agri business & food industry- february issue

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AgriBusiness & Food Industry w February 2012 5

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6 AgriBusiness & Food Industry w February 2012


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12 EDITORIAL

RIcE ExpORT

26 Iran trade defaults on payments to Indian rice exporters

28 pROfILE

l Khas Foods Pvt. Ltd. lElegant Engineers l Goel International Pvt. Ltd. lR. P. Basmati Rice Ltd. l Kashmiri Lal Sat Pal lHind Agro Industries Limited l D D Marine Exports Pvt. Ltd. lVeer Overseas Limited l Privasia Trading lKhosla Agro Overseas lM. K. Overseas lSifter International

46 hOnEy InDusTRy

WHAT IS NEXT FOR HONEY IN GCC?? – A.k.Singh

54 fOOD sEcuRITy

Modernising Agro-Food System through Partnerships – WILLIAM D. DAR

66 pOLIcy

Government to Set Standards for Junk Food

70 cOffEE

Spreading Coffee Flavours to New Areas 4th India International Coffee Festival

74 sTORAgE

Better storage facilities to ensure food security – Rana Kapoor

78 pROcEssIng

Mango Drinks Demand Propels Processing Systems Growth

80 nEWs

l Retail FDI debate should focus on benefits to farmers l Onions flood market, despite export price cut l Food processing sector takes strides in N. India

94 List of participants at the ApEDA pavilion in gulfood 2012

inside...

Interview ...44

Indian Horticulture Beckons New Investors

Biggest Horti Expo in India next month

INTERNATIONAL CHEF’S CONFERENCE

Basmati enters world's recipe books

–Nandu Nandkishore

ChoColates& More

Nestle's new Executive Vice-President spells out plans

— Sanjeev Chopra

Agri Affairs ...14

The Year of Horticulture

Show Report ...22

Cover Story ...16

States to Prepare Strategic Plans


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chief Editor S. Jafar Naqvi

consulting Editors T.V. Satyanarayanan K Dharmarajan

chief co-ordinator M.B. Naqvi

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Editor : S. Jafar Naqvi

Vol 9....... Issue 2 ...... february 2012

Signalling early launch of the avidly-awaited second White Revolution, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has worked out the details for the first phase of its 15-year National Dairy Plan (NDP) to meet the surging domestic demand for

milk and milk products. This is welcome news to all stakeholders, particularly the dairy farmers, the dairy industry and consumers, against the backdrop of current projections that India would have to produce 150 million tonnes of milk by the end of the 12th plan -- against 112 million tonnes at present – and 210 million tonnes by 2021-22 because of growing population, rising household incomes and increasing health and nutrition consciousness. Achievement of these targets would mean an incremental increase of six million tonnes of milk annually.

While a massive outlay of Rs. 17,300 crore is envisaged for implementation of NDP, its first phase, to begin in the next few months, involves an investment of Rs. 2040 crore, a large part of which would be secured through a credit from International Development Agency (IDA). The government of India’s share and contributions from cooperatives would make up the rest. NDDB and its subsidiaries would provide funds for technical and implementation support.

The plan would focus on 14 major dairying states, which account of 90 per cent and more of India’s milk production,

Since a major hurdle dogging Indian dairy development is low average productivity of animals, NDP-1 (first phase) rightly has made breeding and feeding a thrust area. The target is to cover 40 per cent of the milch animals under artificial insemination (AI), for which high genetic merit (HGM) indigenous bulls would be raised and pure-bred exotic bulls like Jersey would be imported.

Based on the experience of implementing Operation Flood, in phases, NDP-I would initiate a Ration Balancing Programme and, alongside, give greater attention to fodder development and strengthening of village-based milk procurement centres.

While various targets set for NDP -1 are laudable, there are many issues that need to be given greater attention so as to not only maintain India’s position as world’s number one milk producer but also to achieve set goals like ensuring availability of quality milk and milk products to the consumers at an affordable cost, providing higher income to the producers and guaranteeing profitability to the dairy industry. All this would demand adoption of appropriate technologies and stepping up R & D with increased outlay. Research should concentrate not only on animal health and productivity, by also on developing more and more value added products for marketing both in the domestic and export markets. Modern marketing demands topmost attention to packaging and presentation.

A vulnerable point in the Indian dairy sector is the unorganized sector, accounting for 80 per cent of milk production in the country. This is an area which poses a challenge for dissemination of information on hygienic production and handling of milk and milk products.

Logistics of procurement is another area that requires improvement. What with bad roads and inadequate transportation facilities, milk procurement activity is rendered difficult.

Despite all these problems, the Indian dairy sector offers a wealth of opportunities, and the new entrepreneurs who are drawn to this industry should make all efforts to tap them by modernizing their operations.

comments are welcome at: [email protected] expressed by individuals and contributors in the magazine are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of “AgriBusiness & food Industry” editorial board. AgriBusiness & food Industry does not accept any responsibility of any direct, indirect or consequential damage caused to any party due to views expressed by any one or more persons in the trade. All disputes are to be referred to Delhi Jurisdiction only. .....Editor

Editorial




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— sanjeev chopra*

Agri Affairs

States to Prepare Strategic Plans

The Ministry of Agriculture has decided to mark 2012 as the Year of Horticulture to acknowledge

the salience and centrality of horticulture in the agricultural development of the country. As has been mentioned in these columns earlier, till very recently, horticulture had always been treated as an ‘adjunct’ to agriculture, and never as a sector in its own right. However, a shift in is thinking discernible, considering the fact that with just 20 million hectares (mha), or one seventh of the area under agriculture (I40 mha), horticulture produces over one third of the agriculture GDP in the country, and has the potential to record a double digit growth.

There are other aspects which need to be considered as well. As incomes grow, the share of the horticulture produce in the ‘consumption basket’ shows a considerable increase. Even though cereals, oil, pulses and sugar continue to occupy the main share of the consumer’s rupee, flowers, fruits , nuts, honey and spices will soon take over – especially as with the exception of onions and potato, the rest are not really ‘price sensitive’.

