often limited yields living in difficult socio-economic conditions. There is also a great deal of competition for land – cocoa has to win out against other cash crops such as rubber and palm – and many origin countries have high rates of rural to urban migration.

Cocoa World cocoa production

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How can we solve this together? By working with farmers to dramatically improve knowledge and adoption of good agricultural practices – whether that is with the appropriate use of weeding and pruning techniques or the development of safer harvesting practices. By improving farmers’ incomes and providing better services for farmers, their families and their communities. And by providing farmers with the planting materials and other nputs they need to invest in their farms and prepare for a successful future.

The future of chocolate with cocoa

In this context, we need to work hard to make sure cocoa farming is sufficiently attractive to be a viable, rewarding choice – so that cocoa demand and supplies well balanced for the future.

Revitalizing farms

Cocoa has always been a crop that offered economic opportunity. But now, with many farms at the end of their productive lifecycle, cocoa productivity is under pressure. The majority of smallholder cocoa farms, particularly in West Africa, were established 20–30 years ago. Cocoa is a tree crop and the trees have aged and become less productive; soil nutrient levels have decreased and pests and diseases affect both cocoa pod and overall

Demand for cocoa is predicted to rise by 30% by 2020 but without empowering and investing in small-scale farmers, the industry will struggle to provide sufficient supply Chocolate is in demand: rising incomes in emerging markets and an economic recovery in the rich North, are predicted to lead to a 30% growth in demand by 2020.

Steady growth over the last hundred years has transformed the chocolate confectionary market into an $80bn a year global industry. But now, with demand forecast to outstrip supply, a crisis is looming for the industry.

Around 3.5 million tonnes of cocoa are produced each year. But rising incomes in emerging markets like India and China, combined with anticipated economic recovery in the rich North, have led to industry forecasts of a 30% growth in demand to more than 4.5 million tonnes by 2020. This should be good news for farmers and businesses alike.

But complacency and disregard for the livelihoods of more than five million small-scale family farmers who grow 90% of the worlds cocoa mean that the industry may simply be unable to provide 10

sufficient supply to meet the demand.

Cocoa prices are volatile and influenced by many factors – from extreme weather, pests and disease to speculation and political instability in producing countries.

In 2000, oversupply of beans saw prices slump to a 27-year low of around $714 a tonne. Then prices rocketed to a 32-year high of $3,775 a tonne in 2011 amid fears of disruption to cocoa supplies following the failed coup in Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa producer.

Even as cocoa prices rise, farmers have not been capturing their fair share. Growers in West Africa are likely to receive just 3.5% to 6.4% of the final value of a chocolate bar, depending on the percentage of cocoa content – a disastrous fall compared with 16% in the late 1980s. By contrast, the manufacturers’ share has increased from 56% to 70% and the retailers’ from 12% to 17% over the same period.

Low prices paid to farmers result in low productivity and poverty in farming communities. Farmers use out-dated farming methods and lack resources to invest in fertilisers or in replacing ageing trees past their peak productivity. Cocoa growers are typically illiterate subsistence farmers who grow cocoa alongside staple food crops to provide the main cash income to pay school fees, medical bills and other household necessities. Their communities have poor education and healthcare services and lack electricity and decent sanitation, with water only available from communal wells.

As prices of food and other costs rise, the failure to capture sufficient value from their crop means that many cocoa farmers are abandoning the industry. Many of their children see no future in cocoa and are switching to more profitable rubber production or heading for the cities in the hope of finding a better livelihood. As a result, the average age of cocoa farmers in West Africa is now 51, leading to serious concerns across the industry about the long-term sustainability of the supply chain: no cocoa farmers = no chocolate bars.

Indian scenario of Cocoa market in India Cocoa production in India is expected to double to 30,000 tonnes by 2025. At present, India is producing only 15,600 tonnes against the demand of 45,000 tonnes from the ever-growing chocolate Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

Cocoa

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The country imported cocoa worth Rs 804 crore in the last fiscal.

The domestic production, mainly concentrated in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka, is

expected to touch 30,000 tonnes by 2025.

Though Kerala was cultivating cocoa in smaller area, it contributed a major share of 7,000 tonnes and Tamil Nadu’s share was 1,500 tonnes.

Enhancing quality, yield and productivity, would be beneficial for the end-users, in this case chocolate industry.

Companies working towards improving the cocoa farming Mondelez’s Cocoa Life Investing in India’s Cocoa Farming Communities In November 2012, Mondelēz International announced Cocoa Life, a program to invest $400 million over the next ten years to improve the livelihoods and living conditions of more 200,000 cocoa farmers and about one million people in cocoa farming communities around the world. Cocoa Life will benefit cocoa -growing communities in India. But Mondelēz International’s involvement in Indian cocoa isn’t new

– its legacy Cadbury brand pioneered cultivation of the crop in the country since 1965 and has been working with cocoa farming communities ever since under Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

its “Cocoa Gold” program. It originated in Kerala state and has expanded to help coconut farmers in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to plant cocoa and diversify beyond coconut trees.

The program has transformed the lives of over 60,000 farmers across four states in India. Today, Mondelēz International operates 20 nurseries in four states – providing cocoa seedlings to 15000 farmers annually. The nurseries provide rural employment opportunities to about 500 people. Mondelēz International also has a dedicated team of 60 employees who travel throughout these cocoa growing areas providing farmers advice and assistance in all aspects of cocoa cultivation, in addition to staffing a telephone helpline to assist farmers with technical questions Cargill Cocoa Promise The Cargill Cocoa Promise is committed to improving the livelihoods of farmers, their families and their communities,

and, in doing so, securing a long-term supply of cocoa. It was introduced in 2012 to align their efforts in six origin countries on the three key areas that can make a real and lasting difference: farmer training, community support and farm development So far, Cargill has trained over 115,000 farmers in good agricultural practices, established nearly 2,550 Farmer Field Schools globally, and through partnership with CARE International, provided nearly 34,000 children in cocoagrowing communities with improved access to education. Over 50,000 farmers in Côte d’Ivoire alone have been certified as sustainable growers.

And in the recent 2012/2013 crop year, their partner cooperatives and farmer organizations received US$6.25 million in premium payments in cash that allowed them to invest and strengthen 11

their organizations, their crops and their communities. A similar amount was made available to farmers.

This Cargill-cocoa program is global, but they act local – using the scale and extent of on-the-ground sourcing network.

With the partnership with governments, farming communities and NGOs the company tries to understand local issues, align with local policies and make a tangible, long-term difference.

Fairtrade Many chocolate companies are waking up to the situation, and to the fact that Fairtrade can be part of a solution, helping to ensure decent incomes for farmers and a long-term supply of quality product to companies.

Fairtrade sales are generating significant amounts of Fairtrade Premium funds for cocoa farmer organisations to invest in their farms, businesses, and communities.

In 2011, Fairtrade cocoa producer organisations received more than €7.6m in Fairtrade Premium money.

This money is increasingly being used to support producer organisations and

farmers in strengthening their business – for example by investing in replacing old cocoa trees to increase productivity, or investments in better facilities for crop collection, storage, transport, or processing. More than half of Fairtrade Premium expenditure is being invested in business or organizational development, or to support improvements in production and processing.

The Fairtrade Foundation Commodity Briefing – Fairtrade and Cocoa – sheds light on the complex challenges in the cocoa industry and provides relevant and accessible information to anybody with an interest in cocoa.

Case Study

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INDIAN COLD SUPPLY CHAIN: A CASE STUDY

ABSTRACT Cold supply chain forms the backbone of all kind of perishable products. India being one of the major foods producing country faces a huge challenge to reduce its post-harvest loss a well as make all kind of food products available at different corners of the country. This study aims at studying the characteristics of two cold chains of different type of food product. A focused approach is adopted to study the process in detail so as to know the intricacies involved in the same.

This study performs a comparative study focusing on the problems faced by two consumable products in two corners of the country. An interview-based approach is adopted to get the insights from these two different places based on which an analogy is drawn. Through this study it is proved that in a single sector there is a great requirement of a customized supply chain strategy for different kind of products.

INTRODUCTION Globalization has made the world smaller in many respects. But still the

transportation of goods across locations depends on the actual distance between two locations. As the distance of transportation to be done increases, the risk associated with the logistics also increases. Risks like perish ability risk, damage risk etc. exist due to factors like temperature variations, shock during transfer etc. Any damage to the commodity due these risks will ultimately result in the decrease in their value. Hence the onus of damage free transportation lies with the logistics system. It is essential in the global marketplace to get the right goods at the right time to the right place(cf.

Baldiwala, 2001). Through this study we aim to analyze one such special system which helps to minimize the risk and achieve the desired objective namely the Cold Supply Chaining the Indian context.

The cold chain refers to the transportation of temperature sensitive products along a supply chain through thermal and refrigerated packaging methods and the logistical planning to protect the integrity of these shipments. It is also defined as a logistic system that provides a series of facilities for providing a climate12

controlled environment consisting of storage and distribution activities that maintains the product in an ideal environment from the point of origin to the point of consumption or at least retail level. There are two main components of the cold chain logistics system: (a) Surface storage: Refrigerated warehouses for storage of perishable product in consideration (b) Refrigerated transportation: Reefer trucks, containers etc. for transport of perishable product Various type of cold chain technologies have emerged to cater to the needs of different types of products. The major technologies are as follows: • Dry ice: Solid carbon di oxide is about -80°C and is capable of keeping a shipment frozen for an extended period of time. It is particularly used for the shipping of pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods and foodstuffs. Dry ice does not melt, instead it sublimates when it comes in contact with air.

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Case Study

www.agronfoodprocessing.com • Gel packs: Large shares of pharmaceutical and medicinal shipments are classified as chilled products, which mean they must be stored in a temperature range between 2 and 8°C. The common method to provide this temperature is to use gel packs, or packages that contain phase changing substances that can go from solid to liquid and vice versa to control an environment. Depending on the shipping requirements, these packs can either start off in a frozen or refrigerated state. Along the transit process they melt to liquids, while at the same time capturing escaping energy and maintaining an internal temperature.

• Eutectic plates: The principle is similar to gel packs. Instead, plates are filled with a liquid and can be reused many times.

• Liquid nitrogen: An especially cold substance, of about -196°C, used to keep packages frozen over a long period of time. Mainly used to transport biological cargo such as tissues and organs. It is considered as a hazardous substance for the purpose of transportation.

• Quilts: Insulated pieces that are placed over or around freight to act as buffer in temperature variations and to maintain the temperature relatively constant. Thus, frozen freight will remain frozen for a longer time period, often long enough not to justify the usage of more expensive refrigeration devices. Quilts can also be used to keep temperature sensitive freight at room temperature while outside conditions can substantially vary (e.g. during the summer or the winter).

• Reefers: Generic name for a temperature controlled container, which can be a van, small truck, a semi or a standard ISO container. These containers, which are insulated, are specially designed to allow temperature controlled air circulation maintained by an attached and independent refrigeration plant. The term increasingly applies to refrigerated forty foot ISO containers.

This paper basically aims at finding the issues and challenges faced in cold chain of two different kinds of food products by the help of case study. Here two products of the same sector are taken for consideration. The first section explains the objective of this research.

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review followed by the methodology adopted for this research. This is followed by a detailed look into two different cold chains and their comparison on various parameters. Lastly, it is concluded with the recommendations for the same.

RESEARCH MOTIVE India, a large country with the second largest arable land in the world is amongst the Top 3 in almost all food related agriculture production. India is the largest Producer of Milk, 2 largest producer of Fruits and Vegetables, 3rd largest producer of Food grains. But sadly only a negligible amount of these agro produce gets processed. Hence, India possesses a tremendous potential to grow in food processing sector, where undeniably cold chain will be the back bone of the industry.

A heavy wastage of food products during its transit and storage spells between the primary producer and end consumer. The amount of fruits and vegetables wasted comes to the tune of 40% of the total production which is greater than the total production of Great Britain. Hence there is a great need to keep a check on this post-harvest loss. This is only possible if the transit facilities can be improved i.e. the cold chain can be improved. In the light of the above factors, this paper tries to analyze the current scenario of the cold chain in India, find the gaps in their performance and suggest improvements so that the Cold Chain in India can be made in a much better state to enter into the next stage of its growth phase.

RESEARCH SCOPE The cold chain industry has its application spread across various domains and geographies. Here in this study we limit ourselves to the agro-industry. The primary research is done with people who are in the industry and operate links in the cold supply chain. The concentration was mainly on the cold storage owners in Andhra Pradesh who deal with Chilli distribution throughout the country. The secondary research covers the magazines, journal publications, articles, internet materials pertaining to the same and also through analysis of companies providing Cold Chain Service in India namely Snowman Ltd, RK food land etc.

Aim is to identify the external and internal factors which are major enablers of cold 13

supply chain, as identifying them ensues a better understanding of cold supply chain and also tell as the area of improvements in the chain. Thus reducing the waste and also maintains the quality of the products for end consumer in cost effective manner.

LITERATURE REVIEW The use of Refrigeration technology to transport sensitive commodities dates back to 1797 when English Fishermen used natural ice to store their stock piles of Fish. It grew with the colonization activities of the British, where they had to import a lot of product from various countries to them. Namely fresh meat from South Africa, Frozen beef from Australia, Bananas from South Asia etc. The credit to the fact that Banana which was once an exotic fruit turned to be the largest consumed fruit in the world has to go to Cold chain emergence.

It will be very interesting to note that banana accounts for the most significant commodity transported in the Food chain industry with 20% of all seaborne reefer trades. The cold Chain as a separate industry grew in US due to various laws enacted by the federal government with respect to transportation of drugs and vaccines.

With reference to agro-industry the Cold chain plays a role of preventing the fruits, vegetables, Dairy products and the like from rotting. The same has been an itching problem for the Indian Government which is accused of wasting about 40% of the total produce.

Indian Government has also given the Cold chain an Infrastructure status in its 2011-12 budget so that it reinforces the importance of the same (Anish and Aran, 2011). The losses occur mostly after harvesting based on the level of infrastructure for handling them in corresponding countries. The figure A gives an indication of the facilities available in the countries based on their stage in development. Based on the figure above India can be classified as in a region between developing and transitioning countries. Post-harvest losses are partly a function of the technology available in a country, as well as the extent to which markets have developed for agricultural produce (Julian Parfitt et al, 2012).

Case Study Fig A. The types of facilities based on

countries METHODOLOGY Basically two approaches were adopted to delve into the issues and challenges faced by this industry. First was the secondary research approach wherein literature for the same was referred. An extreme availability for the comparative study was not directly available making the secondary research not helpful in terms of tangible results. Secondly the primary research was carried by interview methodology in two parts for comparison.

In the first part of the research the cold supply chain was studied in the Indian context with focused attention on one of the largest Chilly producer in country. A detailed research based on convenience was conducted in Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) area to understand the various layers of the cold supply chain. The aim of the study was to understand the various subprocesses that add value and cost to the product. Four cold storage owners of Guntur were interviewed extensively to get insights about this market.

The second part constituted studying the cold supply chain of Baskin Robbins which is a global ice-cream parlor to which cold supply chain is very much central. This study was done in Shillong by interviewing the Manager of Baskin Robbins in the Shillong outlet, Mr. DevJannat, to understand the intricacies of the cold supply chain given the fact that Shillong has locational disadvantage.

Certain insights about their inventory management, infrastructure and their limitations were received by the help of this extensive interview explained in further sections.

MAJOR FINDINGS As already discussed there are two elements of cold supply chain logistics system:

www.agronfoodprocessing.com (a) Surface storage (b) Refrigerated transportation There are many cold supply chains of certain firms that just uses only of these, i.e.; either refrigerated storage or refrigerated transport.

COLD STORAGES IN GUNTUR Guntur Chilly yard is the Asia’s largest chilly yard where 0.5 lakh chilly bags worth Rs.30 cr arrives daily. It is located in the suburb area of Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. It is the platform where different firms sell their chillies while various buyers (domestic and exporters) buy the chillies.

