Snapshots of Food Industry News
Baidyanath Ayurved Launches Range of Natural Juices
In a bid to go with the trend for healthy, natural and organic products the 100-year-old Baidyanath Ayurved has introduced a range of natural juices like amla, aloe vera, karela and jamun and giloy. Seeing the shift in consumer preferences the company has decided to foray into the FMCG market with products that provide health benefits. Amla juice is rich in antioxidants and Vitamin C and balances the three doshas. Aloe vera juice is good for liver disorders, digestive problems, diabetes, joint pain, obesity and constipation besides being good for the hair. Karela and jamun juice has essential nutrients like iron, manganese, zinc, phosphorous, Vitamins C, B3, B2 and B1, bioactive like lycopene, GABA, zeaxanthin and charantin and regulates glucose metabolism and is good for diabetics. Giloy juice boosts the immune system and the body’s resistance to infections.
Baidyanath has played a pioneering role in re-establishing ancient knowledge with modern research and manufacturing techniques. These natural juices are both preventive and curative for health and will be available across retail outlets in small ready-to-drink tetra packs for youngsters and one-liter packs for families. On the whole, Baidyanath produces the largest range of Ayurvedic products with over 700 formulations that are sold in about 1, 00,000 retail outlets. Ayurveda as an industry is growing at a fast rate and is forecast to grow to $1.1 billion by the year 2021.
Food-tech Company HungerBox raises US $2.5 Funding
Bengaluru-based HungerBox, a B2B food-tech company, has raised US $2.5 million in pre-series A funding led by Lionrock Capital and Infosys Co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan. The food-tech company is focussed on the B2B space and operates over 100 digital cafeterias, for more than 75 corporate clients including Qualcomm, Microsoft, FirstSource, Accenture, Capgemini, Genpact, ABB, Amazon, and McKinsey in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi/NCR, and Jaipur.
HungerBox has received nearly seven million orders on their platform to date. They are clocking more than 120,000 daily orders and expect to scale this to half a million orders per day by end of 2018. The funding from marquee investors will be used to scale operations and to keep pace with the traction they see in their digital cafeteria management solution. There is tremendous potential for innovation in the B2B food-tech arena as corporate spending on F&B is growing year-on-year. Spending on F&B in the B2B space is estimated to reach the US $14 billion in India in 2018. HungerBox is working towards being a leader in this space.
The Beer Café launches ‘URBAR’
The Beer Café – India’s largest alco-beverage chain has launched ‘URBAR’, a virtual bar which allows patrons to reserve and consume their favorite brands. Customers can explore from a wide selection of alco-beverage, pre-pay for them and keep them stocked in ‘URBar’. The patrons can log in to The Beer Café’s mobile app. Click on ‘URBar’ icon, reserve beverages in form of the bottle for spirits, keg for draught beer, or case for bottled beer. Patrons get the privilege to buy their favorite brands at a special price and also benefit from one price across the nation. They can choose any portion amount to consume at any Beer Café outlet across 12 cities and save the rest for next outing.
The bottle/ keg purchased stands as a prepaid instrument and as it is consumed the stock reduces. Customers can use an ‘online’ mobile wallet to add The Beer Café’s own currency and recharge their stock. Or ‘pay at the store’ by just walking into the closest The Beer Café outlet and the brew crew will assist the customers. What’s more, it also gives patrons the option of ‘gifting’ customizable amounts of their reserved stock to friends, family, and colleagues.
Foreign Buyers Keen on Indian Organic Products But Worried About Quality
Foreign buyers, including the Chinese and Americans, showed a keen interest in importing Indian organic agricultural products showcased at International Trade Fair for Organic and Millets 2018. However, they raised some concerns about the quality assessment of these products. South Korea based Organic Partner usually imports cashews, nuts, turmeric and rock honey from India. However, for quality assessment in South Korea, each product goes through 377 tests. However, this is not the case in India and unless Indian produce meets the Korean Specific Organic Standard, trade between both countries is not possible. Among the commonly exported items to South Korea and China, turmeric and cotton stand out.
Contamination and cross-contamination issues pertaining to sampling and shipping continue to affect international trading. US-based Organic Spices Incorporated acknowledged that America is a huge market for organic spices such as peppercorns, chili, cumin, garlic and other spices. But Indian organic food imports often fail in heavy metal testing. Also, there is a lack of awareness about Indian grains in the international markets. There is a need to hold ITF more frequently so as to spread awareness about the diversity and range of grains in India. The ITF caters to buyers from USA, Germany, Switzerland, UAE, South Korea, Uganda, China, and Malaysia.
Parag Milk to Focus on FMCG Products for Next 3 Years
Parag Milk Foods is expecting revenue growth to dip by 15 percent per annum, in the next three years. During this period they intend to focus on dairy FMCG products. The company is India’s largest private dairy with a milk processing capacity of 2 million liters per day. The company’s revenue grew by 17 percent in the last three years to reach Rs.1, 730.7 crores in FY17 and is looking at a CAGR of 13-15 percent in the next three years.
The future growth will come mainly from traditional products like liquid milk, ghee, paneer, and curd, which are expected to grow by 15 percent. Modern products like UHT milk, flavored milk, cheese and whey powder may grow by 26 percent by 2020. Parag Food plans to increase operational efficiencies by leveraging in-house technological, R&D capabilities and strengthening brands. It is looking at focusing on introducing healthy and nutritious products. The company has high hopes for its 100 percent vegetarian protein product because there is an increase in a number of health clubs and fitness centers. Also, the country’s sports nutrition segment is estimated to grow to Rs.1, 500 crores.
People and Placement
Prakash C Bisht Appointed CFO Jubilant FoodWorks
Jubilant FoodWorks, which operates Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin Donuts chains in India, has appointed Prakash C Bisht as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with immediate effect. Bisht will lead finance and accounts, secretarial and legal functions of the company. He earlier worked at Apollo Tyres for 15 years in various roles, the last being the lead role as Head Accounts.
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