
Snapshots of Food Industry News
Varun Beverages to Set up Greenfield Production Facility in Punjab
Captain Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab recently laid the foundation stone for Varun Beverages production facility at Pathankot in Punjab. Varun Beverages is PepsiCo’s bottling partner and the Greenfield production facility, on receiving the necessary approvals, will begin in-house production of Tropicana fruit juices, Gatorade and Quaker milk-based beverages. This facility will be fully integrated and will have the capability to manufacture a range of products including, carbonated soft drinks in one single location. The production facility is being set up to strengthen their presence in the rapidly growing juice market in India. PepsiCo’s addition of these categories to their portfolio will result in better asset usage as seasonality in the specified categories is low.
Coca-Cola India Launches New Sugar-Free Variant of Thums Up
Responding to the growing consumer preferences for healthy beverages Coca-Cola has launched a no-sugar variant of its popular cola brand, Thums Up. It is the first Cola homegrown brand that has been launched in a no-sugar variant and in place of sugar the beverage has been sweetened with sucralose. Coca-Cola aims to turn Thums Up into a USD one billion brand and the new variant is expected to beat the competition and widen its footprint to accelerate growth. Last year, the company had introduced the first variant of Thums Up in the form of Thums Up Charged. Thums Up is the country’s biggest cola brand and ahead of Coke and Pepsi.
‘Drunken Monkey’ To Triple Smoothie Bar Outlets to 150 By 2019
Hyderabad based smoothie bar start-up ‘Drunken Monkey’ already has 50 outlets across 12 Indian cities and are now looking to expand the franchise chain to 150 by 2019. Drunken Monkey has over 170 special blended combinations of fresh-fruit smoothies and juices. The vast range includes all-natural fresh fruits, indulgent smoothies, detox smoothies, meal smoothies and also offers smoothies that cure hangovers. The brand caters to the millennial crowd, who like to experiment with new brands. People have begun to see smoothie outlets as places to make social connections other than the usual coffee and chai outlets.
Drunken Monkey has the first mover advantage and presently the smoothie market is mostly untapped and so there is plenty of room for growth. The company sees the franchise as the way forward for growth because it reduces capital spending from the company and facilities rapid growth. Presently Drunken Monkey is self-funded but after the 150 bars target is achieved they plan to explore fresh investment. Also once Drunken Monkey smoothies have established a strong presence in the domestic market, they could introduce Drunken Monkey smoothies in bottles, in the retail market sometime in the future. The global smoothies market is projected to reach USD $17 Billion in 2024 and expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.59% during the period 2017-2021.
Uflex Creates Re-processable Barrier Packaging for Edible-Oil
Uflex Limited has developed a customized formulation which allows barrier packaging for edible-oil to be re-processed. As the country’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and solutions company it has developed the sustainable packaging alternative, especially as the potential for packaged foods market in the country is growing. Uflex has developed a specialized formulation that renders barrier packaging for edible-oil re-processable, despite the presence of Nylon and/or EVOH.
With the new re-processable packaging, edible oil manufacturers can easily fulfill their recyclability commitments. According to data from market research firm Euromonitor International, the edible oil category has become the largest packaged food segment in India, overtaking dairy. Seeing the potential for growth Uflex is fully braced to cater to the flexible packaging requirements of all edible-oil players in the country and overseas. The Uflex formulated, sustainable flexible packaging solutions will also give a big boost to India for sustainability and promotion of the circular economy if it is able to reprocess all the barrier packaging for edible oil.
Amway Launches Nutrilite Herbal Range
One of the largest Direct Selling FMCG, Amway India has announced the launch of its new nutrition and wellness products called Nutrilite Traditional Herbs range. The range will be manufactured at Amway’s state-of-the-art LEED ‘GOLD’ certified manufacturing facility located in the Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu. The new range of products will strengthen the company’s nutrition portfolio and is in line with the government’s ‘Make in India’ vision.
Since Amway nutrition and dietary supplements are trusted by Indian consumers, Amway has retained the legacy of the brand Nutrilite. The range has been specifically developed using Indian traditional herbs keeping in mind the nutritional requirement of Indian consumers. Nutrilite has maintained the leadership position for past 5 years with 12% market share of the Rs.2400 crore herbal traditional herbal Vitamins and Dietary Supplements market. The new range is likely to yield revenue of Rs.125 crore by 2020 and Amway hopes it will accelerate Nutrilite’s growth further in India.
APEDA Eyeing New Markets for Mango Exports
APEDA, (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority), the government agency responsible for the export of agricultural and processed foods is looking towards Africa for mango exports. South Africa has a huge Indian diaspora in the region which is adding to the appeal. India has been topping mango production and exports for a number of years now. In India, mango is cultivated on more than 2500,000-hectare area. Thailand, Mexico, Pakistan, and Indonesia are the other competing major mango exporting countries.
APEDA is also looking towards China, Kazakhstan, Iran and South Korea as the European market is already exhausted. In order to attract buyers, APEDA is planning to organize Mango Promotion Programmes in these countries under Market Access Initiative scheme. The purpose of this programme is to tap new markets and strongly promote the Indian varieties of quality and flavor in mangoes. Indian mango exports show a steady graph. In the past, the country has exported 52, 760.99 MT of fresh mangoes to the world worth Rs.443.67 crore during the year 2016-17.
People and Appointments
Radisson Blu Plaza Appoints Dheeraj Mathur as Corporate Master Chef Indian
Radisson Blu Plaza Delhi Airport has appointed Chef Dheeraj Mathur as a Corporate Master Chef Indian. In his new role Dheeraj will be handling the most awarded Indian specialty restaurant The Great Kabab Factory (TGKF) at Radisson Blu Plaza Delhi Airport, as well as assist in product development and pre-opening activities for UHPL, the hospitality company that franchises, markets and operates the TGKF brand. Chef Mathur did a three-year Diploma in Hotel Management from Govt. Institute of Hotel Management Almora, Uttarakhand and also completed his graduation from Delhi University. Dheeraj has an experience of 17 years at some of the best hotels in India Lebua Lucknow, Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi, Vivanta by Taj Hari Mahal, Radisson Hotel Varanasi, Trident Cochin, Le Méridien New Delhi and The Great Kabab Factory outlets in Dubai and Mumbai.
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