What does the Year of Horticulture entail? Does it have a meaning beyond the declaration and the logo, letterheads and stationery? Are there any tangible gains that can be listed out by the end of the year? Who will organize it? Is it a few high profile seminars in New Delhi or does it include awareness and campaigns at district and sub district

levels, where the actual work is being done ? AgriMatters will address these issues.

First things first. The Year of Horticulture is more than a ‘formal declaration’. It is a commitment from the National Horticulture Mission (NHM), the Horticulture Mission for the North east and Himalayan states (HMNEH), the National Mission on Micro Irrigation (NMMI), the National Horticulture Board and the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) to ensure that horticulture is placed on a ‘sustainable development track’ by ensuring that all loose ends are tied up, and seamless integration takes place --from pre production to post harvest management. Thus it starts with a focus on planting material, Tissue culture labs and nursery accreditation to give a firm foundation to the sector. The fact is that neither the public,

Ministry of Agriculture(govt. of India)

NHMnational horticulture Mission

small farmers' Agri-Business consortium

HMNEHShorticulture Mission for

north East & himalayan states

national horticulture Board

national Mission on Micro Irrigation



Agri Affairs

nor the private sector nurseries in the country were geared to such a massive expansion in this sector. It is only in the last decade, and more so from the second half of the 11th plan period that that public expenditure has been focused on this sector. This was the period which saw several state governments establishing a separate directorate, and in many cases, even departments and ministries for horticulture. The food processing sector also came up in a big way – and the need for ‘raw material’ also called for greater focus on the horticulture production side. Plus the paradigm changed … commodities had to be processed not because they were in excess, but because there was a demand for processed food. Thus potato and banana chips, and tomato and mango puree were in production not to meet the excess supply – but additional supply had to be created to meet the demand for processed food. Also, the needs and demands of the food processing sector became distinct from that of the table varieties.

Thus the ‘first tangible’ is to lay the foundations for a strong base which can meet at least 125% of the expected demand for the growing sector. This would call for a calibrated plan with all the state horticulture directors, ICAR institutions, seed companies, tissue culture labs, nurseries and the NHB. The first cut of the road map should be ready by May this year, especially as this will be the theme of the Horticulture Conference being convened on 17th February at New Delhi to take stock of all aspects relating to production and productivity.

To take this forward, each state is preparing a Strategic Action Plan – not just to meet its own requirements, but also to meet the requirements of planting material and seeds in different parts of the country. Thus Punjab, Himachal and Uttarakhand supply potato seed for the entire country, and there is need to ensure breeder seeds are distributed to states, not on the basis of the production of potato, but on their ability to produce True Potato seed. Many states are giving the required thrust to Tissue Culture Labs, and are also setting up Centres of Excellence for the production of seedlings for distribution to farmers. States will also look at protected

cultivation in a big way, as it is certainly going to be a game changer – especially in the peri-urban areas, and for marginal and small farmers who have the capacity to put in intensive labour, and work 24x7. States are also being advised to ensure that Kisan Melas are organized at district and sub district levels – especially on the crops that are germane to the area,

and ensure that these interactions are meaningful and positive. Besides each state will also plan a Regional or National Workshop to ensure networking of experts, farmers and stakeholders to ensure that domain specific expertise is shared on a pan India basis.

An important role has also been envisaged for National level Agencies like APEDA, National Seeds Corporation, SFAC, NHB and FEHL. To illustrate, the SFAC will hold regional and national workshops to promote the concept of Farmers Producer Organizations. Given the fact that the structure of our landholdings will continue to be ‘marginal and small holders’, the only way for them to ensure economies of scale and scope, and ensure that transactions costs and time remain competitive is to follow the ‘collective’ route, without the rigidities of the formal co-operative structure. SFAC will also organize a national consultation on financial inclusion for farmers groups. The idea is to involve as many agencies, institutions and farmers as is possible in making horticulture ‘matter’ in the Y-O-H! (Year of horticulture)

*(The author is Joint Secretary cum Mission Director, National Horticulture Mission,

Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi).

The Year of Horticulture is more than a ‘formal declaration’. It is a commitment from the National Horticulture Mission, the Horticulture Mission for the Northeast and Himalayan states, the National Mission on Micro Irrigation, the National Horticulture Board and the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium to ensure that horticulture is placed on a ‘sustainable development track’ by ensuring that all loose ends are tied up, and seamless integration takes place – from pre- production to post-harvest management.



Indian Horticulture Beckons New Investors

Biggest Horti Expo in India next month

“New investments in horticulture have become more lucrative in the changed environment, which will create more employment and business opportunities for our younger generation. Foreign direct investment would come in a big way in the form of engaging farmer-groups in contract farming for fruits & vegetables. ”

India’s growing horticulture sector is currently undergoing a revolutionary phase. On the one hand, small farmers are taking bigger risks and experimenting with diverse cash crops, and on the other hand, large corporate houses are entering

horticulture and bringing in latest technologies. Corporate farming, cooperative marketing, contract farming and boom in food retail having become the present day buzzwords, the entire landscape of horticulture is set to change.

The 4th International Horti Expo 2012 is scheduled to be held from 3 - 5 March, 2012 at NSIC Exhibition Complex, Okhla, New Delhi. The Event’s Theme Pavilions will be on Fresh Fruits & Vegetables, Food Retailing, Organic, Agri Finance & Insurance, Processing & Packaging, Cold Chain & Logistics, Seed Agrochem & Irrigation, Medicinal Herbal Products, Potato Products & Technologies, Floriculture Wealth & Greenhouse Technologies. The Expo has special relevance this time since the Union Agriculture Ministry has declared 2012 as ‘The Year of Horticulture’.

“The Year of Horticulture is more than a ‘formal declaration’. It is a commitment from the National Horticulture Mission (NHM), the Horticulture Mission for the North East and Himalayan States (HMNEH), the National Mission on Micro Irrigation


(NMMI), the National Horticulture Board and the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) to ensure that horticulture is placed on a ‘sustainable development track’ by ensuring that all loose ends are tied up, and seamless integration takes place --from pre production to post harvest management.” said Sanjeev Chopra, Joint Secretary and Mission Director, NHM, Ministry of Agriculture.

