Snapshots of Food Industry News
Amul Eyes 15 Percent Growth in Turnover Despite COVID-19
Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd, which owns the Amul brand, is expecting the turnover from Amul to grow by around 15 percent this fiscal year from Rs 38,550 crore in 2019-20. The growth is expected despite the economic slowdown due to the nationwide lockdown to control coronavirus outbreak. The household consumption of milk and milk products is set to see a rise and so the temporary loss is not likely to affect the company. With the closure of hotels, restaurants and cafeterias because of the lockdown, Amul has suffered a temporary loss in sales but the brand is likely to see an upsurge in sales from households.
FieldFresh Foods to Home Deliver Foods Through Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo
FieldFresh Foods Pvt Ltd, that owns the premium food brand Del Monte, has tied up with online food delivering platforms Zomato and Swiggy and the door-to-door delivery app Dunzo for home deliveries. Through the tie-up the Del Monte range of premium food products, like tomato ketchup, mayo, pasta, olive oil and fruit drinks will be delivered to consumers’ homes during the lockdown. The safe door-to-door delivery of food items will help consumers avoid stepping out of their home and support social distancing.
FieldFresh Foods are ensuring the continuing supply to their customers in major cities through this partnership. As part of the tie up, Zomato has started home delivering Del Monte products in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, while Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR are also on the anvil. Similarly, Swiggy home deliveries will start with Kolkata and Bhubaneshwar in the East region, followed by Bengaluru, Delhi NCR and other major cities. Dunzo is currently doing doorstep delivery for Del Monte in Bengaluru with Chennai and Pune to follow.
Digital Menu Company ‘My Menu’ Introduces QR Ordering
My Menu is India’s leading digital menu company that specialises in digital tablet menu. The company announced that they will be providing a complimentary QR ordering solution to restaurants worldwide for tackling the post COVID-19 era. The company feels that several industries are likely to see an economic and human crisis post COVID-19. There are likely to be changes in eating out trends as consumers will become conscious of hygienic factors when dining out.
Since the food menu in food service establishment is the most reusable, passed around item, it is likely to cause issues. Therefore, My Menu’s digitalized food menu supported by QR code will help to prevent contagious diseases and allay customers’ fears. The initiative offers various solutions where the QR ordering can be done via the guest’s mobile. The guest scans a QR code on his/ her mobile, sees the menu and places the order via the mobile without downloading any app. The QR ordering offered by My Menu was being used extensively by Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) and hotels to cover large service areas such as beach side, pool bars and room service.
India Exports Various Foods Amid Lockdown
The export of agricultural produce such as vegetables, fruits and rice and dairy products and processed foods, which had come to a halt due to the Covid-19 lockdown, has again started after an intervention by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has stated that several consignments of fresh vegetables have reached their destinations. Approximately 240 MT of green vegetables reached Germany by April 19, 2020. The perishable vegetables exported from Mumbai to Germany are being sold at warehouses and supermarkets at Frankfurt. With APEDA’s efforts and support of stakeholders, export of fresh mangoes and vegetables have also started yielding results.
APEDA has further stated that due to Ramadan and Covid-19 crisis, the demand for Basmati rice has grown and it is expected that 4.4 million tonnes of that variety of rice will be exported in this season. The Agriculture Ministry has also started a call centre to facilitate farm transport and for coordination between states for interstate movement of agricultural goods. The Union government has relaxed the procedure for the exporters of agricultural produce to avail transport and marketing assistance for specified products. The MoA has stated that export is very important as besides earning precious foreign exchange for the country, agricultural exports help farmers/producers/ exporters take advantage of wider international market and increase their income.
Valencia Donates Bounce SuperDrinks to Bengaluru Police
Valencia Nutrition Ltd, the manufacturers and marketers of Bounce SuperDrinks, met Bhaskar Rao, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru to hand over 15,000 bottles of Bounce SuperDrinks. The gesture was a tribute to the entire Police Department and to help the frontline Police Personnel fighting the Corona pandemic. These police personnel are working without timely meals and hydration, making them more susceptible to dehydration, fatigue and loss of immunity. Bounce with glucose, vitamins and fruit juice base would help rehydrate, restore vital electrolytes, re-energise and help build the immunity for the Police Personnel. The brand is India’s first multi-variant, caffeine-free drink range that addresses the needs of tropical weather conditions.
Mondelez India Donates Biscuits and Chocolates
Mondelez India, that make Cadbury Dairy Milk, Bournvita and Oreo, have extended their support to India’s fight against Covid-19 crisis. They have committed to contribute 360,000 units of biscuits and 2.3 million units of chocolates to India FoodBanking Network across 12 major cities in India. Mondelez has stated that this association will strengthen various feeding programmes through their products which are easy to share and consume. Mondelez says that they will continue to work closely with the government to take the right steps towards sustaining the livelihoods of communities across the country.
The company also donated 100,000 masks and close to 225 litres of sanitisers in Mumbai to support the frontline members including hospital staff and the police. They have extended their support to local authorities around their factory locations by donating 1,800 relief kits consisting of critical masks and sanitisers and some snack products like chocolates, biscuits and Tang in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Besides the company, the company employees also generously contributed towards supporting Akshay Patra Foundation which facilitated around 100,000 meals for the needy and will continue to do so through the month of April 2020.
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