Chillies are the season specific crop and total produce will come to this Chilly yard in the months of January to April.

farmers expecting good price store the chillies to sell during the off-season. Hence, chillies are stored in the Cold Storages to preserve the quality - the colour and moisture of the chillies.

Availability of Cold storages will provide congenial atmosphere for storing red chillies for quite a long period without reduction in quality. Five storied multi chamber structure with puff insulation and cooling mechanism for control of atmosphere will help farmers to store the produce during harvesting season without deterioration in quality.

Because of the demand for cold storages for chillies, there are around 75 cold storages located near to the chilly yard in Guntur. These cold storages are owned and maintained by individual firms who charge a rent for letting the famers use the space for storing their chillies. These cold storages form an important phase in the cold supply chain of the chillies.

This leads to glut in the market. Red chillies can be stored in rural godowns or in the farmers’ homes for 4-8 months but the quality cannot be retained, when stored under normal conditions room temperature, especially colour and moisture (colour and moisture of the chillies are two important factors that determine the quality and hence the price of the crop). Storing dried chillies in common godowns/homes results in avoiding selling at existing price in the market but deteriorates the quality and results in low price in the market. Also,

Fig 1. The cold supply chain of Chillies in Guntur.

A typical cold storage is 5 storied high occupying a volume of 1.2 Kft3(100X200X60 ft3) and can store around 1,00,000 of chilly bags. A cold storage typically is divided into 2 or 3 sub chambers. Each of these chambers has different cooling systems, which maintain the temperature between 8 C and 10 C, which is the ideal temperature for storing the chillies These cooling systems are the major component of the total construction of the cost of cold

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Case Study

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storage and consume lot of electricity for running. Also, the capacity of these cold storages is in proportion to the volume of space it needs to cool or maintain the given temperature.

This process in Guntur is a Labour dependent process A farmer is charged around 120 - 135 INR per bag as a rent for a maximum period of 10 months. As soon as the bags arrive for storing, the bags are manually moved into the cold storage (by the labour who are contracted from time to time) and are arranged in the cooling chambers as per the layout plan. When the farmer wishes to take out his stock, the bags are again manually moved out as per the removal plan. A labour is paid 8 - 10 INR per bag for taking a bag inside and 6 – 8 INR for taking out a chilly bag.The demand for the cold storage space is varied across the year with more demand during off-season and less demand during the peak season.

BASKIN-ROBBINS COLD SUPPLY CHAIN Baskin Robbins, which started in India in 1993, is a global chain of ice-cream parlors with around 425 stores in 95 cities across India. Baskin Robbins has the manufacturing plant in Pune that supplies ice creams to the entire South Asia. The

Logistics that is the biggest and the only pan-India cold chain logistics service provider. Fig 2 represents the cold chain for Baskin-Robbins across India.

vital components are imported to the Pune plant.

To a business of ice creams such as Baskin Robbins, cold chain logistics is central and very critical. BR has tried their inhouse logistics but failed due to lack of competence. Hence, the whole logistics and the cold supply chain management in outsourced to a third party cold chain logistics service provider - Snowman

For the cold storages at Guntur the following are the major challenges: • The cooling systems consume high amount of electricity and results in 25% of the maintenance charges. Though there are many measures taken right from the construction of the cold storage to insulate the walls of the building properly and ensure high quality for thermal insulation using materials such as thermo-cool

Fig 2.The cold supply chain of Baskin Robbins leveraged on the Snowman Logistics Refer Appendix1 for the detailed list of 18 warehouses of Snowman Logistics.

Baskin Robbins leveraged on snowman’s 18 ware houses that provide -25 C temperature across India. Besides providing the refrigerated warehouse facilities, Snowman also provides refrigerated transportation on Pan India basis from its Pune manufacturing plant using their dedicated Reefer trucks. During the setup of the different franchises across the country, Baskin Robbins had certain challenges.

Though it tried its hand by looking after the logistics by itself using inhouse competencies, it failed majorly as cold chain logistics are not its core competency. Realizing this fact, Baskin Robbins outsourced the entire cold chain logistics services to third parties like Snowman.

ISSUES & CHALLENGES: A COMPATRITIVE STUDY

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sheets, etc.; due to non-uniform demand, the cooling systems have to run when the chambers are under capacity. As there is a high variation in the demand, during the off-season, the cold storage chambers are not completely occupied, i.e., the whole storage space is not utilized but the cooling systems are operational to maintain the temperature for the minimum stock that is there.

• This part of the cold supply chain is highly labour intensive and labour dependent and almost 20% of the annual expenses are labour expenses. Besides, the whole process of taking in and out of the chilly bags is done manually. Since the labour is employed on the contract basis, if there is no labour any given time, the whole process is halted and is waiting for the availability of the labour. These kinds of situations lose the good will of the cold storage and the farmers tend to go only to those cold storages where there is availability of labour as they do not want to take chance on deteriorating the quality of chilies. And the labour generally finds employment with those cold storages where the wages are high.

Major challenges faced by Baskin-robins during expansion in Shillong is: • Prebuilt product needed to be stored at the right temperature so that quality is maintained • Power fluctuations and lack of infrastructure are problems • Lack of temperature controlled warehouses on Pan India basis • Variability of demand for ice-creams according to the seasons Table 1 shows a comparative difference between the two cold chains studied.

Here, it is seen that although both the products were part of the same segment, the locational difference and the product characteristics difference made it mandatory to possess different strategies for products in the same sector. The challenges faced by them are different and so should be the way to tackle them, CONCLUSION The issues faced by both the supply chain are process specific. Shillong’s locational disadvantage makes the Baskins-Robbins cold chain outlet gets its supplies from Calcutta. Abundant supplies of chillies and old cold storages impact the cold chain of red chillies at Guntur. Some Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

Case Study

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gaps in the cold supply chains for various products across India. This study proves this point very clearly.

Chili Cold Storage Ice-Cream Cold storage APPENDIX 1 Guntur Shillong Reach of Snow Man Logistics, the service Guntur district is Shillong is the capital of Meghalaya, provider for Baskin Robbins.

Table 1. The comparative study of different types of cold chain

Factors Place Geographical Description

located in Andhra one of the smallest states in India Pradesh along the east situated at an average altitude of coast of Bay of Bengal 4,908 feet (1,496 m) above sea level Locational Advantage High Low Demand pattern Seasonal Almost same throughout the year Production High Low No. of days can be stored 8 month 3 months (Max.) of the steps in order to deal with the while the annual maintenance charges of Logistics care Low High challenges faced at Guntur can be: the conveyor belt and the elevator costs • Quality can be maintained during construction.The walls of the cold storage are puff insulated for thermal insulation.

Care should be taken right from the construction phase to make sure that the desired quality is ensured. In case, the walls of the cold storage are not properly insulated, the cooling systems consume more and more electricity to maintain the required temperature.

• Mini cold storages can be introduced.

Mini cold storages are similar to cold storages that are smaller in size in terms of the volume and hence can require smaller cooling systems to cool them.

A normal cold storage can store around 1,00,000 bags with two equal chambers.

A mini cold storage that can store around 10,000 to 20,000 bags can be constructed in every cold storage so that whenever there is less demand, the bags can be stored in the mini cold storage. Hence, we can save on the electricity.

• An elevator & conveyor belt can be used to reduce dependency. These cold storages depend heavily on the availability if labour for the movement of the goods that is expensive too. Hence, a conveyor belt that takes the bags into the cold storage and an elevator that carries the bags between each of the storeys in the cold storage. This is a one-time investment but the pay-back period can be very less (within 2years) as almost Rs. 20 lakhs is expensed for labour wages. The use of automated movement of the goods first ensures that the goods can be taken in and delivered back irrespective of the availability if the labour, which increases the goodwill of the cold storage. In addition, the expense on the wages can be decreased significantly,

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

Aspada Invests in Schedulers Logistics to Open Up Market Access to India

lesser than the annual labour wages.

Source: Interviews & Analysis • Solar panels can be installed to power the conveyor belt, elevator and the cooling systems. Also, the geographical location of these cold storages is such that the solar energy can be ensured all the year round.

The cold supply chain process is a special kind of logistics that handles the goods that requires regulated temperatures for both transportation and storage. In this project, we have studied the importance and necessity of the cold supply chain in agro sector such as fruits, confectionaries, meat, etc. As discussed, there are many challenges that this supply chain faces in terms of awareness and infrastructure available. Due to this, in India, there is a significant shortage of the cold supply chain services.

This can be only increased if every sector gets ready to deal with challenges for its different product in a different manner. A focused approach is very much required in this case as a generalized approach will not help in mitigating the present

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A

spada Investment Company has made a commitment of over USD $2 million to Mumbai-based Schedulers Logistics, an integrated cold-chain trucking operator that provides end-to-end cold storage and secondary distribution for India’s fresh fruit and vegetable, food processing, and pharmaceutical industries.

“We are thrilled to be working with the Aspada team given their significant experience in investing in India’s supply chain and agricultural logistics sectors.

Aspada’s investment will allow us to increase our presence in underserved regions, such as the Eastern and NorthEastern states,” said Colonel Arvind Gangoly, CEO of Schedulers Logistics.

“We will continue to increase our fleet of part-truck-load and secondary distribution vehicles in order to connect small manufacturers with major market hubs. We are one of the few players operating in Tier 2 and 3 towns in India that can offer temperature controlled loads as small as 500 kg. With the investment from Aspada we will continue to build on this significantly large and underserved market opportunity,” said Akshay Sharma, CoFounder of Schedulers Logistics.

“We believe that the cold chain market in India will grow at a brisk pace over the next five to eight years and offer opportunities for consolidation and professionalization in what is a highly unorganized space. We are excited to partner with the Schedulers team in their journey to build a large organization that will have high impact on food and pharmaceutical supply chains in India,” said Tom Hyland, Partner of Aspada Investment Advisors.

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Solus Jain Heights, #. 2, 1st Cross #. E-10, 10th Floor, J. C. Road, Bangalore-560 027. Tel: +91 080 22224223 Web: mtsfoods.com E mail: menonkk@vsnl.net

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Agro Processing

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Breeding Fungus Resistant Oilseed Varieties

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cientists have identified strains of oilseed plants that are resistant to the devastating fungal pathogen Sclerotinia.

An international team of researchers from Australia, China and India has established that oilseed varieties resistant to the devastating fungal disease Sclerotinia can be bred readily.

This research has been published in the journal Euphytica.

Disease caused by Sclerotinia devastates yield in oilseeds such as canola, rapeseed and mustard. It has been one of the most difficult diseases to manage within the plant genus Brassica.

“Until now options have relied on cultural and, increasingly, fungicidal measures that are often unreliable, costly and environmentally undesirable,” said lead author Professor Barbetti from the University of Western Australia.

In the studies, three virulent Sclerotinia strains were used to infect a broad range of canola, rapeseed and mustard breeding

populations from India and China. High levels of new, diverse, strain-specific resistances were found.

Even more importantly, the research team which included members from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and three agricultural

universities in Huazhong, Haryana and Punjab, also identified plant genotypes that were strain-independent in their resistance expression. These genotypes are ideal for the development of varieties that are Sclerotinia-resistant across

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multiple strains.

“For the first time it is possible to identify and/or breed canola, rapeseed and mustard plants that display high levels of resistance consistently,” Barbetti said. “This outcome is exciting, as it can lead to the rapid development of new oilseed varieties resistant to Sclerotinia.”

These findings are particularly significant as previous efforts towards identifying and breeding effective host resistance had been hampered by the frequent occurrence of diverse Sclerotinia strains differing in virulence.

Barbetti also said that there was potential to develop such germplasm in India and China via the partnership.“What is more, this research could be applied to identify high levels of resistance in other forage and vegetable Brassica types, thus offering commercial solutions for related industries,” he said.

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Agro Processing

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Government estimates to set up 6 new Agri University in Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju.

North East The delegation also submitted

A

griculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh said that the government will consider the demand of setting up six new agricultural colleges as well as upgrading the infrastructure of existing ones in north eastern states. He gave deep assurance to a delegation from north eastern states, led by Minister of State for

a memorandum highlighting the requirements of the north-eastern region in the areas of agricultural education and research.

Kiren Rijiju emphasized “There is a need to promote North-East in the field of agriculture emphasized.

We have sought up gradation of infrastructure of existing colleges and stressed the need to establish new colleges as per the needs of each state in the region.”

Singh has directed Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) to look into the feasibility of opening more agricultural and veterinary colleges and universities in all the eight states of the

region, an official statement said.

The Minister said that the 6 news colleges would cost Rs 600-700 crore and to fulfill the demand will serious look into it.

There is also a great need for the Central Agriculture University in Imphal, Manipur to be strengthened as agrieducation and research plays a big role in bringing in latest technology to farmers.

The Union minister has also met UN food agency FAO representative in India, Peter Kenmore, Who lauded India’s efforts in extending support to global partnerships in agriculture and food security Kenmore apprised the minister of the work done by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) globally and in India towards ensuring food security, price stability, family farming and responsible agriculture, especially in the context of challenges related to climate change.

The minister expressed hope that India and FAO will work together for food security, not just of India, but also of the entire region, and the world.

Indian Potato shipments hit by Quality Issues

D

ue to violation of their quality norms, due to violation of their quality norms, Russia has warned of stringent action, including a ban, on the import of potatoes from India.

Federal Services for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (FSVPS) – The Russian agency - has told the Union agriculture ministry that Russian authorities have intercepted 23 consignments of Indian potatoes with pests and disease. With an estimated 29 tonnes in each consignment, about 700 tonnes has been impounded.

Santosh Sarangi, chairman of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) said that, “These consignments have not been rejected so far. Only the affected portion has been taken out. For now, it does not pose any threat for spilling over problems to other European countries.

But, it raises a serious concern on export of Indian agriculture products. APEDA has issued an advisory to agri exporters on the need to follow quality norms specified by importing countries.

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For phytosanitary and pest issues, APEDA has ordered exporters to get certificates from warehouses approved by it for acceptance in destination countries.

FSVPS has, for one, said it wouldn’t accept further shipments without this and has also doubled the sampling intensity for Indian potato export to Russia.

This can affect the potatoes export to other countries too and hence quality concerns are serious issue.

Agriculture topped India’s export basket in 2013-14. Agri export zoomed to $45 billion in 2013-14 from $25 bn in 201112. Potato export to Russia rose sharply to 240,000 tonnes in 2013-14.

Mr Sarangi has advised exporters not to make any shipment of potatoes to the Russian Federation violating the stipulated condition. Any deviation from the procedure stipulated under this advisory would be viewed seriously and the onus of the consequences will solely be on the defaulting exporters, said Sarangi. Since quality norms differ from one country to another, Indian exporters do not follow country-wise specifications 21

unless these are specified.“Now, the onus lies with the Russian authorities to provide us a list of required quality certificates from Indian exporters, which we will certainly follow,” said Ajit Shah, president, Horticulture Exporters Association.

Recently, in a similar incident, Saudi Arabia had banned import of green chilli from India after interception of higher than permissible levels of pesticide residues in consignments there. “We are in touch with the authorities there, trying to convince them about dealing with quality issues in future. We have assured them about all vegetable export routing through Apeda, with pesticide residue certificates issued by laboratories approved by us. We hope chilli exports to the Middle East would re-commence soon,” said Sarangi.

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Oils & Fats

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How Canadian canola is helping educate India’s poor

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qbal Singh Kingra, once a director of agriculture for the Indian state government of Himachal Pradesh, is the spiritual leader of a foundation that builds high-tech schools for India’s rural poor. What’s unusual is one of the ways he funds the effort: By selling canola oil harvested and ground on the Canadian Prairies.

His ardent belief in the health benefits of canola oil – a Canadian innovation – have made Mr. Kingra and his followers an unlikely bridge between farms in Western Canada and the immense edible oil market in India that Canadian canola farmers have never been able to crack.

It’s a market where 1.2 billion people fry almost everything they eat, but do so mainly with palm oil.

For Mr. Kingra and the philanthropic Sikhs who work tirelessly for him, canola oil is simply a means to an end.