It starts with a focus on planting material, Tissue culture labs and nursery accreditation to give a firm foundation to the sector. The fact is that neither the public, nor the private sector nurseries in the country were geared to such a massive expansion in this sector. It was only from the last decade or so that public expenditure has started coming to this sector in a focussed way. This was the period which saw several state governments establishing a separate directorate, and in many cases, even departments and ministries for horticulture. The food processing sector also came up in a big way, and the need for ‘raw material’ also called for greater emphasis on horticulture production.

What’s more, under the new paradigm shift, “Commodities had to be processed not because they were in excess, but because there was a demand for processed food. Thus potato and banana chips, and tomato and mango puree were in production not to meet the excess supply – but additional supply had to be created to meet the demand for processed food. Also, the needs and demands of the food processing sector became distinct from that of the table varieties” said Sanjeev Chopra.

The expo, which has as its Principal Sponsor the Ministry of Agriculture and its departments-- National Horticulture Mission, Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States, National Horticulture Board, National Mission for Micro Irrigation, Small Farmers Agri Business Consortium etc-- is supported by Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Health, Department of AYUSH, Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Food Processing & Packaging Machinery Industry Association, National Medicinal

Cover Story

The Ministry of Agriculture, GOI has decided to mark 2012 as the Year of

Horticulture to acknowledge the salience and centrality of horticulture in the agricultural development of the country.

Due to developments ushered by National Horticulture Mission, MOA in past few years, India has become a center for horticulture growth, but, as for the technology is concerned, it is lagging behind. This new focus will be particularly relevant in changing scenario of crop diversification applicable not only to Indian farmers but also South Asian nations where farmers face same problems in enhancing production and productivity because of inadequate exposure to high technology and inputs as also to advanced production practices, logistics and marketing.

Considering India’s leading position in horticulture sector in SAARC region, in order to introduce latest mechanization & technological innovations, Media Today Group jointly with FICCI under the aegis and Principal Sponsorship of Ministry of Agriculture, National Horticulture Mission, National Mission for Micro Irrigation, Technology Mission for North-east and Himalayan States, National Horticulture Board are organizing the 1st South Asian Horti Congress on 3rd and 4th March 2012 coinciding with 4th International Horti Expo 2012 and 7th International Flora Expo 2012. The 2-day Horti Congress is planned to have result oriented discussions and fruitful exchange of information among growers, policy makers, up-coming corporate farming groups, embassies and others. Delegates will deliberate on key issues related to holistic development of horticulture and

South Asian HortiCongressits commercialization in a globalized world. The key speakers are coming from Holland, Germany, Israel, Denmark and other nations participating in the expo.

FICCI being the Knowledge Partners as well as co-organizers are providing the Technical Support and necessary facilitations for delegates coming from Saarc countries.

The Netherlands is the Partner country and Germany and Israel are the Focus Countries of this programme. Through the concerned embassies they are mobilizing technology providers and input suppliers for agriculture, horticulture and floriculture along with technical experts to make presentations on possibilities of technical tie-ups and investment opportunities in South Asian countries.

The focus on the conference will be on Investment opportunities in different countries, latest green-house technologies, irrigation-fertigation solutions, pre & post-harvest management, productivity improvement, supply chain management and opportunities in modern retail markets etc. Indian Flowers and Ornamental Plants Welfare Association, Irrigation Association of India, International Horticulture Innovation and Training Centre and National Committee on Plasticulture Applications in Horticulture are actively supporting this event with an objective to create more and more employment and business opportunities for existing farmers and also attract new generation of agri-entrepreneurs for sustainable growth.

Email: [email protected]: +91-11-65656553, 64521572

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Plant Board and Indian Flowers and Ornamental Plants Welfare Association.

“The theme of the expo is ‘Projecting India’s Farm Power – Combining Food Quality & Safety’. The theme is appropriate at a time when the global horticulture together with food industry is changing, bringing about innovations in productivity and at the same time facing challenges to conform to international standards”, said S. Jafar Naqvi, Chief Coordinator.

Under Ministry of Food Processing Industry, preservation and value addition at farm level are a focus area and they also ensure the supply of quality food products to end consumers. On the other hand Ministry of Agriculture is aiming to double the production of all horticulture crops through NHM, NHB, HMNEHS and disseminating latest and modern practices of production and post harvest care. It is also creating mass employment for rural Indians and encouraging them to diversify from traditional crops to high value horticulture crops for long term economic development.

On the export front, APEDA is targeting agricultural and processed food exports in the range of 15-20 billion dollars in coming years.

“To synchronize the efforts of all concerned departments, we are organizing a two-day South Asian

Cover Story

Horti Congress for progressive farmers, agri entrepreneurs, corporates, officials and extension workers concurrently with the expo. It will cater to the need of backward and forward linkage and promote awareness in all concerned within farming community”, said S. Jafar Naqvi. Through this congress experts from Germany, Holland, Israel, France and India will focus on Good Agriculture Practices to increase the production, preservation, issues of Post Harvest, Value Addition and Quality Parameters of Food Products for domestic and exports, he explained.

Ministry of Agriculture's National Horticulture Mission is heralding a new revolution by proposing Rs.150 billion for horticulture development in India. The horticulture industry at this moment needs a common platform to display its inherent strengths to the world market, as also to look for best technologies for post harvest and processing activities. This twin support will put our newly opened horticulture sector in a strong position to challenge the world.

Indian Cold Chain infrastructure is facing a few challenges like lack of integration of approach and efforts for effective policy formulation, infrastructure development and information dissemination. As per the recent announcement by Government, investments worth Rs. 18,000 crore to Rs. 20,000 crore (42-46 Million $) are required over the next five years. The industry expects government to pump

up 40 to 50 percent of the investment through the new mechanism of viability gap funding.

Modern Retailing in India is now the world's hottest retail destination where true retail revolution is taking shape in the form of modern food retailing, super market chains, hyper market and cash & carry concepts. All these are creating waves in the Indian corporate sector.

