Snapshots of Food Industry News
Britannia Industries Launches ‘Store Locator’
Britannia Industries has launched a ‘store locator’ service which will enable consumers to locate a Britannia store nearby. The technology solution has been specially built to fulfil consumer demand to locate a store near where they reside, in view of the continuing lockdown. The GPS-based Chatbot publishes a list of stores near the consumer’s current location, which have been recently serviced by the company. The store locator has been launched pan-India.
Britannia Industries is using the WhatsApp Chatbot so consumers can have access to Britannia products, across geographies and town classes. Since most Indian consumers are familiar with WhatsApp, it became the ideal platform to reach a wide demographic of consumers. A consumer can interact with the ‘store locator’ by sending ‘BRIT’ on mobile number 4071012222 and following the instructions.
Food Processing Minister Chairs Video Conference on Post Lockdown Scenario
Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal has chaired a video conference with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) to discuss present situation and post-lockdown requirements of the food processing industry. Badal laid emphasis on reviving operations to full capacity without compromising the measures for containment of spread of Covid-19. She also requested all members to come forward to procure the harvested wheat, paddy, fruits and vegetables and other perishables to help farmers and reduce loss of foods. Badal was in agreement on the guidelines provided by the industry for operating factories in containment zones, with 60-75% workers being allowed to operate, if industry ensures necessary measures to protect workers. A working model was also invited from the industry for the government to consider allowing greater workforce to join the facilities
The industry members cited few existing issues for necessary intervention of the ministry. These included requirement of SOP for operating facilities in different containment zones, requirement of dedicated nodal officials for the food processing industry at state levels to address challenges, standardised protocol for issuing worker passes to operate facilities and maintain supply chain, re-evaluating the process of identifying Covid clusters / regions. Pushpa Subrahmanyam, Secretary, Food Processing Industries, pointed out that the challenges related to logistics, warehouse operations, movement of workers and vehicles were being addressed. She advised the members to share specific issues with the Grievance Cell to enable the team to resolve the same.
Paytm Develops ‘Contactless In-store Ordering’ Solution for Restaurants
Paytm has developed a ‘contactless in-store ordering’ solution to help restaurants and eateries minimise physical contacts for menu, billing and cash transactions after they begin operations post lockdown. They have built this technology to help restaurants and their customers to follow social-distancing norms. Paytm aims to have one lakh restaurants join up and will take this solution to top-30 cities to start with and will extend this solution to all leading quick service restaurants and dine-in brands in due time.
With the contactless in-store ordering solution consumers will be saved from touching the menu if they feel it is not sanitised and will also minimise interaction with the restaurant food servers. The QR code displayed at these restaurants will enable users to browse the menu and place orders will the help of the Paytm app. Paytm said this solution supports each of the payment methods, including Paytm Wallet, Paytm UPI, net-banking and cards, and offers live order updates on the Paytm app.
Venture Catalysts’ peAR Makes Restaurant Ordering Safe
In view of the increasing cases of Corona virus in India, peAR Technologies, a Venture Catalysts portfolio company, is offering restaurants free access to its contactless dine-in ordering feature.As social distancing becomes the new norm, the initiative by the company will enable customers to place orders from their favourite restaurants without making any physical contact. The Mumbai-based deep-tech start-up has also waived off the listing charges for new restaurants.
Customers can visit any of the company’s partnered restaurants, scan the QR code on the table, view the menu in 3D augmented reality, order multiple courses from their phone and pay the bill online at once and so minimise contact and follow social distancing. The unique 3D menu feature will allow customers to view 3D images of the dish before placing the order, thus helping customers make a more informed decision.Customers can also avail up to 50 per cent discount on their orders made via the app. Additionally, peAR Technologies has started providing hygiene ratings for each restaurant so customers can stay informed. The start-up plans to launch a CSR (corporate social responsibility) campaign post-lockdown to feed one underprivileged family for every 100 orders processed through its application.
Cargill Supplies Gemini Cooking Oil to 1,00,000 Needy Families
As Covid-19 continues to spread, Cargill has committed to support needy families in Delhi/ NCR, Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune. They will supply dry ration kits containing Gemini cooking oil and NatureFresh Acti Lite along with NatureFresh Atta and cooked meals.
This is in line with the company’s pledge to support 16 million meals across the country, providing nutrition to 150,000 families across 16 states. In Pune, the company is working with the Pune Zilla Parishad to supply Gemini cooking oil to 1,00,000 families and is also working with NGO partners to supply cooked meals and essential item kits to impacted families in this area.
Contractual workers at Kurkumbh where the company’s edible oil plant is located, are being provided cooked meals daily. The company is also allotting hygiene kits for all contract workers, distributing masks and making sanitisers available to local communities near the plants. Cargill is also leveraging its own extensive distribution network and working with local state authorities to meet hyper-local needs with in-kind donations across the country.The company is working with Akshaya Patra Foundation, Zomato Feeding India, MagicBus India Foundation and India Food Banking Network in Maharashtra, to ensure that relief and recovery efforts are being effectively directed to the communities that are most affected.
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