Snapshots of Food Industry News
RJ Corp to set up tea lounges in partnership with TWG Tea
RJ Corp is a company promoted by Ravi Jaipuria and now the company has entered into a partnership with the Singapore based ‘The Wellbeing Group’ (TWG Tea) TWG Tea is one of the world’s largest luxury tea lounges that began operations in 2008 at Singapore. The tie-up will see RJ Corp broaden its portfolio as they will be setting up upscale tea lounges starting in the third quarter of the year. The company is enthusiastic about setting up premium tea lounges as it compliments their food portfolio. RJ Corp also has an agreement with British café chain Coasts Coffee. Coffee chains might be more visible but tea salons are fast becoming a fad.
Initially, the company will begin by setting up tea lounges at Delhi and Mumbai as each lounge requires a capital of around Rs.10crores. They will also sell packaged TWG tea at hotels and luxury retail outlets. TWG markets over 800 varieties of tea and include teas from single estates, fine harvests, and tea blends. TWG also sells desserts, snacks and tea accessories through retailers like Harrods in London and Dean& DeLuca in New York. Other tea salon operators in India are Chayoos and the Bengaluru based Chai Point which sells 90,000 cups of tea daily. Tea saloons are a new concept in India but companies feel they are scalable.
Indian foodservice market has grown to $100 billion in 2015
A report by Euromonitor states that leading Quick Service Restaurants like Yum, Dominoes and McDonald’s could have taken a hit but the overall food service market has grown by 11 percent. In 2015 Indians purchased food at least once a week which amounted to Rs.7.876 crores worth of sales, the bulk of which has mainly come from full-service restaurants. As compared to food chains it is the independent outlets that are doing brisker business.
Independent outlets have been described as those that do not have chains and not more than 10 outlets. Foodservice restaurants attract more crowds as people can sit down and focus on eating good foods. Besides waiter service, the full-service restaurants offer a better quality of food with menus that include breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Besides the full-service restaurants, online food transactions and home delivery are also beginning to draw in numbers. In 2013 the online business was Rs.9, 444 crores and in 2015 it has reached Rs.15.591 crore. As compared to 16,690 crore sales made by QSR the independent foodservice restaurants show a sale of Rs.6, 12,930 crores.
Sri City, Andhra Pradesh gets largest Mondelez plant
The first phase of Mondelez International’s largest Asia Pacific manufacturing plant has just been commissioned. The plant was inaugurated by N Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra’s CM. The company has selected Andhra Pradesh to set up its largest facility because the state offers a viable business environment, infrastructure, and government support.
The Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate maker has set up the facility in Sri City with an initial investment of $190 million. This will be Mondelez’s 7th factory in the country. The factory will be complete only in 2020 and will be built in three phases. Initially, the facility will manufacture 60,000 tonnes of Cadbury Milk Chocolate and once it is complete it will manufacture 2.5 lakh tonnes of chocolates and biscuits. Presently Mondelez enjoys 65 percent of the Indian chocolate market and in the coming three to five years the company hopes to double its business in India.
French Dairy Giant Lactalis to consolidate presence with buyouts
Lactalis has adopted the policy of consolidating its presence in India through buyouts in the Indian dairy sector. They will shortly be finalizing a buyout deal and are looking for more buyouts. Lactalis also bought South India’s second largest dairy company Tirumala Milk for Rs.1, 750 crores in January. The takeover of Indore based Anik Industries is presently underway which they agreed to acquire for Rs.470 crore. Once Lactalis completes the takeover they will look for acquisitions of large dairy companies in Northern India as part of their long-term vision for India. They already have a presence in south India in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and parts of Kerala.
Lactalis has already hired an agency to scout for potential companies that have a strong market presence in the North. The organized sector accounts for just about 30 percent of the total Indian dairy market and the entry of global players would help the organized sector grow. Other global players like New Zealand-based cooperative group Fonterra and Dutch FrieslandCampina also have their eyes on India. There is likely to be competition for the Indian dairy market as Indian players like Mahindra and ITC have also announced their entry into the liquid milk segment. The interest in the Indian dairy segment has been fuelled by the growth of 15 percent a year, as compared to single digits in developed nations.
Mango exports to the US begin as USFDA approval has been garnered
Mangoes will soon find their way into the USA as the export facilitation center established by the Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board (MSAMB) at Vashi in Navi Mumbai has got the clearances from the USFDA for exporting mangoes to American markets. The season in the US begins during the first week of May and batches of mangoes will begin to get clearance before then. The first consignment of 3 tonnes of mangoes from KBH exports has already left for the USA.
Initially, the export to the American market is likely to be 500-700 tonne of mangoes while 1,300 tonnes of mangoes are likely to be exported to the European Union.
USFDA-APHIS’ inspector will remain in India for the duration of the season as he will expedite the second level of clearances of the individual consignments. The US norms make it mandatory for mangoes to undergo the irradiation process before they can be exported. Maharashtra had only one irradiation center, at Lasalgoan in Nashik. The Vashi facility has the capacity of treating 4.5 tonnes of mangoes per day.
Appointments
Kingshuk Basu appointed as new CEO of Conscious Foods
Conscious Foods has announced the appointment of Kingshuk Basu as the new CEO. He has an MBA from Michigan University USA and is an IIT Kanpur alumnus. Basu was Executive Director Operations with RPSG Spencer’s Retail from where he has come to Conscious Foods. Earlier he has also worked with Daymon Worldwide and Infosys.
Conscious Foods are presently available at Godrej Nature’s Basket, Foodhall, Westside, Reliance fresh and Fab India stores. With Basu’s appointment, the organic food company hopes to expand into new markets and introduce new products. Conscious Foods has begun to enjoy a new equity and the organic brand would like to leverage that and scale up.
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