Organized Food & Grocery Retail requires direct sourcing of bulk produce from farmers and this ensures a great opportunity for them. Government of India is promoting modern marketing concepts and creating atmosphere in favour of Indian farmers, circumventing middleman to increase the income of farmers. More than 5000 new outlets, 100 hypermarkets, 500 department stores and 2000 supermarkets are in the pipeline. Over 6000 small and traditional outlets are going through the modernization phase.

With over 300 million middle and higher income population, India is the world’s 2nd largest consumer base and fastest growing retail destination. Intake of fresh fruits, vegetables & food is increasing and contributes 13% of total organized retail that offers significant scope for investment in all related sectors. A huge domestic market supports high quality export oriented F & V production & value addition by providing a unique competitive edge. India, China and Pakistan along with other countries of the region make South Asia the world’s largest market.

In my opinion, “New investments in horticulture have become more lucrative in the changed environment, which will create more employment and business opportunities for our younger generation. Foreign direct investment would come in a big way in the form of engaging farmer-groups in contract farming for fruits & vegetables,” said Jafar Naqvi.

While India could have a growing share in supplying to export markets, the Indian domestic market for organic food appears as a `sleeping giant', which needs to be awakened.

For more details contact: +91-11-6565 6554 / 2668 2045 / 2668 1671

[email protected], www.hortiexpo.com


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INTERNATIONAL CHEF’S CONFERENCE

Basmati enters world's recipe books

Show Report

It was two full days of gourmet delicacies and expert chefs, centered on the wonderfully appetizing fragrance of Indian Basmati. “Basmati for the world

2011”, organised by the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority of India (APEDA) and All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA), was held at The Grand Hotel, New Delhi on 22nd-23rd November, 2011. The Conference was inaugurated by Dr. Rahul Khullar, Secretary-Commerce, Government of India.

The purpose of the Conference was twofold. Firstly, to let the world know about Basmati, the unique, fragrant, long-grained rice grown exclusively in

the Indian subcontinent, by replacing the rice used in International recipes with Basmati. And secondly, to provide a platform for exchange of ideas between the media, food critics, chefs, buyers and exporters of Basmati rice. Mr Asit Tripathy, Chairman APEDA summed it up by saying “The idea is to take Basmati to the local households in the target markets through cuisines such as Chinese, Mexican and Thai.”

To promote the use of Basmati rice, a coffee table book was released during the event, carrying detailed information on this unique rice, its essence and how it has been preserved over the centuries to modern days.

The idea of the Conference was to get both Indian and International chefs

chefs from around the globe meet at 'Basmati for the World 2011'



Show Report

to cook dishes that brought out the subtle and unique qualities of Basmati. International chefs were asked to create rice dishes, replacing the rice they used in their own countries with pure, aromatic Basmati. The Indian Chefs were at hand, offering their expertise and experience with Basmati. The media and food critics were invited and encouraged to spread word about Basmati’s wonders across the world, with a view to discover new markets for Basmati.

Over 60 international delegates participated, comprising 49 media persons and food critics, along with 13 chefs from different countries such as Italy, USA, Mexico, Britain, and France. Two hundred other delegates, including captains of the Indian rice Industry, diplomats from various embassies, and officials from the Ministry of Commerce also participated in this two-day conference.

“We export Basmati rice to over 100 countries. It is mostly being used in Indian dishes and by Indians. Now we are promoting its use in dishes of other countries also,” said Arvind Kumar Gupta, advisor at the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority of India (APEDA) who was present on the occasion.

On Day One, a live Basmati Kitchen was set up and global chefs took the centre stage, cooking their Basmati rice dishes in front of an appreciative audience. Master Chefs from different nationalities showcased their local dishes, re-invented by using Basmati rice. People sampled the fare, asked for recipes and chatted freely with the chefs. Everyone, especially the chefs, agreed that Basmati added a touch of the exotic and brought out the best in many international dishes.

On Day Two, it was the turn of Indian celebrity chefs to display their skills. Chefs Shilpi Gupta, Nita Mehta, Mridula Baljekar and P. Shekhar showcased their culinary skills with Basmati. Chef Shilpi Gupta an Executive Sous Chef (Officiating Executive Chef) in The Grand Hotel, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi proved to be a keen participant. His experience with Basmati and ability to experiment, led to several innovative offerings. Together, the Indian chefs proved to be worthy advocates for Basmati rice.

With the who’s who of the industry, diplomats and government officials, the media and food critics in attendance, the day turned out to be exciting and full of great food and superb camaraderie.

The expected outcome of the Conference is the development of chef

“Basmati is a special, long grain, aromatic rice cultivated in a delineated geographical area in India. Amongst the food and restaurant industry around the world, Basmati occupies a unique space as a premium rice. India exports more than 2 million MT of Basmati Rice to over 100 countries across the globe. Basmati is the single largest agro product exported from India, valued at about USD 2.5 billion” said Dr Rahul Khullar while inaugurating the two-day international chef's conference.from left: Mr. gurnam Arora, Dr. Rahul Khullar, Mr. Asit Tripathy, Mr. Vijay setia at the press conference



“During the two-day unique Basmati promotion initiative ‘Basmati for the World’ global celebrity culinary masters will re-invent their own local dishes with Indian Basmati rice for a congregation of international food columnists and international trade. The main objective of the conference is to promote Indian Basmati Rice across the world by integrating Basmati rice into local recipes” said Asit Tripathy, Chairman, APEDA while speaking on the occasion.

foreign and Indian media at the press conference

captains of the rice industry amidst deep discussion during the conference

schools across the globe, where chefs would learn to use Basmati rice in a variety of rice-based cuisines.

APEDA and AIREA are doing such campaigns during the world-renowned food fairs like ANUGA, SIAL, GULFOOD and FANCY FOOD by way of wet sampling of mouth-watering delicacies prepared by famous Indian restaurants in respective cities for the last few years. Such campaign have helped Indian Basmati Industries to attract the attention of trade visitors to import more quantities of basmati rice from India and thus create a long term impact and gain greater market access in different countries.

“Basmati is a special, long grain, aromatic rice cultivated in a delineated geographical area in India. Amongst the food and restaurant industry around the world, Basmati occupies a unique space as a premium rice. India exports more than 2 million MT of Basmati Rice to over 100 countries across the globe. Basmati is the single largest agro product exported from India, valued at about USD 2.5 billion” said Dr Khullar while inaugurating the two-day international chef conference.