Angered by alarming levels of substance abuse and widespread illiteracy in their native Punjab, Mr. Kingra and his Kalgidhar Society want to construct schools as fast as they can – and donations simply can’t keep up. Mr. Kingra, whose followers refer to him by the spiritual title baba ji, turned to canola and decided to start a social business that would import Canadian canola oil to India.

Canola – a contraction of “Canadian” and “oil” – was engineered in the 1970s after concern over the high erucic acid content

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of other rapeseed oils. It is generally considered to be healthier than other oils because it has lower levels of saturated fats.

The society’s members first tried growing the yellow-flowering plant in Punjab, where the Green Revolution started in the 1960s. But despite farmers’ solid reputations in the grain-basket of India, it was still much cheaper to import the oil from Canada. And so the disciples of Mr. Kingra got on planes bound for the Canadian prairies, where they toured farms outside Saskatoon and found the October air unpleasantly chilly.

The first few years weren’t profitable for the business, which operates as Jivo, but has grown steadily. From early losses, the company is set to make $500,000 (U.S.) in profits this year and roughly $1-million next year – which could fund the sustainable construction of eight schools per year. Simultaneously, Canadian canola oil exports to India have jumped from just 82 tons in 2009 to around 1,600 tons in 2013.

Jivo estimates they now import about 300 tons of canola oil each month. Hudson, another canola oil company in India, also imports its canola oil from the Canadian prairies. But these numbers are tiny compared to India’s palm oil imports, which regularly exceed 800,000 tons each month, as well as Canada’s existing exports to India of peas and lentils. Oil importers face additional challenges because of tariffs designed to protect Indian oil producers.

Mr. Kingra’s vision is bold: With 129 modern schools built and 60,000 students already studying on high-tech digital smart boards – Mr. Kingra and his foundation want to expand to 500 schools by 2020.

In a tiny village called Balbehra, a gleaming, three-storey school rises from the surrounding wheat fields.

“This is a very backward part of Punjab,” says principal Rajinder Kaur Virk, as she strolls past students dressed in clean, 23

plain blue and white uniforms switched everyday between boys and girls to encourage gender neutrality in an area where many fathers don’t send their girls to school. “The school has been a revolution.”

It seems to be working. “Sir, I want to become an engineer, a mechanical engineer,” says one 14-year-old girl, Arshbreet Kaur. “And my parents support me.”

The schools instill student leadership in their impoverished communities, as well as sometimes in their homes. Kaka Singh, a middle-aged farmer whose son attends the school, says he used to drink alcohol every night after working the fields, but gradually stopped, as he felt increasingly awkward drinking near his studying son. “My son is getting such a good education,” he says. “I run the risk of inspiring him also to drink. And I can’t do that.”

The society’s headquarters, where “Baba ji” lies in his hut, is not some premodern village. It is a 400-acre campus that includes schools, a university (where all undergraduates are women), a 300bed hospital, a training centre for nurses with connections to U.S. universities, towering dormitories and a majestic Sikh Gurduwara. The schools even attract foreign students. “I know the education is really good here, especially compared to Ontario,” says Canadian Gurveen Cheema, 16, whose mother was a volunteer teacher here years ago.

Because the campus is remote, it needs to be self-reliant: there is a separate building for cleaning uniforms, a mechanic to repair their fleet of vehicles and a kitchen with huge vats of simmering Punjabi beans and lentils. A nearby mountainside is covered in solar panels.

“Have you seen my hut? It is symbolic,” says Mr. Kingra, or Baba ji, gesturing around him. “I could have retired and built a bungalow in Delhi or Chandigarh (Punjab’s capital) and read newspapers.”

Community members volunteer their time for the cause. “This is a battle we cannot afford to lose,” says Amandeep Singh, the founder of an advertising firm, as his driver pilots between the cattle-drawn bullock carts and grain-laden trucks of Punjab’s hectic harvest season.

“There’s so much to do,” he says. “And so much to lose if it’s not done.”

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Open Letter Hon’ble Prime Minister of India for Food Processing Sector Date : 09-Jun-2014 To, Sh. Narendra Modi ji, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India 7 RCR, New Delhi Respected Sir, Today, after the address of Hon’ble President of India to the people of India during joint session of Indian Parliament, I thought let me share some practical issues for the cause of nation building through food processing sector. Some of these practical suggestions may be of some help in reaching the desired destination in nation building as envisaged our President during his speech to the nation.

Food processing Industry should be promoted as a price stabilization industry for consumers, not just for manufacturing of value added products. Extended shelf life of perishable products will help in stabilizing prices of fresh produce in offseason. e.g. ‘Tomato Paste’ can be good substitute for fresh tomatoes.

Agro-food Processing can also help in value generation in agriculture by-products as well which is generally considered as waste or products with no commercial value. This will create additional income in rural India and will create employment generation.

Ministry of Food Processing Industries is a development agency and should focus on the development of following: a. Take all necessary actions in collaboration with all relevant Ministries to make Indian industry globally competitive by reducing

transaction costs. Review all outdated laws which are adding cost but no value for anyone, except corrupt officials and inspectors. b. Food Processing is a knowledge intensive industry, more than IT sector. Every crop and every lot is new challenge from food

safety point of view. Focus on Technical and Managerial Skills of people those who can understand and can run food business. This

is a specialized business activity, needs proper skills, not just general management or knowledge. Poor technical knowledge will

lead to poor products. c. Create proper and appropriate Infrastructure for handling and preservation of food items, not just warehouses. d. Focus on Market Development for sensible and nutritious products for healthy lifestyle. Prevent Junk foods spread to public health

because “We are what we eat”.

Promote innovation in manufacturing of safe and sensible products for the consumers.

The Major Action Points to achieve the above stated objectives are given below. These are in line with the political manifesto of Prime Minister of India.

S. No.

Doable Action Points

To minimize Corruption and Improve accountability 1.

All license holder Processors should be exempted from any formalities required under APMC Act. If they are directly dealing with farmers, they will have better supplies. In place of spending in government offices, they will spend time in fields. This will help in up-gradation in quality and development of grassroot level infrastructure.

This will also give level playing field between people those who violate tax laws and those who honestly pay ‘mandi’ taxes. This will minimize corruption at ‘mandi’ level as well and honest industry will not suffer due to cost difference created by “Mandi Tax Chori” by people with criminal mindset.

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Open Letter

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2.

Work to prove the image of processed food industry in the country. Unless we do it, growth of industry will suffer.

Today, trust level is very low on processed foods among people. Manufacturers should told that adulteration will be treated at par with terrorist activity, because in both the cases objective to harm the society for personal gains and vested interests.

Make sure that processed foods sold in the market must meet food safety norms. This should be non-negotiable condition. Any substandard food supply should be treated as criminal offense under Criminal Law. For small scale industry government should provide common infrastructure support in the form of warehousing of cold storage on user charges basis under PPP mode.

3.

Food Inspectors should ensure that license holders in their area understand food laws and their factories are hygienically maintained. All food factories should be open for social audit about hygienic conditions only. Food Safety Auditing Companies should be made accountable like CAs under New Companies Act. Today, food safety certificates are sold by certification companies at cost for participation in tenders and for grant purposes without proper safety audits.

4.

In place of Grants, Government should only provide soft loans at reduced interest so that money can be provided to more units every year. This will minimize corruption and encourage accountability. MFPI should also undertake CAG or third party audit of all the food parks funded so far and private units funded by tax payer’s money as grants to know the proper use of funds by these units. This will be an eye open for you all.

5.

All food testing laboratories, including government supported private laboratories doing commercial testing for other units, must be linked to Internet for online access of results of the food samples. This will minimize the chances of corruption, will fix accountability of food inspectors and laboratories. Citizens will know how many samples were collected and found adulterated and by which company. If USA and EU can have rejection reports online, why it can’t be done in India? What is the objective and motive of hiding the facts from consumers?

6.

MFPI must publish consumer survey report, based on online survey, about the quality of food and consumer perception about foods sold in India, every 6 months for all the food sectors of Industry. This will improve the ground reality in coming days. MFPI will be in position to direct it’s time and resources in right direction.

For Skill and Technology Up gradation 7.

Establish one ITI in every state dedicated to food processing sector. This will improve skills of operators about hygiene, food safety and maintenance of food machines.

8.

Industry associations should be given responsibility for capacity building of their association members. At least one promoter director must go through the training every year. Many promoters force their employees to bypass the hygiene and food safety norms to maximize their profits. Unless they get retraining certificate from the associations, they are affiliated to, they should be asked to do so for applying for renewal of licenses. This will ensure timely up-gradation of units and they will be able to understand changes expected by them as manufacture, both by law and consumers. Government officials dealing with food business should also go through the training every year. This will improve mutual respect between Industry and Government departments.

9.

Every Agriculture University must have a pilot plant for food processing. Whatever crops they produce on campus must be processed and sold. This will help in new product development and also development of skilled manpower for industry.

10.

Establish Research facilities with the help of international research institutes on traditional Indian foods which are better in nutritional value than most of the western junk foods. This will improve their presentation, convenience and shelf-life. This will also help in exports from India. This will improve the reach of Indian foods and “Brand India” on global stage. So far Indian research institutes have not delivered as per expectations. They should also face competition from other research institutes.

11.

Make it mandatory to have minimum qualification of operators in food industry to ensure hygiene and safety of food.

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Open Letter

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Investments and Infrastructure for Food Industries 12.

FDI should be encouraged in food processing sector except Junk Foods. Review import duties and export incentives on food items so that value addition and investments is encouraged in India.

13.

On National Highways, after every 100 Kms there must be a food processing cluster and food storage hub. This will ensure low cost movement of food and will improve processing activities including by-product utilization.

14.

Perishable products must be given special railways cargo coaches and space in long distance passenger railways trains for timely and low cost transportation.

15.

Railways should create special wagons for Low Temperature and Frozen Foods transportation.

16.

There must be minimum hygiene standard for food equipment design and fabrication in line with 3A standards for food machines. This will bring more investment and skills to food industry.

17.

There must be standards for packaging materials for food products so that over use of packaging can be avoided and packaging waste can be minimized in consumption centres. This will reduce the cost of packaging and processed foods will become affordable.

18.

All public sector departments should be told to source the processed food items from the state of their location and made by MSMEs provided those units have ISO-22000 registration. This will help local employment generation and consumption of local products by local units. This will save transportation cost and help local industry development.

19.

Bankers should treat food processing activity as priority sector because it is helping in preventing losses or perishable products which are part of priority sector.

20.

In place of spending money on doing general and no-impact seminars, MFPI must organize intensive capacity building programs for new investors and existing promoters. This will help in proper development of food industry and people with right mindset will enter the industry.

Do you have any other suggestion for the preservation of perishables and use of agriculture biomass for job and wealth creation in rural India?

If required undersigned can make the presentation to concerned Ministry on how these can be done in low cost in time bound manner.

With best regards, Sincerely Yours’ Vijay Sardana

CC: Sh. Pranab Mukherjee, Hon’ble President of India Hon’ble Minister for Food Processing Industries, Government of India

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Snack Foodtec

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The drive to integrate

Controlling the complex conveying system at a snack food plant

T

he choice between fully integrated systems or a mix-and-match approach can be a difficult one for engineers seeking to optimise drives and control systems. By selecting from different suppliers, they can match each component in the system to their overall design. Alternatively, integration offers simplicity, guaranteed compatibility and the advantages of dealing with a single supplier. In a recently installed snack food conveyor system, an integrated system of MOVIFIT drives was implemented without compromising the design objectives.

A quick check of the local supermarket shelves gives a clue as to the complexity of the snack food manufacturing process.

The variety on display is enormous.

Everything from high-energy breakfast alternatives and morning pick-me-ups to chips and party foods is readily available.

Imagine, then, the logistical exercise of continuously moving all these different snack foods through a clean manufacturing plant, where hygiene, energy efficiency and reliability are the priorities. To achieve the tight production schedules, all these items must be boxed in their various manufacturing zones and moved along sophisticated conveyor lines

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to the appropriate packing and despatch areas. Design of the conveyor systems and the motors and drives that power them is of critical importance in this environment.

According to Jason Thompson, director of Contech Engineering, there was no need for compromise when designing the drive system for a recently installed snack food conveyor system in Sydney. By choosing integrated and flexible motors and drives from a single supplier that was able to meet the technical requirements for the entire system, his design team had the best of both worlds. While the mix-and-match approach had worked well in the past, the opportunity to source suitable drives and electronics from a single supplier, SEWEurodrive, produced the optimal result at the snack food manufacturing plant.

The layout of the snack food plant called for a complex set of conveyor lines, feeding into the despatch area like a multitude of tributaries flowing into a major river. From the manufacturing line, each snack food carton is placed on a conveyor that joins other lines before moving at a steady rate to an upper level in the manufacturing plant. To achieve this, and to keep the snack food production targets on track, the design incorporated 27

a number of high grip and inclining conveyors. At the upper level, these lines feed into a single conveyor that carries the cartons to the distribution area.

Investment and planning Thompson had a clear goal in mind when planning the project. “We were looking for a reliable and integrated system of drives to keep the conveyor belts moving,” says Thompson. “We wanted simple drive operation and decentralised installation, to save on space and cabling costs.”

To accomplish this goal, Thompson deployed 34 MOVIFIT FC, 0.75 kW variable speed drives. “The decentralised control units of the drive systems required less cable and fewer cabinets in the field, and that was where we made most of the space savings,” he says. This reduced the design complexity and overall costs, while allowing for easy diagnostics and maintenance. The simplified design also reduced possible sources of errors in the wiring-up stage.

The layout of the snack food plant called for a complex system of conveyor lines.

The use of these standardised, industryspecific components for the conveyor

Snack Foodtec

system allowed Thompson and his team to minimise the amount of time spent on planning and reduce costs accordingly.

The decision to close couple the gear motors to SEW-Eurodrive decentralised motor controllers was a significant step says John Gattellari, national industry specialist food and beverage, with SEW-Eurodrive. “The inclusion of our MOVIFIT system, particularly suited for food-grade environments, provided a perfect match in terms of compatibility and reduced the time required for installation and set-up. We provided some initial training and they did the rest.

The system has run like clockwork ever since,” he says.

Gattellari says that the MOVIFIT solution allows for flexible topology, which simplified the design process for the snack food conveyor system. This was aided by built-in local intelligence and local control functions.

Isolators are also local, providing an important safety feature. Additional protection devices were not required for the snack food application. This is typical of such projects and applies to wet areas as well.

Energy efficiency was another important consideration in the design of the snack food conveyor system. “The energy efficiency of the drives reduces costs, while also complying with new energyefficiency laws,” says Thompson.

Decentralised Being modular and flexible, the MOVIFIT drive control fulfilled Thompson’s important criteria for decentralised drive systems, with fewer components required in the system design. A decentralised electronics unit enables control of several

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drives, which reduces the number of units required in the system.

The three versions of the unit available afforded his team the options they sought for the snack food project. A flexible communication system was a major requirement. The designers selected DeviceNet for this project, and also had the choice of other commercially available fieldbuses such as Ethernet, PROFINET, PROFIsafe and PROFIBUS. Looking to the future, the system offers easy diagnostics and maintenance; for example, when the electronics are replaced. Expansion of the system can be carried out with minimal disruption due to the modular, decentralised design concept. Furthermore, the modules can be re-used, reducing project planning time and costs. Gattellari says that the units have been designed with installation in mind. The inside of the robust housing is large enough for electricians to comfortably work in, so that any wiring that may be required can be completed quickly and efficiently.

Minimal training The connection technology enabled quick installation and commissioning. With SEW-Eurodrive providing training from its Drive Academy, Contech Engineering only required two half-day sessions for 28

one of their engineers in order to complete the project. Following this training, the installation and commissioning of the drives was carried out by their own staff.

“All we required was updates on the new technology to assist with the design,” says Thompson. “The process was straightforward and we are familiar with SEW-Eurodrive equipment as we have used it since our inception 17 years ago.

The robust housings of the MOVIFIT drives add to the reliability of the conveyor system. The drives are excellent - second to none.”

