Snapshots of Food Industry News
Innovative Foods to Open Plant in Chittoor Food Park
Innovative Foods is a Cochin based frozen food company that owns the Sumeru brand. The company is gearing up to set up a second manufacturing facility at the Mega Food Park in Chittoor. The facility will have a capacity of 300 tonnes and should be operational by the end of the year. Besides a new range of parathas, the Chittoor plant will also manufacture other frozen food products. This will enable the company to double their revenues to Rs.100 crore as they will be able to enter newer geographies. They also plan to bring in new partners for their B2B segment.
The frozen food market is stated to be around Rs.800 crores presently but received a setback because of GST as average taxes went up by around 7 percent. However, despite these temporary setbacks, the frozen food industry is poised for growth. According to TechSci Research, it is estimated to grow at a CARG rate of 15 percent during the period 2016- 2021. The reasons for this growth are that there has been an increase in the number of modern retail stores as also an increase in the refrigeration facilities of small retailers as well as the rapid increase in fast food chains.
Apex Frozen Foods to Invest Rs.90 Crore in Shrimp Unit
Apex Frozen Foods, producer, and exporter of marine products will set up a shrimp processing facility in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. The company already exports processed shrimps to USA, UK, and the EU. Apex has already invested Rs.10 crore in the 20,000 tonnes per annum facility which is the company’s largest and will invest the remaining Rs.90 crore from the IPO. Apex Frozen Foods will go public in August 2017 and will raise about Rs.150 crore by divesting 28% promoters shares.
The company has two other plants with a capacity of 9,240 tonnes at Kakinada (AP) and a third party facility that has a capacity of 6,000 tonnes and an additional 3000 tonnes. The company would like to see its overall capacity reach 30,000 tonnes. About 5,000 tonne capacity in the new plant will be dedicated for ready to eat products and 15, 000 tonnes for manufacturing ready to cook products. After China India ranks second in the total aquaculture production and the Indian fisheries industry is valued at $15 billion.
After GST Hiccups Britannia Increases Distribution Trajectory
FMCG major Britannia is all set to increase its distribution network especially as GST witnessed de-stocking by trade channels. It has planned on increasing the market share of local players and see to growth in the rural market. The company will also target specific product category in the regional market and would enter at least one new geographical area each year and add new product categories so as to be known as a total food company. Because of the impact of GST Britannia Industries reported a 1.40 percent decline in consolidated net profit for the June quarter as compared to the net profit of Rs.219.21 crore in the April-June period a year ago.
Britannia has already entered into a joint venture with Greece’s Chipita SA to manufacture ready-to-eat croissants. Besides this JV Britannia is looking for opportunities in the bakery and dairy segment so as to strengthen its position. Presently international markets are not accessible because of high trade barriers. However, Britannia has a presence in over 70 countries and is evaluating entry into potential international markets through the local manufacturing route. Other areas it will focus on are to attain the premium status through innovative products and become cost-effective through wastage reduction and increase inefficiencies.
Tata Global Beverages to Introduce Ready-to-drink Green Tea in India
Tata Global Beverages is all set to introduce its green tea-based drink in the Indian market and mark its entry into the ready-to-drink (RTD) market. The company is diversifying its Indian portfolio by piloting a new product which will be targeted at the youth. This will be a first of its kind drink in the iced tea market and will be available in the orange and mango flavors. To make it more interesting the tea will also contain herbal extract and will be low in sugar.
Globally, traditional black tea consumption has been on the decline though India accounts for 90 percent of black tea market. However, the growth of green tea market has also shown a rapid increase and could be said to be growing faster than the black tea market. Also the herbal-fruit ready to drink segment is gaining footprints. The RTD market in India is estimated to be Rs.140 crore, with a predicted annual growth rate of with a nine to 10 percent.
FSSAI to launch Indian Recipe Archive Foodcast Mobile App
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in collaboration with Yes Bank will soon launch the Foodcast Mobile App which will have a repository of Indian recipes. People will be able to choose recipes from amongst hundreds of Indian cuisines through this mobile app. The Apex Food Regulator has already identified 200 Indian cuisines which have been divided according to what people can eat in a particular season or in a specific region. The FSSAI is keen to bring diverse Indian recipes through this platform and the Mobile app will help to promote the rich Indian culinary heritage and people will have a chance to savor it.
Besides the mobile app, the FSSAI will also promote Indian cuisine by establishing food hubs that will offer a complete cultural experience of the region. Other aspects that FSSAI will work on are Food Streets, Food Festivals, and Food Trails for visitors. This framework will help the unorganized sector enter the food safety ecosystem and also provide nutritious food as these food programmes are meant to incorporate these stakeholders. The local, state governments as well as private players would also be involved in the process.
Tetra Pak Launches Next Generation Mixer for Food Processing
Tetra Pak has launched its next generation mixer, R370-1000D, which offers unparalleled ingredient mixing performance. The high shear in-line mixer also has much lower operating costs and lower production costs. Tetra pack has designed the mixer in response to consumer needs as the mixer produces finer, more consistent and more stable emulsions. The innovative mixer has a built-in de-aerating system, a flexible powder introduction system and a newly-designed mixing head which are all integrated into the revolutionary mixer. The mixing machine has a capacity of up to 30,000 liters per hour and can be used on the production of liquid dairy, beverages, ice cream and prepared food, as well as for most pre-mixing needs in food manufacturing
The R370-1000D will set a new benchmark in the food processing industry as the machine can handle the highest viscosities for a recirculation mixer at up to 2,000 cP and break the size of the droplets to one micron (0.001mm), which is significantly smaller than the industry average of seven microns. The mixer makes it possible do away with homogenization step when producing certain types of ice creams. Since the mixer can handle ingredients with 65 percent dry matter its cuts down the need for evaporation especially in the production of infant formula.
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