“During the two day unique Basmati promotion initiative ‘Basmati for the World’ global celebrity culinary masters will re-invent their own local

Show Report



foreign and Indian media at the press conference

Media interacts with chef Edmonds

Basmati rice king prawns martini

simona Lazarand Valentin Tigau of Romania interviewing Mr. Vijay Arora

puff Basmati rice with star-anise custard

foreign delegate tying 'pagri'

chefs making merry at the cultural program

chefs Ochoa and Edgar navarro from Maxico

Michelin-star chef Lional Levy lends his creative touch

On Day 2, foreign chefs Ochoa and navarro take notes from their Indian counterparts

dishes with Indian Basmati rice for a congregation of international food columnists and international trade. The main objective of the conference is to promote Indian Basmati Rice across the world by integrating Basmati rice into local recipes” said Mr. Asit Tripathy, Chairman, APEDA while speaking on the occasion.

What the chefs preparedArancini, a Sicilian dish (fried rice

balls) by Chef Matt Edmonds from London and Maki roll by Michelin-star chef Lionel Levy of the Une Table, au Sud restaurant in Marseilles were of special note.

Chef Lionel Levy, who owns multi-cuisine restaurants in Paris and France, prepared a popular Eurasian dish called Chicken and Mushroom Pie using Basmati rice.

Flora Mikula of the Parisian restaurant, Auberge Flora, created Basmati ice cream served with caramelised pineapple, embellished with saffron. She also replaced a French rice variety with Basmati for a gazpacho (cold vegetable soup) with paneer and black olives.

American chef David Felton, famous for Ninety Acres, his farm-to-table restaurant, created a Basmati risotto with Brussels sprouts and butternut squash. He also paired the classical butter-poached Maine lobster with Basmati rice and Thai curry sauce.

Edgar Navarro, a Mexican chef reinvented the Tumbada using Basmati, the traditional seafood rice dish of Veracruz.

London-based chef Helen Tillott cooked Stuffed Baby Marrow using Basmati rice, white breadcrumbs, cheese sauce, onions, asafoetida (hing) and coriander.

Cultural Performance and Sumptuous Dinner!

The evening opened with a scintillating performance by Mink Brar, who compèred the evening along with Ejaz Khan. This was followed by Ash Chandler’s stand-up comedy act. The evening ended with Sophie Choudhary singing and dancing to popular numbers.

Show Report



Iran trade defaults on payments to Indian rice exporters

Iranian buyers have defaulted on payment for about 200,000 tonnes of rice from their top supplier

India, exporters and rice millers, said exporters and rice millers, as trade between the two countries comes under mounting pressure from a new wave of Western sanctions against Tehran.

While a sharply weakening rial has made forward purchases costlier, financial sanctions are making it difficult for Iranian traders to continue using an unofficial route involving middlemen based in Dubai to keep paying Indian suppliers.

The defaults, totalling about $144 million, were for shipments under term deals in October and November free-on-board Indian ports, Indian traders said. Most Indian rice exporters allow 90 days credit.

India is Iran's top rice supplier, accounting for some 70 percent of its annual requirement of 1-1.2 million tonnes of the grain, mainly aromatic variety Basmati.

"It is a serious issue and we do not rule out further payment defaults by Iran," said Vijay Setia, president of the All India Rice Exporters' Association. "We have requested the

government to step in." Setia said India should not send any more rice to Iran on credit, adding suppliers such as those in Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan had already stopped doing so.

The United States slapped fresh sanctions on Tehran from the start of this year, targeting financial institutions that deal with the central bank, hoping to stem oil revenues and persuade Iran to abandon a suspected nuclear weapons programme. The European Union followed with a ban on Iranian oil that is expected to take full effect within six months.

The rice default is the latest snag in India-Iran trade, which is heavily skewed towards Tehran.

India is Iran's second-largest buyer of crude and it has struggled to settle payments worth some $11 billion annually after New Delhi scrapped a long-standing mechanism in 2010 under pressure from Washington.

While New Delhi has switched to a payment conduit for its Iranian oil using a Turkish bank, Indian rice exporters have been using a loose, unofficial route involving a network of middlemen based in Dubai.

The middlemen receive payments from Iranian importers in rial and pay

Indian exporters in U.S. dollars. The consignments are sent directly from India to Iran.

But Indian traders said the defaults started after the rial plunged, making previous purchases costlier for Iranian importers.

The cost of transactions also went up for the Dubai middlemen as they use U.S. dollars to pay Indian exporters.

On Jan. 26, Iran announced an 8 percent devaluation of the rial and said it would enforce a single exchange rate, aiming to stamp out a black market where the dollar's value has soared due to fears over new sanctions imposed by the West.

Indian traders said about 20 Iranian companies have failed to clear their dues till the beginning of February.

"It threatens to jeopardise the trade with them, hurting both India and Iran," Anil K. Mittal, chairman of KRBL Ltd, a leading Indian rice miller and exporter, told a news agency.

"Due to sanctions on Iran, currently banks are not involved in payments to Indian rice suppliers. The payments are direct and at times on credit, making Indian exporters vulnerable to defaults. Indian traders must avoid supplying on credit."

The defaults could also put a question mark on the willingness of any Indian traders to take part in plans by India to step up exports in a range of goods, including farm products such as wheat and rice, to settle part of its oil dues to Iran.

New Delhi was planning to send a delegation to Iran in February to explore boosting exports to facilitate use of the restricted rupee currency, which the two sides have agreed to use to settle 45 percent of India's $11 billion a year oil bill.

But this would give Iran large amounts of a currency which is difficult to use for international trade.

India, is expected to produce 102.75 million tonnes of rice in the 2011-12 crop year (July to June), according to a forecast by the Union Agriculture Ministry. Basmati makes up around 5 percent of India's total rice production.