After the conveyors were built and tested, they were disassembled in preparation for shipping to site. The entire project took eight weeks to complete, with the locally assembled drive units delivered within three weeks of the order being placed.

Despite the complexity of the conveyor system, Thompson says that because of the system design and the equipment

chosen, disassembly and reassembly on site were easily implemented.

The integrated design approach, with all drives sourced from a single supplier, allowed Thompson’s team to reduce the complexity of the conveyor system by minimising the number of different components. At all phases of the project - planning, design and implementation this approach proved to be cost effective and fulfilled all technical requirements.

For the snack food conveyor system, integration of the drives was achieved without compromising the design objectives

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

Packaging Trend

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Smart and Active

packaging

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ike Smart phones and smart gadgets - Smart and active packages deliver entertainment, information and an improved product experience

The Smart app for ice creams New approaches to intelligent and active packaging are altering consumers’ experience of food products, adding interactivity to some and increasing palatability for others.

Definitions of intelligent/ smart and active packaging abound. Smart packaging interacts with consumers - via Smartphone, for instance. Active packaging on the other hand, interacts with its own internal or external environment. In-pack odorabsorbing patches are in this camp.

Smart and active packages are finding Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

a home in many product categories for applications ranging from the seriously fun to the decidedly serious. A fun and functional example comes from the Häagen-Dazs brand, which offers the Häagen-Dazs Concerto Timer app and companion packaging for all of its 14-oz. cartons of ice cream.

After downloading the free app, the consumer points an iPhone at the top of the Häagen-Dazs carton and - through the magic of augmented-reality technology a tiny, ethereal violinist appears and plays Bach Inventions No. 14. The little concert is on your Smartphone, but if you hold the phone just right, it appears to be on top of your ice cream carton. The interlude lasts for two minutes, which is just the right amount of time to let the ice cream soften before serving.

The whole idea for the app has come from the consumers, according to people of Häagen-Dazs. . “A lot of HäagenDazs fans know that when they take out Häagen-Dazs from their freezer, it’s really cold and dense. That’s due to the high quality of the ice cream.” Within the U.S., the Häagen-Dazs trademark is licensed to Nestlé by brand owner General Mills.

When you allow the ice cream to sit, or what we call ‘temper,’ for a rest of two minutes, it allows the flavors and texture to bloom, and you get a much better 29

eating experience once you let that ice cream temper a bit.

If the consumer is tempering more than one carton of the ice cream at a time, an expanded version of the augmentedreality experience can be created. Pointing an app-enabled iPhone at the first carton makes the violinist appear, and pointing it at a second carton makes a cellist emerge.

The two performances are separate; however, they meld together beautifully.

Haagen-dazs chose augmented-reality technology due to its uniqueness and the high level of engagement and the technology provides consumers with “a cutting-edge, 3D type of experience.

To sweeten the deal, so to speak, the brand also is donating $5 for every app download to honey bee research at the University of California at Davis (up to a $75,000 donation, in total).

The brand’s ad agency of record, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners San Francisco, worked digital production company Jam3, Toronto, to create the Häagen-Dazs Concerto Timer app.

QR code provide Allergen info Packaged food provides information on the labels but no enough for the parents or the general consumers to know all about the allergens. For Zego, San Francisco, smart packaging has a more serious purpose. The company recently began providing consumers with batch-specific allergen data via quick-response (QR) codes on product wrappers and boxes.

The company, a start-up, manufactures and markets allergy-friendly energy bars made from organic sunflower seeds.

Although Zego’s product formulation is free of the eight major food allergens - such as soy, nuts, dairy and gluten — the bars are made in a shared facility, so

Packaging Trend the possibility of cross contamination is possible.

Therefore, the company has the University of Nebraska’s Food Allergen Research and Resource Project test a sample from each batch of Zego bars to verify that they meet the FDA’s gluten-free guidelines and to measure peanut, soy, almond and dairy residue (if any) in the product.

The QR code is printed on the back of each wrapper, under the nutrition facts panel.

Scanning the code with a Smartphone gives consumers access to that batch’s allergen test results as well as a way to communicate directly with the company.

Consumers can tell what they want to know about the product, for example, after scanning the code, “they can actually click on the email link and say, ‘Hey, could you let me know about pistachios?’ or other ingredients that are not on the list of allergens that were tested for.

The company claims that though it cannot guarantee that their product is safe for anyone, but definitely they can give a lot more information than anyone are used to having, which will help you make a better-informed decision. This is the kind of information that consumers should have at their fingertips, whether it’s for themselves or their kids.

Regarding processor allergen testing and consumer access to the test results Zego would like it to catch on like wildfire and have consumers start to accept it and demand it of manufacturers. Imagine a landscape where a mother could be shopping, and she could scan [a package and] pull up the allergen test results right then and there.

School teachers and other intermediaries also can use the on-pack QR code to make sure the product is appropriate for distribution to their constituencies.

Underlying each of these scenarios is fast, easy access to the allergen information.

Active packaging gets busy Various approaches to active packaging, including antimicrobial and oxygenscavenging films and packages that breathe, are not new. But new twists continue to emerge in support of nascent product concepts and packaging applications.

Egg companies have found solace in name of smart packaging. Like egg packages in many international companies contains

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an odor-absorbing patch to keep smells from building up inside the pouch, which contains a single shelled, hard-boiled egg.

So-called snack eggs from The Original Egg Co., Staffordshire, U.K., illustrate the point. Hence the Original Egg Co. is a business unit of U.K. egg producer and packer Stone gate, which specializes in free-range and organic eggs.

It was, in fact, the odor-absorbing patch that made individually packaged snack eggs commercially viable. Initially, the brand owner tried packaging the eggs in a pouch that did not have odor-absorbing properties.

The problem, of course, with eggs is that there is a very strong … sulfurous odor.

So much so that it was actually puts the consumers off. They think twice before buying thus reducing the sale of the egg product. But now to much extent due to the odor-absorbing patch now used

by The Original Egg Co, sale has been tremendous.

In retail trials the initial package “was rejected for that reason - because of the odor. So they went back to the drawing board.” After a package redesign to conquer the problem, the product launched successfully in the United Kingdom at retailer Waitrose, Berkshire, U.K. Like the old package, the new one is a flow-wrapped pouch. The odorabsorbing patch is integrated into the automated packaging operation, with a label applicator applying the patches to the film as it feeds into the flow wrapper.

Thus each pouch that comes off the line is equipped with an internal patch.

Thanks at least in part to the patch, the on-the-go snack is “doing extremely well -You can open it up in the office, and you don’t have to worry about the smell.

A variant of this odor-absorbing technology is used in meat packaging to eradicate odors that develop inside vacuum packs of beef, lamb, pork and poultry. In those instances, the technology is combined with a moisture-absorbing pad.

Sirane developed odor-absorbing pads for meat on behalf of Asda, U.K. The British retailer had been experiencing an unacceptably high level of returns of vacuum-packed eat, because of what the product smelled like when consumers opened the packages.

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There’s a thing called confinement odor… which is a very strong smell that you get when you open a vacuum pack that’s had meat in it, this is because the odor develops when meat is held in an anaerobic environment. It’s a “stagnant, sour smell. It’s very unpleasant, and people usually open the packaging, thinking the meat was off and then taking it back to the store. But there was nothing wrong with the meat.”

To test the efficacy of the odor-absorbing pads in vacuum packs, Asda performed a one-million-package trial. The return rate was so low the retailer “then adopted [the technology] in every vacuum pack, and they tell all of their suppliers now to use it in all of the vacuum packaging.

Fun factor

In contrast to the quietly functional snackegg package, a recent Yoplait Go-Gurt pouch used thermochromic technology to add kid-friendliness and interactivity to packaging. The stick pack, which was a limited-time promotional package, was decorated with a character from the Pixar movie “Despicable Me 2.”

The pouch is printed with thermochromic (color-shifting) inks that make the “minion” character change from purple, when refrigerated, to yellow as the product warms up. To speed up the process, package text tells kids to press their finger on a circle printed just above the minion’s head.

The package aims to engage kids and their parents while delivering a fun experience.

“Leveraging [thermochromic] ink for the ‘Despicable Me 2’ integration allowed us to bring a key piece of the storyline to life in a way that moms and kids found unique and engaging.

The color-shifting pack generated buzz on social media, as well.

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

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The History of the Ramen Noodle Posted by Sophie Brickman 32

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

History

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The History of the Ramen Noodle

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n Monday evening, the Culinary Historians of New York gathered on Manhattan’s Upper East Side to discuss the political and economic underpinnings of ramen-noodle soup.

“Next month’s meeting is called Dethroning the Deceitful Pork Chop, ” a member named Linda Pelaccio reminded the audience of about fifty students, foodies, and septuagenarians from the podium. “But now, Professor George Solt!”

Solt, an assistant history professor at New York University, had been hunched over his notes in the first row. He is thirty-five, with close-cropped hair and a slightly Snoopy-ish air about him. He rose and took in the room; many in attendance were slurping quietly from small bowls of ramen provided by the Harlem restaurant Jin Ramen. Solt chose to open with a caveat: “First off, I don’t know how to cook ramen or where to get the best ramen,” he said.

“I’m approaching this from a historical perspective.”

Twelve years ago, Solt, who spent the first decade of his life in Tokyo, before moving to New England, began researching his dissertation at the University of California, San Diego. Entitled “Taking Ramen Seriously: Food, Labor, and Everyday Life in Modern Japan,” it delved into the food production, labor practices, foreign trade, and national identity wrapped up in Japan’s now famous noodle soup.

He has published other noodle-related academic writings, including an article in the International Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, “Shifting Perceptions of Instant Ramen in Japan during the High-Growth Era, 1958-1973.” But his most accessible piece of work on the topic is a book borne of his doctoral dissertation, “The Untold History of Ramen: How Political Crisis in Japan Spawned a Global Food Craze,” which was published in February.

His talk traced ramen from its origins, as a distinctly Chinese soup that arrived in Japan with Chinese tradesmen in the nineteenth century, through the American occupation after the war, to the proliferation of instant ramen in Japan in the seventies; the national frenzy in

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

the eighties and nineties that gave birth to ramen celebrities, ramen museums, and ramen video games; and, finally, America’s embrace of ramen and Japanese culture today, as exhibited by the cultlike craze surrounding the sixteen-dollar bowls of ramen served by the celebrity chef David Chang.

“Ramen is one of the most minutely documented foods in Japan,” Solt writes.

A number of geopolitical and economic factors-the reindustrialization of Japan’s workforce during the Cold War, the redefining of national identity during twenty years of economic stagnation— all combined to elevate ramen from working-class sustenance to a dish that is internationally recognized, beloved, and iconic. His research involved reading everything from ramen graphic novels to government documents produced during the U.S. occupation. In what Solt describes as an “Aha!” moment, he discovered that when the U.S. occupied Japan it imported wheat as a way to contain Communism.

“The more Japan experienced food shortages, the more people would gravitate towards the Communist Party,” he said.

By providing the wheat needed to make ramen noodles, America won the Cold War, sort of.

The crowd listened, mostly rapt, as Solt showed photos of Japan’s ramen museum (not to be confused with its instant-ramen museum), which opened in 1994 and cost thirty-eight million dollars. “The ‘sun’ sets indoors every fifteen minutes because it’s supposed to make you hungry,” Solt said. He also showed the first packaged instant Chikin ramen, from Nissin Foods Corporation, which hit shelves in 1958. The first Cup O’ Noodles came to America in 1973, Solt said, and, as he showed a photo of the hut where Nissin’s founder, Momofuku Ando, allegedly invented the dish, he noted, with gravity, that Ando’s innovation had to do “both with Styrofoam and the fact that more noodles were concentrated at the top, so it cooked evenly.” In Japan, the dish was embraced widely as a practical emergency food after a live television broadcast of a hostage standoff, seen by almost ninety per cent of television viewers, showed policemen eating cupped ramen in subzero temperatures as they waited for the hostage to be released. Bento boxes and onigiri, their usual forms of sustenance, 33

would have frozen solid. Instant, cupped ramen, to this day, remains a ubiquitous food in times of natural disaster.

After the talk, Solt opened the floor to questions. One woman wanted to better understand the alkalinity of the ramen noodle, and the historical and political importance inherent in the noodle itself.

Another audience member raised her hand. “I’ve heard that someone in Los Angeles, or New York, is making a ramen that is curly,” she said. Long beat. “Is that O.K.?” Solt nodded thoughtfully, then said, “I think so.” He stayed an additional fifteen minutes after the evening officially wound down, speaking with a long line of ramen fans.

Afterward, on the way to the nearby Naruto Ramen, on Third Avenue, Solt was aglow.

“So many people showed up!” he said, revealing how lonely a decade of ramen research can be. Perusing the menu at the crowded bar, as woks sizzled and smoked behind the counter, he elaborated on America’s love of the dish. “Sushi became the representative food of Japan in the nineteen-eighties abroad, when Japan was a major business competitor to the U.S.,” he said. “The whole embrace of Japanese popular culture in the last ten years is because Japan is no longer an economic threat. That image got transposed to China.

It used to be Japan’s burden.”

Over a bowl of shio (salt) ramen, Solt spoke about moving beyond noodles. He’s now researching the first authentic Indian curry in Japan, a dish markedly different from the sludge-like, bland curried rice introduced by the British Navy during the Meiji era. The spicier version came to Japan in the early twentieth century, largely owing to a revolutionary from British India, who fled to Japan after trying to kill a British viceroy. There, Japanese ultra-nationalists sheltered him as he developed an Indian curry recipe in the back kitchen of a Shinjuku bakery.

“Now, that’s a great story!” Solt said, finishing the last of his ramen. “But, actually, I don’t want to keep doing food.

After curry, I don’t know what else there is. Soba? There’s a limit to how long you can do this kind of stuff and take yourself seriously.”

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Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

Bakery News

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Kamani Oil Industries Launches its First Range of Trans Free Products using Sustainable Practices

Lovely Bake Studio a 100% Eggless Bakery behind the bakery, says ” 100% EGGLESS, 200% opened in Punjab

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ccording to government statistics one-fourth of all deaths among people in the 25-69 years age group is due to cardiovascular diseases.

Studies have shown that Indians are affected by heart diseases at a much younger age as compared to the people in the west.

The key factors contributing to this is the adoption of an unhealthy life style comprising of sedentary habits, lack of physical activity and poor eating habits including excessive consumption of trans fats.

Keeping this is mind, Kamani Oil Industries, a leading manufacturer of speciality oils and fats have for the first time launched a range of trans free bakery products that consists of: Pufflite, Cakelite, K-Lite, TasteePuff, Kpuff, Kcookiez, Kmeethaplus and Kompleteplus.

The range can withstand high ambient temperature and is characterized by excellent plasticity. Along with being trans free, the products also contribute to better taste and volume and add to its nutritional value.

As the name suggests it is used for all type of bakery applications including cheese sticks, croissants, biscuits, cookies, doughnuts, butter cream and cream based biscuits.

Along with ensuring this new range is consumer friendly, Kamani Oil Industries also ensures that the manufacturing processes of this range is environmentally friendly.

Along with being the first vegetable oil processor to be a member of Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Kamani Oil Industries is also a member of SEDEX. Commenting on the same, Mr. Prakash Chawla, Director, Kamani Oil Industries said, “At Kamani Oil Industries, not only has our focus been on developing healthy oils and fats, but also on developing these sustainably. We are glad to be able to contribute to a greener and healthier tomorrow.”

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

T

he Lovely Group, the prominent business house of North India, starting off as Lovely Sweets, unveiled its new initiative Lovely Bake Studio. A 100% eggless bakery which is inspired by the European recipies along with a large variety of traditional bakery items as well.

Opened in the heart of the city at Nakodar Chowk, opposite Lovely Sweets, the Lovely Bake Studio is spread over a sprawling 2500 sq ft showroom with modern infrastructure. The European retro cafe’ design creates the perfect ambience to savour the perfect taste in every bite of the eggless assortment of cakes, pastries, puffs, muffins and much more.

