Snapshots of Food Industry News
Amul to launch camel’s milk in a few months
The FSSAI has recently set standards for camel milk which has prompted dairy major Amul to launch their camel milk in the next three months. Amul plans to first sell camel milk in Ahmedabad before taking it to other cities which include Delhi and Mumbai. The FSSAI has been working on standards for camel milk since the past two years and have recently operationalized them. Camel milk is said to have a large number of health benefits.
The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that owns the Amul brand has already set up a camel milk plant in Kutch and they plan to sell the milk in 500ml bottles. The camel milk will first be sold through the Amul booths in Ahmedabad. A couple of years ago the NGO ‘Sahjeevan’ had approached Amul to market the camel milk from Kutch. Amul had provided funding of Rs.70 lakh for the Rs.3 crore, project which had benefited camel rearers.
Patanjali Food and Herbal Park to come up in Noida
Chief Minister Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav recently laid the foundation of the Patanjali Food and Herbal Park in Noida. The park will be constructed on 455 acres at the cost of Rs.1.666.80 crores. The park will help farmers in the region and provide direct employment to 8000 people. Almost 80,000 people will benefit from the park indirectly. Uttar Pradesh is seen as a big market for consumer products like milk and vegetables. The Food and Herbal Park is likely to be completed by the end of 2017 and would be one of the biggest food parks in the country which would produce products worth almost Rs.25, 000 crores. The state government has assured all help to Baba Ramdev.
Mahindra Agri Solutions acquires a stake in OFD Holding BV
Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd, a part of the $17.8-billion Mahindra Group will acquire 60 percent stake in the Netherlands-based OFD Holding BV. The Dutch company Origin Fruit Direct (OFD) is a holding company for distribution of fruits globally especially grapes and citrus fruits which alleviate seasonality with its round-the-year presence in markets. OFD Holding BV owns Origin Fruit Direct, Origin Direct Asia and Origin Fruit Services South America which are based out of the Netherlands, China and Chile, respectively.
Mahindra and OFD already have a supplier-customer relationship and the acquisition will enable the companies to expand their sources to South American countries and South Africa, as well as a distribution base in Europe and China. While Europe accounts for 24 percent of grape imports, China is the fastest-growing importer. This will enable Mahindra Agri to become a significant global player in grapes especially as they have been working with a number of grape farmers in India for whom they will be able to provide new markets. OFD Holding, on the other hand, will be able to strengthen their position as an integrated supply chain company as India has become an important supplier and Mahindra is one of the largest exporters of grapes from India.
BigBasket opens 17th collection center in Manchar, Pune District
BigBasket, India’s largest online supermarket opened its 17th state-of-the-art collection center in Manchar, Pune District, on its fifth anniversary. The collection center will provide market access to farmers from Pune district. This is BigBasket’s second collection center in Maharashtra, and the first in Nasik has started its operations only recently. Farmers in the district will receive fair pricing based on demand aggregating. The produce will be sorted and graded in the presence of the farmers and accurately weighed, priced and payments made into the accounts of farmers within three days. Technological support will also be provided by helping them structure payment gateways and logistics.
Fruits and vegetables contribute to about 18 percent of BigBasket’s business, so the move will ensure farm fresh quality and best prices for customers in Pune. BigBasket will partner with 3000 farmers by the end of 2017 and have more than then 45 options for fruits and vegetables. BigBasket provides complete transparency as they have created platforms where farmers and customers can exchange goods and information. As part of its effective sourcing strategy, it sources 60 percent of the sales directly from farmers via the collection centers. The fruit and vegetable business at BigBasket has seen a 10 percent growth on a month-on-month basis.
Global Sparkling Water market to grow at 3.33% CAGR
Market analysts forecast that the global sparkling water/soda water market is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.33 percent between 2016 and 2020. Private label offerings of sparkling water are becoming popular in India, China, the United Kingdom and Australia. The global sparkling water market in the Americas is likely to reach $30 million revenue by 2020 with USA, Mexico, and Brazil dominating the market share. Unflavoured sparkling water segment formed the largest market share in 2015. Much of the unflavoured soda water growth can be attributed to its nutritious element as it is natural and highly preferable among health-conscious consumers. Coca-Cola, Cott, DANONE, Dr. Pepper Snapple, Nestlé, and PepsiCo are the key players in the global sparkling water market.
The report mentions that according to the United Nations about 54 percent of the world’s population resides in urban areas and more than 90 percent of urbanization is expected in the developing world. This rising trend in urbanization is likely to increase the sparkling water market as consumption will increase. Hypermarkets and supermarkets led the sales in global sparkling water in 2015 and the trend is likely to continue across geographies in 2016-2020. Similarly, Global Bottled Water Market 2015-2019 is likely to also show an increase in market share because of the prevalence of water-borne diseases and scarcity of tap water in many countries. Besides having consistent taste and quality, bottled water is convenient to carry and is the preferred choice for travelers.