Rice Export



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Noida-based ISO 9001:2008 certified Elegant Engineers is one of the leading manufacturers and

exporters of pouch packaging machines, The company, set up in 1998,

manufactures more than 30 elegant models of pouch packaging machines and has a robust presence in the domestic and overseas markets including USA, Canada, Switzerland, Russia, UAE, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arab, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Eritrea, Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, Thailand, Mauritius etc.

The company grew rapidly in strength and footprints through consistent supply of quality machines at competitive prices. The EE packaging machines have curved a niche for themselves across industries, such as FMCG, pesticides and packaged foods.

Ultra-modern production facilities are used to manufacture these machines, which in turn, are further, tested a number of times before final shipments. To ensure world-class products that score high in durability and compatibility, the company follows strict guidelines in line with international standards to produce these machines. Apart from these user-friendly qualities, these machines are engineered for flexibility, low maintenance and high operating speed.

EE’s manufacturing capabilities enable it to design, develop and market various kinds of pouch packaging machines including the much appreciated models like EE-CTQ which is the best suitable machine for packaging tea, coffee, pulses, granules, grains and powder in 4-corner seal (quad) pouches. The fully automatic PLC controlled FFS machine (collar type) is another user-

friendly product from the stable of EE.EE’s wide range of products solves

most of the kinds of customers’ needs for packaging. These machines were designed keeping in mind the needs of customers. Various types of packaging machines come under four major heads: From Fill &Seal Machine, Pouch Sealing Machine, Automatic Phone/Scratch Card Packing Machine and other Packaging Machines. EE manufactures over 25 models of pouch packaging machines alone including Collar Type Vertical Form Fill and Seal Machine, Horizontal Form Fill and Seal Machine, Semi Automatic Filling and Sealing Machine to suit the various needs of its customers.

These models have applications in all types of materials like Tea, Pulses, Rice, Dry Fruits, Cakes, Namkeens, Sugar, Kurkure, Chips, Pasta, Toffee, Soap, Milk Powder, Detergent Powder, Pesticides, Phone Cards, Engineering Components, Wine, Oil, Fruit Juice, Shampoo, Liquid Soap, Lotions, and Creams etc.

Its list of domestic customers includes:l A N V foods Pvt. Ltd., (Versa Dry

fruits)l Amir Chand Jagdish Kumar, (Aeroplane

Rice)l Bhawani Flour Mill, l Chaman Lal Setia Export Ltd. (Maharani

Rice)l Dhampur Sugar Mills Ltd.l Durga Seeds Farm (Regd.)l Jagat Agro Commodities Pvt. Ltd.l Jeet India Pvt. Ltd., (Jeet Spices)l K R B L Ltd, (India Gate Rice)l Mawana Sugar Mills.l Panchwati Pryogshalal Patanjali Ayurvedic Ltd.l Sachdeva & Sons (Pari Rice)l SNG Agro Impex Pvt. Ltd. (Packer of

Bharti-Wallmart & Aditya Birla Group)l SSG Pharma (P) Ltd., (Satmola Tea &

Namkeen)l Tirupati Foods, (Packer of Bharti-

Wallmart & Aditya Birla Group)l The Simbhaoli Sugar Mills.

And its major overseas customers include:l Abiad Shallah Trading (Lebanon)l Alwan Dubai Mill, Dubai (U.A.E.)l Chippendales Tea (Kenya)l Ethnic Foods Inc., New Jersey (USA)

l GENEV GROUP GMBH, Geneva (Switzerland)

l KYFA Ventures Inc, Lanham MD (USA)

l Lake House Printers & Publishers Ltd., Colombo (Sri Lanka)

l Montero Trading Company , Harare (Zimbabwe)

l Mukwanoo Industries, Kampala (Uganda)

l Quality Foods, Canadal Rwenzori Commodities Ltd. (Uganda)l Sabir Food Products, (South Africa)l Sona Breweries PLC, Lagos (Nigeria)l Unilever Nepal Ltd. (Nepal)l Vitaco Pharmaceutical Inc., MD (USA)l Variety Foods, London (U.K.)l West Kenya Sugar company Ltd.

(Kenya)l Whinstone Enterprises Pty. Ltd.,

(Botswana)

The Company Has Following Certificates & Awards:l ISO 9001:2008 by JAS-ANZl D&B DUNS NO.- 92-119-1982l Engineering Export Promotion Council

(EEPC INDIA)l Registered SSI Unit.l EXPORT AWARD & GOLD MEDAL

for 2002-03 by Indian Council for Small & Medium Exporters.

Product Range:l Automatic PLC controlled vertical FFS

machines. l Automatic PLC controlled high speed

vertical FFS machines.l Automatic Four corner seal pouch

packing machine (Quad pouch).l Automatic Triangle pouch packing

machines.l Automatic phone cards / Scratch

coupon packing machines.l Automatic horizontal Form, fill & seal

machine (Flow Wrap).l Vertical & horizontal continuous pouch

sealing machine (Band sealer).l Semi-automatic Vacuum, Nitrogen

filling & sealing machines.l Volumetric Cup filler l Auger filler l Load cell weigh filler l Multi-head weigh fillerl Infeed & Out feed conveyors

www.elegantengineers.com

R

Elegant Engineers

Sandeep Agarwal Director

Atul Verma Director

Profile


AgriBusiness & Food Industry w February 2012 33AgriBusiness & Food Industry w February 2012 33

http://www.elegantengineers.com/

34 AgriBusiness & Food Industry w February 201234 AgriBusiness & Food Industry w February 2012

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Nandu Nandkishore is Nestle's new Executive Vice-President and Zone Director for Asia, Oceania, Africa and Middle East (AOA).The first Indian to head a zone for Nestle, ‘seen almost everywhere as a local company but with a Swiss heritage’, Nandkishore rules over a gigantic fiefdom which caters to three quarters of the world's population. “But,” as he points out, “only 27 per cent of our revenues.”Ramping up revenues to match market size would be one of the key challenges before 23-year old Nandkishore.How he tackles that will be keenly watched by corporates worldwide, who are increasingly picking Indians for key roles in global MNCs.Here are extracts of his views from a published interview:Nandu Nandkishore

On starting the chocolate business in India

In 1989 when I began working on chocolates, Cadbury's was the market leader. We did not have a licence to put up a chocolate factory. So we tied up a co-manufacturer, Campco. In one year's time, we had rolled out nationally.