Mr Naresh K Mittal, Managing Director of Lovely Sweets, who has been at the helm and is the brain

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Delicious is our motto for Lovely Bake Studio. Our guests can now enjoy flavours, dishes, delicacies that were before not available in Eggless variety. Since Lovely Group stands for quality and commitment, the quality and purity of ingredients to be used in the bakery products are bound to meet the expectations of all discerning patrons and consumers.” Present on the occasion were Mr Ramesh Mittal, Chairman Lovely Group, and Mr Ashok Mittal, Chancellor Lovely Professional University, and Shaishav Mittal.

Shaishav Mittal, Director Lovely Sweets mentioned with Lovely Bake studio in Jalandhar there is no need of avoiding baked goodies due to religious restrictions or health concerns. Enjoy new varieties of delicacies with new flavours and relish the always desired Eggless cakes, cookies & savories without any qualm or reservation. This unique feat, involving reformulating and reengineering of traditional home-made recipes by a talented team of chefs from across the country over the past one year, resulted in the mouth-watering, perfect tasting, 100% Eggless varieties that can be savoured by one and all.

Creative minds fill food gap

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JUDE GILLIES

H

ow soon could you double the current food production from your home garden? If you haven’t heard, doubling food production to feed the world’s burgeoning population is just one of the issues we face as a species.

While some live only in a digital world, I admit to still loving newspapers and books. Having grown up on a neverending supply of National Geographic magazines arriving by the now oldfashioned but hopefully never obsolete system of snail mail, I still love the smell and excitement of opening a freshly printed edition - and this month is no exception.

In keeping with the current endless obsession with food, the cover story is

how we might feed the 9 billion people expected on the planet by 2050.

But rather than another disheartening story about starving millions, cropcrippling droughts, pests, diseases and food wars, it provides an inspirational read about a plan to double the availability of food while simultaneously reducing the environmental harm caused by agriculture.

If it sounds too far-fetched to be true, think again.

The first step in the five-point plan is to stop deforestation and freeze the global agricultural footprint, to maintain what biodiversity we have left.

The second is to grow more on the agricultural land we already have 36

in production, including land that is under-utilised, by combining high-tech and precision farming with organic approaches.

The third step is a proposal to use resources more efficiently, again combining conventional and organic farming to produce more “crop per drop” from our water and nutrients.

The fourth step is to change our diets to reduce our protein intake via pasture animals that graze vast areas of arable land and, instead, eat more crops and vegetables.

Step five is to reduce waste by, among other things, the absurdly obvious idea of serving and eating less Meltzer - and thus, By: Joshua perhaps, curbing the developed world’s Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

Food Security

www.agronfoodprocessing.com obesity epidemic.

The authors of the Rockefeller Foundation and National Geographic Society-funded research project, called The Future of Food, predict that we could “more than double” the world’s food supplies and reduce the impacts of agriculture on the environment by 2050.

But they also warn that it won’t be easy, because it requires what is probably the biggest ask of all: changing our attitudes to just about everything.

All five steps seem incredibly sensible and imminently doable.

The most glaringly obvious way of making better use of the land we already have in cultivation is through what most call home gardening, but I suggest we relabel it micro-agriculture.

I’m one of those who thinks we don’t value our land and resources enough in New Zealand. Instead of keeping productive soils for crops, we allow them to be subdivided for lifestyle living and ride-on mowing. And in town, we pour valuable, A-grade water on endless borders and manicured lawns, relentlessly mown with precious fossil fuel.

And why? Because we can. We’ve grown up with a largesse of land and resources. But to me, it’s always telling to note the gardens of those who’ve come here from a different paradigm, particularly the gardens of migrants and refugees.

Rather than lavender and lawns, their gardens are more often filled with beds of onions and bok choy, or beans and broccoli. They know of and value the opportunity to grow their own food and feed their families.

What intrigued me about China when I visited more than a decade ago was how every inch of land, along railway lines and roadsides and next to paddy fields, was growing something productive, instead of just rank grass, as we do. And, in the way of efficient, two-tier production, free-ranging ducks and future dinners Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

wandered the paddy fields, keeping pests under control.

The Chinese may have problems with pollution, erosion, dodgy agrichemical use, loss of biodiversity and misguided mega hydroelectric projects (think the massive Three Gorges dams), but they can certainly teach us about micro-agriculture and how to optimise food production from available arable land.

I’m not suggesting that we give up lawns, lavender or ornamental gardens altogether but, moving on in the 21st century, I suggest that in New Zealand, where sections are still relatively big and water plentiful, each of us can make more of an effort to grow our own food at home.

That’s what I mean by micro-agriculture.

If you take the net total of sections and urban land available for growing food in Nelson city alone, we could double our homegrown production in just one year.

And by using micro-irrigation systems, collecting rainwater in storage tanks, we can similarly reduce consumption of costly, treated water from the council supply.

Normally, I buy pumpkins, because the plants take up so much space, but this year I boosted production eightfold by growing a crop of the magnificent Italian variety Tonda padana on a pile of topsoil waiting to be spread later in the year. Left to their own devices, the plants yielded enough to keep us in homegrown roasties throughout winter.

We’ve also made a resolution to have 37

desserts only of fruit we’ve grown ourselves. It’s our satisfying way of staying seasonal or eating only that which we’ve frozen or preserved. Right now there are the first of the tamarillos and the last of the pears, apples and feijoas, and there are always loads of raspberries and blackcurrants in the freezer.

And, in keeping with the theme of making better use of resources, Chelsea Flower Show 2014 opened this week in London, featuring, among other ideas, designs focused on global water issues, showing how urban dwellers can harness and maximise rainwater runoff to cool and water their gardens in an aesthetically pleasing way.

It’s a recurring theme in an environmentally challenged world, but

not a new one. Micro-managing water to cool and water a garden was elegantly mastered by India’s Mughal emperors, reaching its ultimate expression with the Taj Mahal.

It is an interpretation of the earlier Persian charbagh (quadripartite water) gardens, also replicated in Moorish gardens, like that at the Alhambra in Spain, which evolved as aesthetic interpretations of ancient Egyptian gardens, where water was revered for its life-giving, plantnourishing properties as much as it was for its ability to nourish the soul.

They may not have had the internet, and only the beginnings of paper, but the Egyptians knew the value of water and arable soil.

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2014

Global State Of The Confectionery Industry: Beyond Borders

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merging and even mature markets hold promise for solid confectionery growth, but primarily for those that show ingenuity, innovation and insight.

By Crystal Lindell “A small hobby turned into a Clarendon Hills-based candy company and a sugarfueled international obsession,” reads the lead sentence in a recent Chicago Tribune article about Vintage Confections, a Chicagoland custom lollipop company.

It’s a classic small entrepreneur start-up story with one major twist: thanks to the internet, this boutique candy company is

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

doing an enormous amount of business in China.

According to the article, “Vintage Confections says 95 percent of its business is online and that, according to IP and mailing addresses and customer feedback, 95 percent of those customers are Asian. Half live overseas, mostly in China.”

Unusual? No doubt. Improbable? No longer. Moreover, this sweet vignette helps illustrate the global state of the industry for confections: borders are breaking down. If Vintage Confections can sell hi-end lollipops for $40 in China, it’s clear that ingenuity and innovation 39

can propel confectionery sales anywhere in the world.

In essence, this year’s annual overview on global confectionery sales reinforces the ongoing discussion about emerging markets. It also reveals the need to reexamine mature markets that still hold plenty of opportunity and growth, albeit to those who can transform a mere lollipop into a luxury accessory.

A quick glance at the numbers within the Global Confectionery Market chart reveals flat growth in Western Europe, drop-offs in North America and even Asia Pacific, but strong upticks in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle

Report East Africa and Australasia. New in this year’s chart is the isolation of specific country markets within regions, such as the United States, China, India, Brazil and Russia — all key confectionery markets.

The size and impact of these single-country markets cannot be overemphasized, be it for Mars, Mondelez International, The Hershey Co., Nestle, Ferrero or say even a Vintage Confections. Earlier this year, Hershey announced that its Hershey’s Kisses chocolates had surpassed $100 million in annual sales in China, making it the first Hershey Co. brand to reach this milestone in a country outside of the United States.

“Kisses chocolates have become an iconic product for Chinese consumers,” asserted Max Rangel, senior v.p. of the

Chocolate Strategic Business Unit at Hershey, earlier this year. “What started as ‘little Hershey’s Kisses with a big

www.agronfoodprocessing.com chocolate taste’ has evolved into a favorite product to share and for gifts for the most important occasions, such as weddings and special holidays.”

In just five years, Hershey’s Kisses brand sales in China have grown 20-fold, reflecting the dramatic growth of the country’s confectionery market.

By 2016, China is forecasted to be the No. 5 confectionery market in the world with more than $14 billion in sales.

And, Hershey expects China to become its No. 2 market, behind only the United States, by 2017.

As a way of further emphasizing China’s role in growing international sales, Hershey recently introduced Hershey’s Kisses Deluxe Chocolates in the country. The candies are twice the size of Hershey’s Kisses Chocolates and feature a whole hazelnut in the center surrounded by rich milk chocolate with crisped rice, wrapped in a special gold foil.

The product was developed to fit with Chinese consumers’ demand for a unique, premium chocolate that offers rich deliciousness and genuine 40

thoughtfulness, perfect for gifting.

Another single-country market that’s receiving attention is India. According to a recently published report by TechSci Research, “India Chocolate Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2019,” India’s chocolate market is forecast to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 18 percent, in value terms, during 201419.

The reports points out that consumer preferences in India have gradually transitioned from traditional sweets to chocolates over the last couple of decades. Moreover, targeted promotional campaigns by chocolate companies over the last decade have encouraged the consumers to gift chocolates on festive occasions.

As a result, per capita consumption of chocolates has also grown tremendously from 40 grams in 2008 to 120 grams in 2013, the study points out. Currently, Cadbury is the market leader in terms of total chocolate sales, followed by Nestlé.

But the sheer population numbers, fueled by the continuing growth of a middle class open to purchasing more premium confections, has a broad range of players interested in joining the fray.

“Attracted by the country’s growing appetite for chocolates and increasing sales in the premium segment, various international chocolate manufacturers like Mars, Patchi, Hershey, Lindt and Fererro Rocher have forayed into India,” says Karan Chechi, research director with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm. “Companies like Mars, Patchi and Hershey are even focusing on opening up brand-specific stores.”

Another megamarket coming into its own is Brazil. As a Euromonitor International report cites, “The rise in disposable Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

Report

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income among consumers, especially the new middle-class consumers, is increasing the consumption of chocolate confectionery. Consumers are changing their confectionery preferences, preferring to purchase chocolate instead

prevail. Nonetheless, armed conflict can, as evidenced by the demise of such a strong confectionery market like Libya, obliterate any kind of growth.

And then there’s the United States, which is coming off a solid year regarding

of sugar confectionery and gum.”

As a result, chocolate confectionery is expected to register a CAGR of 7 percent in constant value terms during the forecast period between 2013 and 2018, Euromonitor says. In volume terms, chocolate confectionery is set to post a CAGR of 6 percent for the forecast period.

Long known for its predilection for chocolates, Russia seems to be another expansive market place full of opportunity. Its successful staging of the past winter Olympics, however, has been overshadowed by its annexation of Crimea and involvement in eastern Ukraine. Despite the ongoing threat of increased U.S. and European Union sanctions, multinationals see strong continued growth potential.

Mondelez International, for example, recently announced it would build a new $110-million factory in Siberia to produce Milka, Picnic andAlpen Gold chocolates and Jubilee, Barni andTUC biscuits.

Resolution of the crisis would go a long way in assuring positive growth for confections in Russia. No doubt Mondelez believes that cooler heads will

confectionery sales, particularly with regards to chocolate. Indeed, chocolate appears to garner a larger share of not only U.S. confectionery sales, but the world as well.

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In 2012, global chocolate sales were estimated at $107.4 billion; in 2013, they reached $110 billion. More importantly, total share gained .4 percent. Sugar sales also rose, from $59.4 billion in 2012 to $61.2 billion in 2013. It also posted a .4 percent share gain. Gum sales slipped in 2013, dropping from $36.4 billion to $25.3 billion, a .8 percent share decline.

So what’s driving chocolate sales in the United States, and in general, around the world? A Mintel report on U.S. chocolate sales noted that dark chocolate grew $102 million or by 9 percent in 2013 compared to milk chocolate sales increasing by 6 percent or $409 million.

Two specific areas that represent growth sectors for chocolate in the United States are seasonal sales and snack sized products, the same Mintel report asserts.

For example, seasonal chocolate sales grew 14 percent from 2008-13, researchers at Mintel point out. And although Easter chocolate makes up the largest share of seasonal sales, Valentine’s offerings posted the largest growth from 2011-13. As the Mintel report states, “Users of these products are encouraged to think beyond partners in their purchase decision, and to celebrate the holiday spirit with friends and co-workers.”

The researchers at Euromonitor International see the same trend. They forecast strong growth in seasonal

Report

chocolate in both the premium and mass segments, with a 4 percent current value increase in 2013 representing $2.6 billion in sales.

As they point out, “Seasonal chocolate has historically had relatively depressed sales, but in 2011 began to experience strong growth. This growth largely stemmed from price increases by numerous manufacturers, as well as increased interest in the category due to the introduction of premium products, along with a renewed focus from consumers on treating holidays as an appropriate time to indulge. These holidays include Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and generally any holiday which is typically associated with gift-giving or eating.”

But gifting isn’t the only trend boosting chocolate sales; snacking is all the rage. According to Mintel, snack-size chocolates grew 24 percent from from 2008 to 2013. During the last couple of years, major manufacturers have launched miniature versions of their major brands, which helped drive sales amongst the steadily growing snacking audience in the

United States.

As the Mintel reports notes, “Snacking inbetween meals has steadily become much more common amongst many consumers as a simple way to stay satiated all day.

Chocolate producers therefore started

www.agronfoodprocessing.com to introduce smaller bitesized portions, which help to fill this snacking desire.

In addition, the smaller pieces allow for increased calorie control on the part of the consumer, who might think an entire bar of chocolate is too much.”

Other trends that Euromonitor International researchers see occurring with the chocolate category in the United States include: • Tablets should see their fastest growth in 2013, posting $2.6 billion in sales and a 5 percent growth gain. This growth comes from numerous premium brands, which have started to become immensely popular amongst consumers. In addition, mass-market brands such as Hershey have been able to maintain sales growth despite the movement toward premium chocolate.

• Unit prices of chocolate confectionery once again faced strong pressure in 2013 and are expected to increase by 3 percent.

Growth is being led by the miniature versions of countlines being introduced by both Mars and The Hershey Co. In addition, the growth of premium chocolate brands in tablets is further influencing unit prices.

• Plain dark chocolate is expected to see moderate growth in tablets in 2013, registering an increase of 5 percent in current value terms to reach sales of $521 million.

Amongst the various types of tablets, dark chocolate consistently gained share over the review period. Much of its success derives from continued launches by manufacturers of new varieties with a higher cocoa content.

In addition, many medical studies over the last few years attributed numerous 42

health benefits to the consumption of dark chocolate. Plain white chocolate, however, is expected to see the most growth in tablets, albeit from a much smaller base. White chocolate is expected to increase by 6 percent in current terms in 2013, to reach sales of $139 million.

• Ethical marketing continued to make inroads, not only amongst the big boys, such as Mars and Hershey, but with several boutique and artisan companies.

• And the beat continues for more healthfocused snacks, some of which use cocoa and/or chocolate. As Euromonitor points out, “Other snacking categories are introducing new products which are increasingly health-focused. In snack bars and sweet and savory snacks, companies are introducing new products which are increasingly focused on being both healthy and tasty, to give the consumer the sense that they are indulging, without feeling bad about it. Chocolate confectionery may have trouble competing, as it is commonly seen as just an indulgence. However, recent studies about the positive health effects of dark chocolate may be one area on which chocolate confectionery could capitalize.”

It’s an area that could bring in new consumers.

A recent report by Fona International on dark chocolate reveals that 4,144 new dark chocolate products were introduced between 2009-2013. And earlier this year, at a gathering of the American Chemical Society, scientists revealed they had discovered why chocolate is good for you.

