Snapshots of Food Industry News
NDRI report: India tops milk output in 2014-15 but falls short in yield
With a production figure of over 146 million tonnes, India has broken its milk production record. This has enabled India to become a leader among milk producing countries in the world followed by the USA, China, Pakistan, and Brazil. While sharing the National Dairy Research Institute’s report, Union Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh said that though India had topped milk production what is disheartening is that the yield per animal is much lower than that of other countries. He also said that India produces 302gm of milk per person, per day which is above the minimum WHO recommended average.
According to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, India accounts for 16 percent of the total milk production in the world. However, there is no milk surplus in the country as the domestic demand for milk is very high and productivity is poor. With the aim to increase productivity, an initiative, known as the National Gokul Mission has been launched. This scheme will work towards preserving indigenous cow breeds. Besides this 29 proposals have been received from 27 states for which the government has released a sum of Rs.500crores. The Minister was speaking on the occasion of the release of two new technologies created by NDRI. The first will be used for the identification of cow and buffalo butter and ghee while the second technology will be able to differentiate cow, buffalo, goat, sheep and camel milk.
Britannia Industries to play a larger role in the dairy segment
With the aim of being a total food company, Britannia Industries have decided to play a major role in the Indian dairy industry. The company is seeking to get approval from the company Board to expand into the dairy segment. Initially, this will entail a minimum investment of Rs.300crore. The Indian dairy segment is estimated to be Rs.85, 000crore and no food company can overlook this sector. The company has also hired Sarad Garodia to head its Dairy Operations. Garodia is a dairy expert who was earlier with Schreiber Dynamix, a leading dairy product manufacturer in India.
The company is presently working on the nitty-gritty of formulating a complete dairy plan before they take a plunge into the sector. They should be ready with a detailed plan in a couple of months which they will place before the Board, for approval. Their first step will be to ensure their system for setting up the dairy production is fully integrated right from milk collection to processing. Britannia already sells dairy products but on the other hand, they buy certain dairy products for their bakery business. In the initial stages, they will work to add value to the products they already sell before they enter into new categories like packed milk, flavored yogurt, dahi and ghee and especially cheese.
Four major food parks to begin operations this year
Speaking at ASSOCHAM Food Processing Minister, Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that four major food parks will become operational this year. They have been built with an investment of Rs.600crore. Last year the government operationalized three parks and so the total number of food parks operationalized by the new government is seven, whereas they aim to have at least 42 mega food parks operating by 2019.
The mega food parks will help to establish a strong food processing industry especially if the supply chain is reliable and includes collection centers, central processing centers, and cold chains.
Once all the parks are operating they should be able to generate an investment of Rs.14,000crore and help 12.5 lakh farmers and create almost 4 lakh jobs directly and indirectly. Mega food parks can have 40 to 50 food processing units which should help to reduce wastage and bring relief to farmers. The food parks should also help to create young entrepreneurs. These food parks have a scheme where they grant one time capital of 50 percent of the cost excluding land in the plains and 75 percent of the cost in hill areas, Northeast and J&K.
Domino’s on the expansion spree with help from technology
India is already the largest market for Domino’s outside the USA yet the company is planning to add another 800 restaurants in the next four years to the already existing 1000. The company already makes US$ 4-5 billion in online sales worldwide. They are now planning to further leverage the technology platform to boost their sales in India too. They will target the growing middle-class population which is increasingly using the digital platform for shopping and ordering food. The company’s investments in technology are going to be higher now.
In India, smartphone orders account for 30 percent of Domino’s sales. This is one of the fastest growing revenue segments presently. Home deliveries make 50 percent of sales while 35 percent comes from the online platform. Besides this 3.5 million people have downloaded the Domino’s app, while they have more than 5 million followers on Facebook. This is the reason that the company is planning to concentrate on technology to create more business. The company says that it has to keep adhering to customer needs to stay ahead of the game. For India, they have also adapted their menu and mean to ensure that the menu has huge takers.
The chicken variant of Maggi to be available on Snapdeal
Nestle India will be taking pre-registration orders through Snapdeal for their popular Chicken Maggi noodles which will be a limited edition offer. After the June 2015 ban and subsequent re-launch of Maggi noodles, Nestle India had partnered with Snapdeal for the sale of the masala version of their Maggi noodles. Now they are launching the chicken variant also on Snapdeal.
Maggi has once again become a part of Indian menus after the brand’s Maggi noodle samples passed the food tests in three government accredited laboratories, as ordered by the Bombay High Court. Nestle India began production in November after the court gave permission to lift the ban imposed by the FSSAI. The company is also planning to launch other noodle variants like oat noodles, aata noodles and cup noodles in the coming year.
Yum! reports decline in western style foods at Quick Service Restaurants
Yum! Brands has reported a decline of 13 percent in same-store sales for the quarter ended October-December 2015. This decline in sales is being seen by the company as a move away from the western type of foods. Yum! Brands operate over 800 stores in India which include Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bells that serve western menus. This is also a reflection of the decline in the popularity of quick-service restaurants as the brand has been continuously showing negative results in the same store sales for this segment. The emerging trend of online ordering apps has also thrown a challenge that QRS’s are finding hard to beat despite the low price points that they have begun to offer.
Other players like Jubilant FoodWorks and McDonald’s are showing the similar decline in growth in same-store sales. Yum! Brands India result has shown a decline of 9 percent on a year – on –year basis for the quarter. To improve matters the company has converted 86 KFC stores into the franchise mode and has spilled the India operations. There are now three separate verticals comprising KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, with separate heads reporting directly to US headquarters.
Kerala SMEs ready to enter the RTE segment in a big way
The recent Business-to-Business meet organized by the Department of Industries and Commerce at CIAL Trade Fair and Exhibition Centre in Nedumbassery, Kerala between February 4 to 6 showcased a number of products in the ready-to-eat (RTE) segment, made by Kerala SME’s. This proved the point that the SMEs are gearing up to be a part of the growth story in RTE as this segment is growing at a fast rate nationally and internationally. A number of products on display were advertised as being free of chemical additives and were termed healthy. There were natural jams, appetizers, juices, and pickles.
About 200 SMEs from Kerala showcased their products like frozen and unfrozen curries. Among sweetened foods were ‘Ela ada’ a Kerala flat dumpling and ‘Kozhukatta’ a rice dumpling, while the dal fritter ‘paripu vada’ were other unusual products among the common samosa and cutlets. The largest representation came from the food processing industry which had 80 exhibitors. The range of products on display included some with high nutrient content. The most in-demand products were bottled coconut water and soft drinks with ethnic Kerala flavors. Soft coconut water is preserved only with bio-enzymes and is good to drink up to seven months at room temperature.
Appointments
Bidyananada Barkakoty becomes Vice Chairman of Tea Board
In the 227th Board Meeting of the Tea Board, Bidyananada Barkakoty, a tea planter from Assam has been elected as Vice Chairman for a period of one year. Barkakoty indents to focus on improving the pricing of tea and especially green leaf. Besides pricing proper transportation and handling of a green leaf will help even the Small Tea Growers improve quality of their tea. Barkakoty also hopes to provide more benefits and facilities to tea plantation workers. He would also like to strengthen the R&D centers like Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI) and the UPASI Tea Research Foundation.
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