Two years later, Polo was launched with another co-manufacturer, Bakeman. And then we were fortunate enough to be granted a licence to manufacture Kit Kat, and set up a factory in Goa.

When I left in 1996, our chocolates business was already 15 per cent of the total Nestle business in India,

starting from zero. In 1993, Polo was ranked as the best brand launch and in 1995 the honour went to Kit Kat. This was the liberalisation period when foreign brands were coming in — we beat brands from Coca-Cola and P&G.

On working in different culturesFundamentally, I find people are very

similar world over. You do have overlays of culture, but there are some interesting trends that are fairly global — the trend of what Thomas Friedman calls the Flat World; the trend of digitalisation; instant communication — Facebook, Twitter. Combine that with the bigger trend of demographic dividend in emerging markets such as India, Brazil and Mexico

as opposed to ageing populations in markets such as Japan and Europe and it's a fascinating dynamic.

If you stay true to the fundamental human values of respecting people, you can work across markets.

On how a global company can be tuned to local needs

We believe that everything that the consumer sees, touches, feels, tastes has to be local. Almost everywhere, any country we have been in, Nestle is seen as a local company but with a Swiss heritage. It's also been around for over a hundred years in most places. The length of stay makes a difference.

While business strategies are local,

ChoColates & MoreNestle's new Executive Vice-President spells out plans


Interview


the core Nestle management principles are common. It is made common by moving people around, so that the company's culture and values are very strong. One of the best kept secrets of Nestle is the ability to develop leaders with cultural adaptability and the skill to evolve. We force ourselves to test our leaders in 3-4 different cultures, before we thrust them into an MD's position.

On the new leadership paradigmFinancial control is centralised,

values are centralised, the functional custodian of quality is centralised, whereas business strategy is completely decentralised and empowered. It has moved from top down to be completely empowering, delegating without abdicating, of being a coach rather than a boss.

On the new health and wellness focus among food companies

Nestle was the first to enunciate this

strategy in 1998. If you look at the history of Nestle, a lot of our business has been built on agriculture raw material processing.

There came a time when it was not sufficient to maintain growth and competitiveness. So there was a need to evolve our portfolio, to add R&D and science, put science to the agriculture base but more on nutrition and wellness. It's not a goal we will ever reach, but a journey.

On current challenges in IndiaThe Nestle business in India has

been growing well. Yes, there are a lot of concerns on the projected slowdown in economic growth. But our view is that even six per cent GDP growth is good. From a long-term perspective, India is a great market to be in.

In the longer term, it makes sense to invest in India. Nestle has invested $500 million in new capacity. We will probably invest more.

But the challenge in the short-to-medium term is investing enough in building physical capacity without going overboard — just managing to stay ahead of demand. The second is human resources and capabilities to manage that kind of growth.

We have every reason to believe that India will be among the top five Nestle markets worldwide. Today it's not even among the top 10.

On India versus ChinaFirst, it is not India ‘versus'

China. It is India ‘and' China. We are an ‘and' company. We are investing more in China. This year we announced two big acquisitions in China. China will soon be in the top five (Nestle markets). Hopefully, in the next five years India will join China.

(The Interview was published in the Hindu Business Line)


Interview

http://www.indiapotatoexpo.com




WHAT IS NEXT FOR HONEY IN GCC??

Although Arabs are traditionally large consumers of Honey, this is generally in bulk and in ingredient

applications. Much of the honey in the retail market is in volume packaging and at a lower price point.

Retail market of honey in GCC is well established and new entrants will require a substantial marketing resource and distinctive value proposition. There is possibly more room in the grocery & food service market through organic ,specialty, comb and portion honey and can also be categorized as gourmet products in duty free shops with attractive and modern packaging.

Therefore, as background for the work ahead in the Gulf market for honey and beeswax, some specific questions that must be addressed are:l What is the market demand for

different bee products, particularly honey and honey based products?

l What differentiation exists in the honey market? Are there particular segments in which Indian Honey may have an advantage?

l What are the demand and trends within these segments?

l Which market segments offer the best opportunity for added value to the producer?

l What are the buyer requirements which producers/ exporters would need to meet?

Strategic Business Environment in GulfAlthough each country has its own

specific environment, the following common points/issues need to be considered for developing market in the region.

1. Security issues and political instability in many parts of the region.

2. Political developments in Iran / Iraq and war against terrorism significantly affected international trading.

3. Consumer Demographics:lWealthy nationals and expatriates

make up most of the market.lmore than 50% population is young.lincreasing number of youth, working

woman and single family.High per capita income, young

growing population, local trade policies and limited local agriculture production will continue to provide a considerable market growth.

4. Most countries in GCC like Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, KSA, Syria, UAE, Yemen etc.. have an import reliant economy wherein approx 90% of food requirements are met via imports. There is large number of expatriates from India, Pakistan, and Srilanka which makes approximately 50% of the total immigrant population. Arabs and Iranians account for approximately 23% and remaining consist approximately 8% of Westerners and East Asian.

5. Evolving retail market will serve as a key differentiator.

6. Trade restriction is minimal.

Honey Industry

— A.K.singh, president & cEO, Little Bee Impex

COUNTRY 2012 2013 2014 % of Globe (US$ Million) (US$ Million) (US$ Million)BAhRAIn 0.65 0.67 0.70 0.04%IRAn 10.73 11.05 11.37 0.66%IRAQ 2.55 2.64 2.72 0.16%JORDAn 0.73 0.76 0.78 0.4%KuWAIT 3.58 3.71 3.84 0.22%LEBAnOn 0.95 0.95 0.96 0.06%OMAn 1.57 1.63 1.68 0.10%QATAR 1.55 1.63 1.70 0.10%KsA 14.52 14.97 15.44 0.89%syRIA 2.05 2.10 2.15 0.12%uAE 3.98 4.18 4.39 0.25%yEMEn 1.30 1.33 1.36 0.08%

TOTAL 44.16 45.62 47.09 3.08%

projection: Based on the latent demand ( potential industry earnings).FiguresnotadjustedforinflationandfuturedynamicsinExchangerates.sOuRcE: InsEAD

7. Regulatory overview is simple and supplier friendly.

There is standard import duty of 5% on all the food stuff in the GCC market. All the countries follow one regulatory food standard pertaining to food compliances and it is SASO. Imports of foodstuff are strict and clearance at the port is subject to strict testing by the municipal authorities which is time consuming.