Specfically, chocolate-loving microbes in the gut convert an indigestible part of the chocolate into anti-inflammatory compounds.

As John Finley, the Louisiana State University scientist who led the study explained to Science Daily, “When these compounds are absorbed by the body, they lessen the inflammation of cardiovascular tissue, reducing the longterm risk of stroke.”

Now that’s better living through chocolate chemistry. Nonetheless, there was no immediate surge in dark chocolate sales after the scientists released their study.

Consumer awareness and acceptance takes time.

But word-of-mouth is a powerful tool; just ask the entrepreneurs at Vintage Confections.

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

Beverages News

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War between

CCD and Starbucks

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he world’s largest chain and India’s No. 1 retailer are squaring up for control of the country’s coffee retailing market. India is predominately a nation of tea drinkers, with most chains struggling to keep business afloat.

But Starbucks and CCD are making a niche in the coffee market.

Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee retailer; in 20 months of its inception in India - via a 50-50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages BSE 11.23 % - Starbucks has set up 46 such stores nationwide and has plans for dozens more.

If Starbucks has embarked on its fastestever expansion globally in India, the homegrown leader Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) isn’t easily intimidated. India’s largest coffee retailer has launched some 150 stores in the past 12 months and plans a similar nu and plans a similar number in the next year. What’s more, it isn’t sticking to one format. In a bid to firm up its position, CCD has launched formats for malls, highways, an upscale offering called Lounge and a single-origin coffee destination called Square.

CCD is on the plan to be among the top three retail coffee brands in the world and it is already present in some 200 towns across the country (it is often the first and only coffee retailer in many locations) and is aggressively expanding its footprint.

The Indian coffee company hope to grow their retail business at about 20% in 201415 and hope to do get revenue of Rs 1,200 crore from retail sales and another Rs 350 crore f from the wholesale and export

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business this year.

CCD, in three years time wants to have around 2,500 Cafe and Express outlets in three years…and will set them up wherever there are opportunities, including at educational institutions, hospitals, expressways and high streets.

According to reports, CCD has initiated plans for an initial public offering, which may value the chain at $1 billion and provide PE investors such as KKR an exit.

CCD and its investors declined comment on the possibility of such an IPO. India’s No. 1 chain, which has spent the past two decades building up its business and has been predominately unchallenged - will face up to its strongest challenge yet.

The $15-billion Starbucks is preparing to raid its citadel BSE 5.00 %, digging its heels in for a long, bruising brawl.

Over the past two decades, CCD and other chains have been trying to persuade more people to visit their outlets and drink coffee. For all the coffee drinking claims, India remains a relative lightweight.

Scandinavians throw back, by far, the most amounts of coffee and, across the world, several other countries such as the US and China will vastly more coffee than India .

Since inception, CCD (and several other chains) have scaled up the coffee drinking experience from crowded non-air-conditioned cafes to far more luxurious outlets, offering clean cutlery, a refined ambience and, increasingly, a growing assortment of food. Indians have willingly signed up, with industry estimates pegging this segment’s growth at about 20% annually.

CCD and Starbucks are both wrestling for a share of this fast-growing market and elbowing out the strugglers in their slugfest.

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Tata, PepsiCo JV Introducing nutrient Water brand Tata Water Plus’ across India

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ata Global Beverages Ltd (TGBL), which has formed a JV with PepsiCo India, is contemplating to introduce its nutrient water brand ‘Tata Water Plus’ across India, after two years of its launch.

TGBL CEO and MD Ajoy Misra said “, Our plan is to make it a national brand as Tata Water Plus represents the larger mission of mitigating nutritional gaps in the Indian diets.

Tata Water Plus, launched in February 2012, is available in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat at present. It is a product of NourishCo, the 50:50 JV between TGBL and PepsiCo that was formed in 2010.

NourishCo is focused on enhancing the hydration category in India.

Currently, the JV has three products in its portfolio - Tata Water Plus, Tata Gluco Plus and Himalayan Natural Mineral Water.

The company said that it has built an expansive pipeline of innovations that will be used to fuel growth and create newer hydration solutions.

Food Processing News

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Food map of India will be made to ensure the desired interventions to to boost Food Processing expand the Indian food export market and

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rime Minister Modi in his first parliament speech said that we don’t have real time agri produce data. He emphasized on technology revolution in agriculture with the help of already successful India IT sector. Now the first feeler working towards some real time data, the ministry of food processing is planning to develop a food map to help identify food clusters across the country.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, minister for food processing industries said the food map will not only help identify strengths in terms of crop strength, production, processing, but also help the ministry

develop brand India in CII meet.

Kaur also said the food processing ministry is working to devise new schemes to provide last mile delivery to farmers, which include ‘farm to shelf’ schemes like setting up mobile processing vans which could reach out to farmers, and setting up small food processing units providing business incubation, training and a processing centre at village level so that farmers’ produce is processed and reach markets.

Minister also mentioned government top priority to curve the inflation which is directly related to processing of agro produce. Boosting food processing is also on top of the agenda, followed by mitigating post harvest fruit and vegetable losses and driving and accelerating food processing industries growth and to de-regulate and simplify governmental systems, processes and clearances that delay food processing projects, causing huge losses to the companies putting up projects.

Packed Food gone down by 3% in US 2009-13 that frozen foods are every bit as

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ajor packaged foods companies are facing a crisis in the frozen foods aisle in US. As people become increasingly concerned with healthy eating, frozen vegetables and prepackaged meals have taken a hit because consumers perceive them as being less fresh than their non-frozen counterparts.

U.S. sales of frozen meals fell 3% between 2009 and 2013, with an additional 2% decline forecasted for 2014, the Associated Press reported in April.

Now, major players like ConAgra Foods, General Mills, and Kellogg’s have come together to combat the image problem that’s taking a bite out of the $70 billion frozen foods industry.

A trade group they formed, called the The American Frozen Food Institute, has launched a new website and a television campaign aimed at convincing consumers

fresh as the meals they would find in a restaurant or prepare in their own kitchens.

The campaign’s tagline, “How Fresh Stays Fresh,” pitches the idea that freezing foods is “nature’s pause button,” which allows the companies to keep foods at peak freshness until the moment customers are ready to eat them.

The group’s claims are based in large part on a study commissioned by its affiliate nonprofit research group, the Frozen Food Foundation. The study found that most frozen produce has as many nutrients as fresh produce, with some of the frozen fruits and vegetables having more nutrients than those stored in a refrigerator for five days.

While the process of freezing foods might not make them less healthy, many 44

of the meals found on the frozen aisle are unhealthy nonetheless due to the quality of the ingredients being frozen.

The American Diabetes Organization warns that many of these meals are high in calories, fat, sodium, and carbohydrates, and recommends looking at the nutrition label before purchase.

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Agro Processing News

Iran reduces Basmati Imports by 50% due to stringent Iranian Standards

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ran has slashed its purchases of India’s basmati rice by around half over the past three months, helping push India’s domestic prices nearly 10% lower in recent weeks.

In cutting its purchases, some Iranian buyers have cited stringent new Iranian standards on chemical contamination and dissatisfaction with the quality of rice being delivered, saying grades

were below those specified in contracts.

India’s export prices haven’t fallen yet, but it is only a matter of time before they do, traders said.

“We expect to see a price impact on Indian [rice] exports within a week,” said Vijay Setia, a member of the All India Rice Exporters Association.

India and Iran created what is essentially a barter system two years ago to skirt Western sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear program. In exchange for Iranian oil, India sells Iran a range of goods, primarily rice, soymeal and pharmaceuticals.

Mostafa Pakzad, chairman of Iranian trading company Pakzad Consulting Corp., whose business includes commodities, said Iran’s rice imports from India had fallen because of tightened regulatory oversight by Iran.

Rajan Sundaresan, executive director of All India Rice Exporters Association, suggested Iranian buyers might be positioning themselves to demand lower prices. “There is going to be a meeting soon and we are hoping it would be smoothed out by the end of the month,” he said.

India is the largest exporter of rice to Iran. In the financial year ended in March 2014, India’s sales of basmati rice to Iran totaled 1.45 million metric tons, valued at $1.83 billion, Indian government data show. India shipped about 130,000 tons a month of basmati until February, but sales have since plunged to 50,000-60,000 tons a month, Indian traders said.

India exports only high-grade basmati rice to Iran, so the decline in shipments isn’t expected to have much impact on the price of lower-grade rice from major exporters such as Thailand or Vietnam.

Basmati rice costs nearly five times as much as common grades.

Food Grain Storage capacity is on top of agenda-Paswan

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t’s a hard fact that India’s loss of food grain is one of the highest in the world. It can even feed a couple of smaller countries throughout year.

Biggest challenge for the new government is to save the losses of food grains and to increasing storage capacity to minimise food grains rotting.

“Due to lack of storage facilities so much of food grains rot every year. We are chalking out plans on how to increase the storage capacity. It is the top priority in our 100 day agenda,” Public Distribution minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.

The issue of food grains decay was

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prominently raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the election campaign he mentioned FCI reshaping more than once.

He had repeatedly referred to an order by the Supreme Court to distribute the food 45

grains rotting in the open, which he said the UPA government did not do.

Paswan said Bihar was far behind in storage of food grains and the state government did not follow the rules prescribed for their safe storage.

Paswan also said that among other prime concerns of the central government was to ensure the Right To Food, Public Distribution System for the poor, proper remuneration to farmers for their produce, and the issues plaguing the sugarcane industry.

His ministry would pay proper attention toward clearing the dues of sugarcane farmers, he said.

Chocolate News

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Our Chocolates are Halal - Cadbury, Malaysia

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adbury Malaysia today affirmed that all its chocolates made and sold in Malaysia are halal. This comes on the back of confirmation by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM), which released official test results on the two affected batches on June 2.

“We at Cadbury Malaysia are happy to confirm what we have believed all along

– that the chocolates we make and sell in Malaysia are halal,” said Sunil Sethi, Managing Director, Mondelez Malaysia.

“Having operated in Malaysia for over 40 years, nothing is more important to us than our consumers’ trust. We intend to put this incident behind us and focus on spreading joy which is at the heart of everything we do at Cadbury.

“While incidents such as this are unfortunate, we are grateful to the relevant authorities for clearing up the air and ensuring that future abnormalities in their test results would be verified internally before making them public,” Sunil continued.

All of Cadbury’s products manufactured and sold in Malaysia are in alignment with JAKIM’s halal guidelines. JAKIM is the highest halal certification authority and regulator on halal guidelines in Malaysia, and is the only body in Malaysia tasked with ensuring products with the halal logo are permissible by Islamic law.

Sunil added, “We understand the importance of ensuring that the cultural

Calorie free Chocolates by a California Man

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California man has come up with a calorie-free way to get your chocolate fix.

Cravings are edible films - think Listerine Strips breath fresheners - infused with milk chocolate flavor. The sugar-free, zero calorie strips dissolve in your mouth and supposedly satisfy your sweet tooth.

“It’s a chocoholic’s dream,” creator Ian Goldfarb told the Daily News.

Goldfarb, a 27-year-old from Burbank, Calif., said keeping his diet under control has always been a struggle, especially when he has a hankering for chocolate.

One day, he was popped a Listerine Strip in his mouth and began to wonder why they didn’t make them in non mouthwash flavors.

That inspired him to look into the process. He found instructions online that

explained how to make your own edible film, so he created a simple version at home.

Ian Goldfarb Ian Goldfarb, 27, told that Cravings are ‘a chocoholic’s dream.’

“I don’t have a chemistry background and I’m not a chef, but I can follow a formula,” he said.

Goldfarb added chocolate flavoring, and Cravings were born.

A manufacturer is lined up to produce the zero calorie chocolate strips, provided Goldfarb can raise the money.

He launched a Kick starter campaign for the product in May, but he did not meet his $40,000 fundraising goal by Friday’s deadline.

But he’s not ready to give up on Cravings just yet.

Ian Goldfarb Ian Goldfarb’s Kickstarter 46

and religious interests of all Malaysians are met. Muslims make up the majority of the population in Malaysia, which is why halal is and always will be our nonnegotiable top priority.

“We have established an Internal Halal Committee (IHC) since we were certified in 2004 to demonstrate our commitment towards halal. Our employees are trained on the requisite certification.”

Cadbury will continue to work very closely with the relevant authorities and observe the required quality processes internally.

On Friday, 23 May 2014, posts on social media revealed that two variants of Cadbury chocolates - Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut 175g (with batch number 200813M01H I2 that expires on November 13, 2014) and Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond 175g (with batch number 221013N01R I1 that expires on Jan 15, 2015) - analysed by the Ministry of Health tested positive for traces of porcine DNA. campaign failed to raise the $40,000 needed to start production, but he says he will continue looking for ways to fund the project.

“I am going to continue with this product and try to make it a reality,” he said.

His next step is to look for an equity investor or try to get a bank loan.

If Cravings do hit the market, strips could be released that taste like all kinds of diet busters, including pizza, French fries and ice cream.

But that’s a ways down the road. For now, Goldfarb is focusing on bringing the calorie-free candy bar alternative to chocolate-lovers everywhere.

“I definitely want to go through with this,” he said.

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Food Ingredients News DuPont First Ingredient Company Issued Probiotic Health Claim in Europe

DuPont™ Danisco® Bifidobacterium lactis HN019™ approved for use in Switzerland uPont is the first ingredient company to receive a probiotic health claim in Europe, further reinforcing the strength of science behind its probiotics. In close collaboration with a major Swiss grocer, DuPont Nutrition & Health recently received approval from Switzerland’s Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) to market Danisco® HOWARU® Bifidobacterium lactis HN019™ probioticas supporting digestion by reducing transit time.

“DuPont Nutrition & Health applauds the Swiss authorities for approving a structure function claim on scientifically backed BifidobacteriumlactisHN019™,” said Fabienne Saadane-Oaks, vice president Health and Protection, DuPont Nutrition & Health. “Despite the regulatory challenges in Europe, DuPont continues to deliver scientifically proven data on the efficacy of our probiotics. This approval validates the strong evidence we have on the link between digestive health and probiotics – support for an important milestone that we hope prompts other countries to follow suit. Digestive comfort is an important benefit for consumers globally, and this approval creates new opportunities for food, beverage and dietary supplement marketers to promote this benefit to consumers.”

Improving Digestive Health Regularity is an important benefit for consumers. The approved claim will provide confidence on the benefits of HN019™. DuPont will be filing dossiers in other European countries, as well.

Probiotics are a fast growing business for DuPont globally, in food, beverages and dietary supplements. In addition to its

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HOWARU® range, which includes the HOWARU® Protect and HOWARU® Restore products, DuPont has a wide range of other probiotic strains in its portfolio. Probiotics are available for immune and digestive health.

DuPont has over 40 years of experience in probiotics, with research led by some the world’s leading scientists. More than 70 clinical studies have included DuPont probiotic strains. DuPont Nutrition & Health has more than 20 research and development facilities around the world.

The combined resources within DuPont Nutrition & Health help manufacturers create products with a healthier profile that actively promote good health to address consumer needs and emerging health trends. The company’s capabilities are applied with a focus on the specific needs of key industry segments, including bakery, beverages, bars and snacks, dairy, meat, ready meals, pediatric nutrition and dietary supplements.

DuPont Nutrition & Health addresses the world’s challenges in food by offering a wide range of sustainable, bio-based ingredients and advanced molecular diagnostic solutions to provide safer, healthier and more nutritious food.

Through close collaboration with its customers, DuPont combines knowledge and experience with a passion for innovation to deliver unparalleled customer value to the marketplace. More information is available at www.food. dupont.com DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs and thought leaders, we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit www. dupont.com 48

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Döhler Crystal Clear Colours 2.0 – “Soft Yellow” added to the range of natural and crystal clear Orange and Yellow tones!

