Snapshots of Food Industry News
Market share, trends & forecast 2021 for the frozen food market in India
The main USP of frozen food is that it provides an easy meal solution for busy households. However, despite the ease of use the frozen food market in India has been limited so far. There has been a spurt in the number of frozen food options in the country like frozen fruits and vegetables, frozen meats, frozen snacks and this is the reason that the frozen food market is now showing a strong growth. Other drivers for the growth are that awareness and acceptance have increased demand, selling points have increased, rise in the number of working women, change in lifestyle and deeper penetration by the players. Modern retail outlets that have more space for freezers are also driving growth as they meet consumer demands for variety and convenient packaging.
The Indian frozen food market is segregated into six segments where frozen snacks and vegetables form the largest category in sales volume as compared to frozen poultry, seafood and red meats. There are three end users that make use of frozen products – retail consumers, commercial businesses and exporters. Earlier the frozen food market was dominated by exports but now commercial establishments and retail consumers are bringing in revenues. Fast food chains, QSRs are some of the biggest users of frozen foods. Despite the challenges in cold chain industry the frozen food market is likely to grow due to consumer demand. Newer players are likely to enter the market and bring in newer products. Presently the major players in the frozen food segment are Al Kabeer, McCain Foods, Mother Dairy, Venky’s, Innovative Foods, Godrej Tyson Foods to name a few.
Coca-Cola to introduce aluminium bottles in India?
It is possible that Coca-Cola could introduce aluminium bottles to sell some aerated drinks in India. The move could take another four to five years but the company is working on plans to serve Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke and Sprite in 200ml aluminium bottles. These bottles are quite popular in the US, UK and China. However, they could add 40% to the price of the soft drinks as compared to PET bottles. Aluminium bottles have been used only since 2005 although the company uses metal cans for some of their drinks.
Aluminium bottles have become fashionable because of their stylish designs. Fashion magazines and luxury retailers have also popularised them. The bottles are easy to transport, reduce direct exposure to sunlight which extends shelf –life and retains freshness. The company feels that India is similar to other countries where Coca-Cola markets its products. They are likely to be accepted here too as Indians are forward thinking and like trendy stuff. Smart marketing also drives acceptance like the smart marketing, after the launch of the slim cans for Coke Zero.
France’s Elior Group acquires MegaBite and CR Caterers
France’s Elior Group has acquired a 100 percent stake in MegaBite Food Services as well as a majority stake in CR Caterers India Pvt Ltd (CRCL). While the former is based in Bengaluru, the latter is a Chennai based company. This move will be completed in the next three months and will bring the French company a chance to expand into emerging markets as per their vision for 2016-2020. The acquisition will also propel Elior Group to the number three position in contract catering in India.
MegaBite Food was founded in 2005 and provides 28,000 meals in Bengaluru and 1,800 in Mumbai. It operates a central kitchen in Bengaluru and has 850 employees. Among its customers are Cisco, Microsoft, Google, McKinsey and Shell. Chennai’s CRCL on the other hand is the fourth largest catering company in India and has over 2650 employees. It serves 100,000 meals and has companies like Daimler, Pfizer, MRF and Vellore Institute of Technology among its clients. Both MegaBite and CRCL are premium top contract catering companies whose values are aligned with those of Elior Group. The French company is one of the world’s leaders in the contracted food industry.
Bikano plans to launch ready-to-eat foods
FMCG Bikano already exports ready to eat products to the US, Dubai, UK, Canada and New Zealand. Now the company plans to launch products with Indian flavours in the domestic market. Bikano intends to focus on hygienic and nutritious preparations for a healthy India. It aims to ensure quality control and nutritional value which will encourage the idea of healthy eating. Bikano will keep the traditional taste alive and would offer ready to eat foods like shahi paneer, rajma, saag etc. To meet the demand for the domestic market, the company intends to increase production over the next few years.
India gets its first ready-to-cook tawa pizzas in two variants
Ready-to-cook tawa pizzas have been introduced in India by Frish, the vegetarian frozen foods brand from the WestCoast Group. The two variants of the pizzas are Tawa Pizza Classico and Tawa Pizza Delight that can be cooked on a tawa in just seven minutes. The former has toppings of onion, green capsicum and cheese and is available at an introductory price of Rs.99 for a 200g pizza. The latter has toppings of onion, olive, bell pepper, corn and cheese and is available at an introductory price of Rs.125 for a 200g pizza. The company feels that indulgence, health and convenience are driving the food market and they have offered all these in their tawa pizzas. Frish Tawa Pizzas make a convenient back-up meal and the fact that it can be cooked on a tawa will add to its popularity. Moreover, the pizzas have no preservatives but have a long shelf life and will be available in all retail stores. They can also be ordered online on the WestCoastGroup e-commerce websites – Frozone.in and cambaytiger.com.
IKEA to open a 1,000-seater restaurant
IKEA, one of the biggest global furniture retailers will open a 400,000sq.ft store in Hyderabad. What is different about this store is that it will also have a 1,000-seater restaurant. The restaurant will serve healthy and nutritious Indian and Swedish cuisine. IKEA has revenues of 5.4 percent from the restaurant business but it is expecting revenues of 10 percent in India. IKEA will invest Rs.10, 500 crore in India through the FDI route. They will also open a store in Mumbai and in all they hope to have 25 stores in nine Indian cities. The company will open the restaurant half an hour after opening the store and so are likely to attract consumers by serving coffee for free. The store will also have a children’s play area and a day-care centre for children of employees.
West Bengal to get centralised Amul Dairy processing plant
Since Amul Dairy is emerging as a leader in milk sales in Kolkata Amul is likely to set up its seventh centralised milk processing plant in Sankrail Food Park in Howrah. The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation has allocated 17 acres to Amul Dairy. Work is to begin in 2017 and will be complete by end of 2018 and will require an investment of Rs.200 crore. The plant is being set up keeping in mind that the demand for milk is likely to touch 20 lakh litres by 2020. The plant will manufacture UHD milk, yoghurt, ghee and normal milk. The plan includes a facility for a spray dried milk manufacturing unit. Presently Amul is sending spray dried milk from Gujarat and procuring it from third party operators like India Dairy and local farmers. India Dairy has also set up 200 cattle feed plants which are meant for farmers who would be in Amul’s area of operations.
Suman Singh says
Amul is sending spray dried milk from Gujarat and procuring it from third party operators like India Dairy and local farmers.
Please do it clarify.