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öhler has extended its spectrum of successful Crystal Clear Colours with a new soft yellow shade alongside the vibrant orange and yellow tones. In the past, the only way to achieve a ‘warm orange’, ‘shining yellow’ or ‘soft yellow’ in clear beverages without affecting the taste and stability was by using artificial colours. All colour tones in the Döhler Crystal Clear Colours range display optimum stability and a particularly balanced sensory profile in transparent beverages, without the use of any artificial ingredients at all. The Crystal Clear Colours 2.0 are based on natural colouring principles such as paprika extract, beta-carotene and lutein. Thanks to this use of exclusively plant-based raw materials, the colours are also suitable for vegetarian and vegan products. The range of natural, crystal clear orange and yellow tones is therefore opening up new options for the beverage industry in the development of natural beverages. The Crystal Clear Colours are characterised by outstanding stability under the influence of light, heat and different pH values. These properties and their colour intensity makes the Crystal Clear Colours ideal for a wide range of beverage applications, such as still drinks, water plus beverages and clear lemonades. Döhler Crystal Clear Colours allow clear beverages to stand out with a colour spectrum ranging from intense, warm orange tones to bright, shining or soft yellow tones.

Alongside the Crystal Clear Colours, Döhler offers the food and beverage industry a whole spectrum of products on the theme of colours: from colouring concentrates and natural colours to colour and cloud emulsions.

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Meat & Poultry News

Brazil eyes to surpass India in Meat Exports

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razil is seeking to increase its lead over India by stepping up sales to Russia and the Middle East.

The South American country plans to hold talks with Russia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates as part of a goal of increasing beef and poultry shipments

by 15 percent in a year, Agriculture Minister Neri Geller said yesterday in an interview from Brasilia.

The government of President Dilma Rousseff is looking to use decisions made at last week’s World Organization for Animal Health meeting to help build Brazil’s protein market share. At the meeting in Paris, the country retained its insignificant risk status for mad-cow disease and raised to 24 the number of states that are considered free of foot and mouth disease.

“We are having strong negotiations with Russia on this to open their market

even more for our exports, and also for pork,” Geller said. “I’ll meet officials of countries such as Russia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates and Brazilian industry representatives to discuss ways to improve exports.”

Brazil is also negotiating to increase purchases of Russian wheat after Argentina imposed export restrictions.

Russia’s acceptance of Ukraine’s presidential election results last month has eased the threat of more sanctions against Russia’s economy after the country’s move to annex Crimea and back pro-Russian separatist movements in Ukraine.

India’s Poultry Sector Margin to Increase during 2014-15-ICRA Report

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ven though with volatile realisations, wide supply-demand disparity across regions amid high feed costs remain concern, Indian poultry industry expected to report improved margins in fourth quarter of 2013-14 (January to March) and 2014-15 fiscal year (March 2014 to April 2015), Gurgaon based investment information and credit rating agency, ICRA said in a report.

The challenges faced by the poultry industry are high feed costs, inadequate cold chain and transportation infrastructure, high vulnerability to disease outbreaks and highly volatile realisations affecting cash flows,

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according to ICRA. Developing efficient distribution system with large investments required in cold chain infrastructure and increasing market acceptability of frozen chicken are going to be the key industry drivers in long term, ICRA said.

Indian poultry sector has been growing at around 8-10 per cent annually over the last decade with broiler meat volumes growing at more than 10 per cent, while table egg which is growing at 5-6 per cent is mainly driven by increased domestic consumption.

Farmers in the country have moved from rearing country birds in the past to rearing 49

hybrids which ensure faster growth of chicks, higher eggs per bird, increased hatchability, low mortality rates, excellent feed conversion and consequently sustainable profits to the poultry farmers.

The growth in production of poultry industry are reflected in relatively lower price increases in poultry meat over last five years compared to other meat products - Poultry WPI (wholesale price index) has grown at 12 per cent yearon - year over 2008-2013 as against 21 per cent for overall meat products basket -providing an affordable alternative for meeting protein requirements in Indian diet.

To avoid sudden supply gluts and maintain profitable operations, it is more sustainable for the industry to control broiler meat volume growth at 5-7 per cent.

Farmers in India have moved on from rearing country birds in the past to rearing hybrid varieties that ensure faster growth of chicks, higher eggs per bird, increased hatchability, low mortality rates, improved feed conversion ratio (FCR), and consequently more stable profits to the poultry farmers, the report adds.

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Fruits & Veg News

PREMIUM BRANDED FRUITS INTRODUCED IN MUMBAI

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reencart. in, a leading online portal specializing in fresh farm produce and delectable gourmet foods, has announced its plans of launching a fresh fruits brand.

Introduced initially in Mumbai, under the brand name of ‘Greencart’, the products will be available at www.greencart.in and will gradually also be made available at select retail outlets across the city. With one of the widest ranges of domestic and imported produce, greencart.in will look at creating uniform consumer experiences that assures freshness, health and hygiene.

“The fresh fruit and vegetable market in India, currently estimated at $20 billion, is largely dominated by the unorganized segment and lacks any kind of standardization. So, unlike a branded noodle or salt that comes with a printed MRP and consistent quality, fresh fruits lack grading and are often sold at varying prices,” explains Mr. Rajiv Tevtiya,

Executive Director & CEO. “A brand, typically, offers consistency, standardization, assurance of quality and promise of fulfillment. Greencart fruits will have all of these and more. The produce, coming in world-class packaging, will lay strong emphasis on grading. This will not only help customers attach a value to their purchases but also differentiate between export, premium and standard graded fruits. Moreover, fruits and vegetables branded as Greencart will come with an adulteration-free assurance,” says he.

Branded mangoes launched by greencart. in this season had evoked a tremendous response. “This season quality Alphonso mangoes were in short supply. The Alphonsos need a stroke of heat for them to mature properly. The weather affected much of the crops and resulted in a drop in quality. While mangoes are available in the market, quality Alphonsos were in short supply. To overcome the shortage, many retailers resorted to selling below par fruits or Karnataka mangoes as Alphonsos,” adds Mr. Tevtiya.

“Our mangoes differed from those

Record Fruit an Veg output expected this Year

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record production of horticulture crops is projected for the current season that ends this month, thanks to the area under the crops rising to a new high. This has helped control the prices of some of the major fruit and vegetable crops, particularly onion, tomato and potato.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, horticulture crops were planted on 25.30 million hectares, a new high this season, against 23.69 million hectares a year ago.

Production, going by the second estimates, is likely to rise to 280.70 million tonnes (mt) against 268.84 mt. The output of key horticulture crops such as banana, onion, tomato and potato was higher.

According to the Office of the Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Commerce

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and Industry, the wholesale price index of fruits and vegetables rose to a high of 330.3 in November last year due to shortfall in supplies of onion, potato, tomato and chilli. Following improvement in supplies, the index eased to 225.1 in April.

Potato makes up about 16.5 per cent of the total horticulture production in the country, with its output estimated at 46.39 mt this season against 45.34 mt. Shortage of potatoes in NovemberDecember resulted in prices surging to 30 a kg ($0.50 USD) in retail outlets as unseasonal rains affected the crop. The wholesale price index of potato surged to 317.9 in November but eased to 227.2 in April. Production of banana, which makes about 10 per cent of horticultural crops production in the country, is projected at 27.57 mt against 26.50 mt a year ago.

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available at local vendors. Besides being retailed in a neat cardboard box, they are hand graded for standardization and naturally ripened at Government approved ripening chambers. Natural ripening is a long and intensive process that incurs substantial costs. So most vendors resort to ripening the mangoes artificially by using a banned toxic powder called Calcium Carbide, which are known to cause severe health damages. Our mangoes come with a carbide free guarantee. All these factors went on to make our mangoes one of the best sellers in the city.”

Managed by a team of qualified specialists well versed in agriculture, greencart.in has been able to develop an efficient and cost conserving procurement system. By forming extensive backward linkages, it has created a wide network of farmers who specialize in certain crops and adopt techniques that involve minimum use of fertilizers. “Greencart implements a zero stock policy wherein products are packed and carted off as soon as they are procured from the farmers. Except in rare circumstances, we store the produce in warehouses. By offering farm fresh fruits we will be bringing back the concept of consuming fresh, a concept that has been long forgotten,” concludes Mr. Tevatiya.

Amitabh Bachchan

Horticulture Ambassador for MAHA

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fter promoting tourism in Gujarat, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan is now heading towards Maharashtra. Big B will soon be seen promoting the horticulture sector in the state.

The 71-year-old actor took to the social media platform, Twitter to inform about the same. He tweeted: “T 1504 – A meet with the Minister to promote horticulture in Maharashtra .. best mangoes, pomegranate, cheeku, grapes, onion, tomatoes et al”(sic).

Senior Bachchan will not only promote the state`s horticulture in India but also abroad. His association with the campaign is expected to boost exports and establish Maharashtra`s identity as a fruit producing state across the world. The official announcement is yet to made.

Maharashtra is India`s largest fruit producing state with around 2 million hectares area covered in fruit orchards.

Dairy News

www.agronfoodprocessing.com

Rajkot Dairy invests Rs 100 cr. in state of the art plat along with NDDB Colaboration

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ajkot Dairy, has set up a stateof-the-art milk processing plant with the help of National Dairy Development Board NDDB. The dairy claimed that the processing plant is a first of its kind in India.

The new processing unit is presently being run on trial basis and it would

become fully operational by next month.

After the plant commencement, the processing capacity of Rajkot Dairy would increase to 600,000 litres per day from the current 300,000 liters.

Total expenditure incurred on the plant was about Rs 100 crore for which NDDB provided 82 per cent fund while the

remaining 18 per cent was managed by Rajkot Dairy.

Additionally, Rajkot Dairy will set up a chilling centre near Wankaner with an investment of Rs 10 crore which will have a storage capacity of 100,000 liters.

NDDB will fund Rs 5.50 crore for this project with the Dairy managing the remaining fund.

Rajkot Dairy plans to dismantle the current processing plant, which is almost three decades old.

Rajkot Dairy is a member of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its products under the brand ‘Amul’.

The turnover of Rajkot Dairy rose by 13.50 per cent to Rs 580 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 511 crore in 2012-13. Net profit of the dairy also increased by 62 per cent to Rs 5.60 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 3.46 crore in 2012-13.

Mother Dairy to go hitech via ERP on Cloud for networking with subcontractors

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other dairy India’s leading milk products brands is planing to going hitech. Company has signed a 5-year agreement with Ramco Systems, an enterprise software product company focused on delivering ERP on cloud, to connect its extended network of 30+ subcontractors with an end-to-end ERP that can seamlessly integrate with its existing SAP instance at the principal site.

In phase I, subcontractors of Mother Dairy’s Ice Cream business have gone live on the solution. This has helped Mother Dairy get better control over purchase, have visibility of supply, ensure centralised approvals, quicker MRP and better product traceability thereby streamlining operations across locations. This has helped Mother Dairy track consumption pattern, trace batch quality, centralise approval of price list, and manage inventory.

Annie Mathew, CIO, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt Ltd, said, “As a

diversified food and beverages business group with multi-company set up having manufacturing plants across regions, we wanted to connect our ecosystem of subcontractors with an end-to-end ERP for seamless flow of information.

Though our internal ERP is on-premise, the benefits of a cloud solution coupled with the strength of Ramco to offer a comprehensive, flexible and simple to use ERP which can seamlessly integrate with our in-house application tilted the decision in their favour. With this implementation, we have been able to reduce manual interventions and achieve greater transparency and accountability between both Mother Dairy and our subcontractors. We look forward to taking this collaborative relationship forward with Ramco.”

Virender Aggarwal, CEO, Ramco Systems, said “Every large business has its network of subcontractors, dealers, and retailers. The need to automate operations not just at the company level but to extend this to partners, dealers 52

and subcontractors is leading to many organisations go the Cloud way. Large organisations are choosing a two-tier ERP strategy by adopting cloud based solutions which can co-exist with their current enterprise applications. Our implementation at Mother Dairy has reaffirmed the strength in our solution to help organisations build a truly connected digital enterprise.”

Ramco ERP on Cloud equips customers with better visibility, tighter control and improved profitability. As the solution is available online, it enables real-time visibility into the extended enterprise of dealers and sub-contractors. By comprehensively integrating data across various sections who are spread across several locations, it provides a centralised view of information and facilitates decision-making. The core modules help companies to manage their extended network effectively, besides empowering partner organisations to effectively run their daily business routine.

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

Sea Food News

www.agronfoodprocessing.com

Export of Indian Marine Product Exports break all Records

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ccording to the marine products exports authority, the Marine product exports in India have broken all records in quantity, rupee value and dollar terms in the previous fiscal.

The authority has set greater targets in the

current year.

India’s exports of marine products reached a record high of $5,007.70 million, aggregating 983,756 tonnes valued at Rs.30, 213.26 crore, during the 2013-14 financial year,.

Comparatively to last year, seafood exports went up 5.98 per cent in quantity, 60.23 per cent in rupee terms and registered 42.6 per cent growth in US dollar earnings.

Sustained by the outstanding performance, Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) envisages a target of

$6 billion for the present fiscal.

The authority hopes to achieve it through increased production of L. Vannamei shrimp, quality control measures, better infrastructure facilities for production of value-added items.

Frozen shrimp continues still are the main export value item, accounting for a share of 64.12 per cent of the total dollar earnings.

Shrimp exports during 2013-14 increased by 31.85 per cent in quantity, 99.54 per cent in rupee value and 78.06 per cent in dollar value terms over the 2012-13 fiscal.

The US is the largest market for frozen shrimp in quantity terms, followed by the European Union, South East Asia and Japan.

However, South East Asia has continued to be the largest buyer of Indian marine products with a share of 26.38 per cent in terms of dollar value realization, followed by the US and the European Union, according to the MPEDA.

Pipavav number one port in Marine Exports in terms of volume

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irst private port in India, Pipavav port of Gujarat tops in seafood exports. Due to extremely goof facilities for seafood handling Pipavav continues to retain the foremost position in marine exports among the major ports in terms of quantity in FY’14. The port’s share of exports was 25.27 per cent out of the total 9,83,756 tonnes seafood

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exported from the country.

A senior official in the Seafood Exporters Association of India told that handling of low value processed fish in large quantities had helped Pipavav to emerge as the front-runner among the major ports in terms of volume. The port handled 2,48,621 tonnes in FY’14 against 2,33,738 tonnes in the previous fiscal, an 53

increase of 6.37 per cent.

However, in terms of value, Vizag port came to the No 1 position overtaking Kochi port by clocking a revenue of ₹6,825.64 crore, a growth of 104 per cent vis a vis last fiscal. Growth in dollar terms was also up by 82 per cent at $1,131.25 compared with $620.93. In the last fiscal, both Kochi and Vizag maintained an almost equal share in the earnings.

The official pointed out that export of vannamei shrimps, a high value aquaculture product mainly farmed in Andhra Pradesh, have contributed substantially to the higher earnings of Vizag port. Besides, the focus given by exporters in the region to that port due to better access had helped fetch better earnings.

Though Kochi port registered 37 per cent growth in revenue at ₹4,491 crore in FY’14, it came to the second position after Pipavav in terms of quantity handled.

Kochi handled 1,60,798 tones whereas the figure of Vizag was 1,02,146 tonnes.

Oils & Fats News

www.agronfoodprocessing.com

Edible oil will not see duty rise by the New Government

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dible oil is one of the most volatile food commodities being imported in huge quantity.

There are significant import duties on important edible oils to fill the price gap with local edible oils. Now India’s new government will not raise duties on palm oil in the shortterm,despite demands by domestic oilseed processors to cut cheapimports from the world’s top producer Indonesia, official sources said.

PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s government is expected to adoptpolicies to promote domestic oilseed production, but concerns over inflation mean it will not act quickly to raise import duties, said one of the sources with the federal food ministry.

“No duty hike will take place this month as the Budget isdue in the first half of July,” he told Reuters.

A decision to put a hold on any duty increase by India, theworld’s biggest palm oil buyer, could help reduce bearishsentiment and lend support to global palm prices.

“India holding to import duty structure will help stabiliseMalaysian palm oil prices,” Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive ofMumbai-based brokerage Sunvin Group.

The benchmark palm oil contract on Bursa MalaysiaDerivatives has been running through a bearish phase since thestart of the year losing nearly 10 percent, mainly on a strongerMalaysian ringgit and losses in rival soy oil.

India levies 10 percent duty on refined cooking oil importsand a 2.5 percent tax on all variants of crude edible oils.

Indonesia has structured its export duties in such a mannerthat they attract lower rates on the refined variants, squeezingprocessors’ margins in India.

Half of India’s annual demand of 1718 million tonnes ofcooking oil is met via imports of palm oil, while it also buysaround 1 million tonne each of soy oil from Latin America, andsunflower oil from Black Sea nations.

Agro Tech Foods start Production of Peanut Butter in India

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groTech Foods Limited announced the opening of its manufacturing unit in Jhagadia, Gujarat to start local production of its Sundrop Peanut Butter for the first time in India. Aiming to make a foray into the Spreads segment in India, the stateof-the-art manufacturing facility built at a cost of Rs.35 crores will serve as an integrated multi category grocery and snacks manufacturing hub for the India market.

The commencement of local production of peanut butter at new facility reinforces AgroTech Foods’ commitment to lead the development

of the processed foods industry in India and will further enable us to drive the growth of Peanut Butter as a category in India. The Spreads category in India is still small and underpenetrated.

The introduction of peanut butter will address the changing needs of the Indian consumer and also help in growing the spreads category. Over the last few years company has successfully built the Act 54

II Popcorn business as a meaningful player in the Sweet & Salty Snacks category and we are confident that we will be able to replicate this success with Sundrop Peanut Butter.

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

Packaging News

www.agronfoodprocessing.com

Technology Advancements to Drive Demand for Packaging MachineryGlobal Industry Analysts

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part of the automated assembly line at factory floors, packaging machines are the final step in the manufacturing process. Growth in the packaging machinery industry is primarily influenced by global trade in and domestic consumption of packaged goods and changing safety and environmental legislations on packaging. End-use customer clusters are increasingly shifting to sophisticated, faster, integrated and standardized equipment in a bid to decrease packaging waste and comply with environmental standards. The food industry is forecast to remain the most important market for packaging machinery. Demand for pharmaceutical packaging machinery is expected to witness strong growth supported by the increase in new drug development and drug manufacturing activity. Shorter innovation cycles and heightened competition in most industry verticals will encourage investments in innovative packaging technologies, concepts, and machinery.

Value-added packaging is the most important trend driving demand for new and efficient packaging machinery. Integrated

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

system solutions are increasingly becoming customary because of stringent customer specifications, concerns for enhanced product quality, and mounting issues of equipment standardization.

Customer preferences are shifting away from stand-alone machinery to integrated packaging equipment solutions. Other technology trends shaping market growth include increasing deployment of servos, networking architectures and robotic applications in packaging machinery.

Aseptic packaging machinery and flexible packaging machinery represent two of the strongest growing product markets spearheading overall sales. The manufacturing industry’s shift from rigid packaging to flexible packaging is helping spur growth in the flexible packaging machinery market. The growing importance of high-end graphics on packaging, ease of use and dispensing of the product, lightweight, and strong barrier properties represent factors driving adoption of flexible packaging.

Pharmaceutical and food packaging are major end-users of flexible packaging machinery.

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The ability to meet sterile packaging needs of the pharmaceutical industry and offer cost benefits in distribution and storage of food products and beverages is driving growth in the aseptic packaging machinery market.

As stated by the new market research report on Packaging Machinery, AsiaPacific represents the largest and the fastest growing regional market worldwide with a CAGR of 8.4% over the analysis period.

Large-scale shift in consumer spending on value-added products, population growth, booming retail industry, changing lifestyles, economic prosperity and increased consumption of durable and non-durable goods, are factors driving growth in the region.

Major players covered in the report include Adelphi Masterfil Ltd., BarryWehmiller Companies Inc., Accraply, Bosch Packaging Technology, Bradman Lake Group, Coesia SpA, Harland Machine Systems Ltd., IMA SpA, KHS USA Inc., Krones AG, Orion Packaging Systems, Tetra Laval International S.A, Tetra Pak Inc., Weber Marking Systems Inc. and Winpak Ltd. among others.

Packaging News

www.agronfoodprocessing.com

QuadTech to Offer solutions at PackPlus 2014

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uadTech announces its participation at PackPlus 2014, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, (11-14th June, 2014, Stall No: 12.29). At the show, QuadTech will highlight its latest in-line inspection and color measurement systems for the packaging market, helping converters to increase productivity, maintain color consistency and dramatically reduce job setup time and waste.

Hemant Desai, QuadTech General Manager, India, comments, “With the Indian packaging industry growing at an annual rate of more than 7 percent, it is an exciting time for the packaging industry in this region. However, much of this growth has come from International brands that demand high quality standards and quick turnaround times.

“With new production challenges, QuadTech’s automated press control technologies provide Indian printers and converters with the tools to ensure workflow efficiencies, but also high quality, fast and consistent output.”

For converters, QuadTech’s latest product is the Color Quality Solution, an in-line color and ink control system, utilizing QuadTech® Color Measurement System with SpectralCam™. The SpectralCam relays in-line spectral

data to ink formulation software from X-Rite, resulting in a standard spectral color measurement from ink dispensing and throughout all stages of the printing process. This automatically assures color perfection to the final print and enables

converters to simplify one of the most time-consuming and complex stages of make-ready.

Additional capabilities of the QuadTech Inspection System with SpectralCam include 100 percent defect detection along with colorimetric and density measurements at full press speeds. This provides consistent results, minimizes make-ready and reduces waste.

Importantly for flexible packaging converters, it can also monitor all web-fed package materials including challenging substrates such as transparent films.

The QuadTech Inspection System inspects the entire substrate width, not 56

just sample areas, 100% of the time, for defects throughout printing, rewinding and lamination. Suitable for flexo, gravure and offset printing situations it achieves total defect detection with the press running uninterrupted.

Additional products for waste savings and fast make-ready include QuadTech PDF Verification, for absolute repeatability and perfect quality. This compares a printed sample with the original artwork, identifying issues such as damaged cylinders or plates before they become costly problems.. The Web Viewing System is a customizable, fully automated, real-time digital view of the moving web that detects defects for errorfree printing and minimal waste.

For optimal performance, QuadTech Data Central® for Inspection is a central hub for live and historical data that can integrate with existing software. This system monitors and stores information for easy analytics and traceability, enabling management to control productivity.

Ultimate waste control is also possible with the QuadTech Waste Management System. This system processes information from the QuadTech Inspection System and Data Central, to enable precise defect removal and the minimization of substrate waste.

Mr. Desai concludes, “There is a bright future for all sectors of print in India.

QuadTech has a variety of solutions to support both the upcoming opportunities, but also the challenges too. Our focus on print quality and the reduction of substrate waste, helps converters to remain competitive whilst ensuring they meet the requirements of International brands. We look forward to meeting visitors at the show, and discussing how we can work with them to increase their profitability.”

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

www.agronfoodprocessing.com

Tea & Coffee News

Export of tea from India to Pakistan facing stiff competition from Kenya

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ndia, the world’s second-largest producer and biggest consumer of tea, now has a prime minister, who takes pride in proclaiming himself having risen from a ‘chai walah’. The high expectations of tea producers/industry are understandable.

India’s tea production in 2013-14 increased by about 8 per cent to 1,224.48 million kg on account of higher output in Assam and West Bengal even after a fall in output of premium Darjeeling tea (first flush), thanks to a drop in rainfall.

According to Tea Board in 2012-13 was 1,135.07 million kg.

In the previous financial year, the combined output of Assam and West Bengal rose 6.52 per cent to 980.01 million kg from 920.01 million kg. Assam and West Bengal are the major tea-producing states in the country, accounting for 80 per cent of India’s total output. Tea production in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka was up 13

per cent at 244.47 million kg.

The latest expectation being that the new government should lobby hard with the Pakistani government so that exports of Indian tea to Pakistan picks up. Indian tea has actually been facing stiff competition from Kenya in Pakistan. The neighboring country is buying more tea from Kenya in the current season and going by this trend it will be difficult for India to achieve 50 million kg of tea exports to Pakistan by 2015. The latest expectation from the Indian tea industry has grown in the wake of Pakistani Prime Minister – Nawaz Sharif attending the swearing in ceremony of the new prime minister Narendra Modi in Delhi and the two leaders promising to work towards beginning of a new chapter in bilateral relationship.

Tea industry officials explained that this year Kenyan production has been on the higher side and that the African nation has offloaded tea in the Pakistan market at a much cheaper price.

Pakistan mostly buys south Indian tea, which is normally cheaper than Darjeeling and Assam tea. And now that the prices of South Indian tea have dropped from Rs 160-165 per kg to Rs 130–135 per kg, if the two governments take a few initiatives, Indian tea exports to Pakistan can go up. Unfortunately Indian first flush tea is usually sold at a much higher price.

Considerably, second flush tea will arrive in market from July onwards and unlike the first flush; if the production in the second flush is good then prices will fall in the Indian market. Tea industry hopes that if trade relations improve between India and Pakistan, then chances are there that tea exports from India may increase.

All India Tea Traders Association (AITTA) wants the new government should give more incentives to exporters and they in return will help go for a strong brand building of the Indian tea outside the country. India exported close to 218.12 million kg in FY14, up from 216.23 million kg in FY13. Exports in FY14 fetched Rs 4,391.64 crore against Rs 4,005.93 crore last year.

The other demand of the traders is the exemption of tea sector from the ambit of Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2011 and giving tea the status of national drink on the ground that most of the rules of FSSA are already included in tea board rules.

Under normal circumstances, Indian tea exports to Pakistan are not likely to exceed 15-16 million kg. But with initiatives from both sides and prices of south Indian tea falling, India’s exports to Pakistan may go up to 30 million kg or even higher by 2015, industry observers feel.

higher than Rs 1,47,394 per tonne earned in the year-ago period,” a senior Board official said. Global coffee prices have risen by more than 80 per cent during the period – after having dipped sharply last year – on expectation of production fall in the world’s largest coffee producer Brazil, the official added.

According the Board’s latest data, the country exported 43,465 tonnes of Arabica coffee and 73,645 tonnes of Robusta coffee during the January-May of this year. The Arabica shipments rose by 31 per cent from 33,220 tonnes, while Robusta exports dropped by 15 per cent from 86,736 tonnes in the said period.

The shipment of instant coffee rose significantly by 91 per cent to 18,875 tonnes in January-May of this year as against 9,850 tonnes in the yearago. Total domestic output is expected to be in line with the Board’s estimate of 3,11,500 tonnes for 2013-14 crop year (October-September), down by 2.1 per cent from 3,18,200 tonnes produced in 2012-13. India exports coffee largely to Italy, Germany, Belgium, Jordan, Turkey and Russia, among others.

Coffee Exports of India up by 9.32% in Jan-May

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ndia’s coffee exports increased by 9.32 per cent in value terms at Rs 2,567 crore during the January-May period this year on better realisation in view of firm global prices, according to the Coffee Board.

Coffee shipments from India, the world’s fifth biggest exporter, stood at Rs 2,347.92 crore in the corresponding period last year. In volume terms, however, the shipments fell marginally to 1,59,275 tonnes in January-May of 2014 from 1,59,295 tonnes in the year-ago period.

“Because of firm global price trend, we got average export realisation of Rs 1,61,160 per tonne. This is 9 per cent

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Pulses News

www.agronfoodprocessing.com

Food Grains demand to accelerate Fertilizers Market in India, TechSci Research

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rowing use of fertilizers for enhancing productivity and new investment policies of government to boost fertilizer consumption in India India is the third largest producer and consumer of fertilizers in the world after the United States and China. Urea, DAP, MOP and complexes are the major fertilizers used in India for supplying essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphate and potash to the soil. The demand for fertilizers in the country has been growing due to increasing demand for food grains on account of the country’s burgeoning population.

However, excessive and repeated use of urea has resulted in creating an imbalance

I

in the nutrient profile of the soil in most parts of the country, thereby decreasing productivity.

According to a recently published TechSci Research report “India Fertilizers Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2019″, IFFCO, RCF and NFL are the leading fertilizer producers in the country.

The country predominantly depends on importing phosphate and potash raw materials for the production and distribution of complex fertilizers. The feedstock for urea, i.e. natural gas, is also imported in the form of liquefied natural gas from Gulf nations. Urea is the most widely consumed fertilizer in the country, primarily in north and south regions of the country. The new investment policy for urea is likely to increase investments in the urea sector. Moreover, the decrease in prices of phosphate and potash in the international market is expected to accelerate the demand for phosphate and potash fertilizers in the country.

“Urea accounts for majority of the market share in terms of volume consumption of

fertilizers in the country. High subsidies provided in the sector along with new investment policy of the government are expected to infuse investments in fertilizers market over the next five years. Government’s efforts in the form of Bringing Green Revolution in Eastern India (BGREI) scheme and National Food Security Act are expected to propel the consumption of fertilizers in the country.

However, uneven and delayed subsidies coupled with rising natural gas prices pose a threat to fertilizer producers in India.”, said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm.

“India Fertilizers Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2019″ has analyzed the potential of the fertilizers market and provides statistics and information on market sizes, shares and trends pertaining to India. The report will suffice in providing the intending clients with cutting-edge market intelligence and help them in taking sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyzes the emerging trends along with essential drivers and key challenges faced by the fertilizers industry in India.

Government Says no to States for hoarding Food Commodities

nflation is the biggest challenge for the Centre Government on this point they won the massive mandate. Now the department of consumer affairs (DCA) has issued a missive to all state governments to ensure food items are not hoarded in anticipation of a bad monsoon. Food price inflation rose from 9.1 per cent in March to 9.66 per cent in April.

The department wants states to strictly implement the Prevention of Black

Marketing and Maintenance of Essential Services Act in this respect.

Work has also started in the ministries of agriculture, food and animal husbandry

to take effective steps to bring down food price inflation. The work will take into account a report from a panel headed at the time by Narendra Modi himself, as 58

then chief minister of Gujarat, to the central government in 2011, an official said.

Modi had made 20 recommendations, with 64 detailed actionable points. These included revamping the Agriculture Price Marketing Committee Act, evolving a single national agriculture market and enlarging the scope of priority sector lending. The report, ignored by the then government, has been revived after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power.

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

www.agronfoodprocessing.com

www.foodbevtech.com

www.foodbev.in

Exhibitors Profile

Exhibitors Profile

• Manufacturers/Importers and wholesalers of Food & Beverages • Dairy Products • Bread and Bakery • Oil & Fats • Frozen Food / Chilled Food • Fine Food / Gourmet • Fish & Sea Food / Meat & Poultry • Trade Agencies • Nutraceuticals Products / Organic Foods • Functional Food • Ingredients, Colours & Additives

• Process Techhnology Automation • Packaging Technlogy • Automation • Processing Control & Regulation Technology • Food Retailling • Food Safety & Quality Mangement • Environment Technology, Biotechnology • Conveying Transport & Storage Installations • Dispensing & Vending Machines • Food Service

Visitor Profile • CEO’s & Top Executives from Food & Beverage Industry • Sr. Executives from Production, Quality Control, Maintenance • Purchase Departments • Professionals from R & D Institution, Supply Chain Distributors • F & B Managers etc.

• Top officials from Regulatory Agencies of Central & State Governments • Food & Beverage Consultants • Hypermarkets / Supermarkets • Grocery Stores / Convenience • Stores / Retailers • Departmental Stores • Food and Drink Importers / Distributors / Wholesalers • Foodservices and Hospitality Counsulting • Hotels / Resorts Management • Foodservice Government, Military, School, Hospital • Foodservice - Industrial • Bakeries / Confectionaries

For further details contact Amolsingh Pardeshi amol.pardeshi@cii.in

Saurabh Rajurkar

saurabh.rajurar@cii.in

Confederation of Indian Industry (WR) 105 Kakad Chambers, 132 Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai 400 018. Phone : +91 22 24931790 • Fax : +91 22 24939463 / 24945831 • Web: www.cii.in

Vol. 9, Issue 08, June, 2014

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