Major Players in The Market The leading brands of Honey in GCC

are Alshifa, Sue Bee, Langanese , Capliano, Glory, Kashmir & Little Bee .

The key honey supplying countries of Honey in this market are China, Australia, US, EU countries, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, India and Pakistan.

China is aggressive in the lower end of Honey market due to low pricing.

Main stream market is covered by Indian, Australian and Blended honey of other origins. Upper end of the market is dominated by US & EU honey.

Competition is always good for the Industry because it would raise the bar for quality and pricing.

Honey based products can actually increase the size of the market.

In 2012, ongoing trends will continue for realizing full potential particularly as concerns about health and wellness remains high on consumer agenda, and the uncertain economic factors continue to affect spending and investment. Nutrional scoring will become more prevalent in retail stores.


http://www.opticstechnology.in/index.php?


Privasia TradingOffers unparalleled service

Privasia Trading has sales and service relationship with some of the most

prominent names in the India Food Service Industry and is committed to helping them succeed in the industry and in satisfying consumer appetites. Privasia Trading is committed to delivering branded products that provide consistency and exceptional value at all quality levels. All our products and brands conform to the most

stringent standards of food safety, sanitation and consistency.

Our Locations: Dedicated warehousing in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi, and an expanding network of stockists spanning Calcutta to Chennai. A dedicated fleet of vehicles provides doorstep delivery to our customers with a goal of dispatching goods to our customers within a maximum of 24 hours from receipt of their order. Our regional marketing offices are located in Mumbai (Maharashtra), Bangalore

(Karnataka) and Gurgaon (Haryana).

Our Business: Privasia Trading operates in one of the most basic of industries – the distribution of food and related products and services to restaurants, caterers, hotels, club, hospitals, schools, ships and airlines – wherever a meal is prepared away from home.

Our Vision: To become India’s leading Food Service Supplier by consistently offering unparalleled levels of quality, value and services across the country.

n

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M. K. OverseasStands for quality & safety from the farm to fork

M K overseas has been exporting products to south east Asian countries, CIS countries, Fare East and traditional markets in the Middle East. The major importing countries includes Angola, Bahrain, Egypt, Georgia, Iraq, Jordan, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, UAE, Vietnam, West Africa, Yemen. The company has a state – of –the – art integrated Abattoir is a HACCP and ISO : 9000 certified unit. It houses a world – class German slaughter line from BASSNS a rendering plant, a well equipped laboratory for in-house quality control, an effluent treatment plant and a beautiful landscape within it’s boundaries.

The livestock is sourced from the state of Punjab, which is one the leading state of India in agriculture and animal husbandry. As a result the region offers the best livestock sources from this state, brought up on natural pastures and fodder. The animals are free from hormonal treatment and produce clean goods quality meat.

The Abattoir has a lairage which can accommodate about 3000 buffaloes and

about 1500 are slaughtered everyday. Before slaughter each buffalo is subjected to anti-mortem examination by qualified veterinarians authorized by the Animal Husbandry Department of the State Government. The slaughtering is done strictly as per the Islamic method of Halal. The slaughtered animals are then subjected to rigorous post mortem examination by qualified veterinarians authorized by the Animal Husbandry Department of the State Government.

Major lymph nodes are inspected and the carcasses are then cut into two equal portions vertically and chilled at 2 Degree Celsius 24 hours till the PH drops below 6.

Air-conditioned de-boning, fresh packing and frozen packing facilities have been built where a temperature of 12 Degree Celsius is ensured during various stages of these processes. Disinfected stainless steel knives are used for de-boning. The workers are trained to handle the meat hygienically at all stages to insured that a good product is produced. Once the de-

boning process is complete the meat is then packed in food grade poly bags and sent for freezing at about -40 Degree Celsius for 12 hours in blast freezers or to the plate freezers for instant freezing. After freezing each unit is packed in a carton and shrink – wraped without using any metal packing material. Each carton is subjected to metal detection through a metal detector.

The packed meat is then stored at a temperature of -18 Degree Celsius till it is finally loaded for exports. The total capacity of the cold storage is about 3000 tons. The product is dispatched to several destinations of the importing countries in refer containers via sea as well as aerial routes in a manner that the quality is ensured all along the chain.

MK Overseas has achieved a lot over the years. It has emerged as India's leading buffalo meat exporter to South East Asian countries. Its meat importing countries are growing rapidly. It has won a number of awards for emerging as the leading exporter of buffalo meat.

E-mail: [email protected]

Web.: www.mkoverseas.in

Chaudhary Mohd. Kamil Qureshi, Chairman

Profile


Food Security

by WILLIAM D. DAR, Dg, IcRIsAT

The world today faces "a perfect storm" of big challenges that could lead to widespread

food shortages and public unrest over the next few decades. These big challenges include climate change, energy crisis, food crisis, land degradation, loss of biodiversity and population explosion.

Scientists predict that worldwide drylands will expand by 11%, and that we will experience increased frequency and severity of droughts across the globe.

The past half-decade has seen a growing volatility in food prices and unexpected spikes in oil prices with severe impacts on the world’s poor. The international financial crisis is looming large especially on developing countries.

Meanwhile, according to the World Bank, 44 million people have been forced into extreme poverty by food inflation since June 2010.

Going by the latest FAO data, the world’s population is projected to reach more than 9 billion in 2050, which will require a 70-100% increase in food production to maintain the same dietary standard we have today.

Amid all these, agricultural productivity, especially in developing countries, continues to drop, while degraded natural resources and climate change are increasingly affecting food production and prices.

The farming community, mostly composed of small and marginal farmers, is the most vulnerable to this situation. They are getting poor returns for their produce at a time

when the cost of cultivation has gone up drastically.

This is the deeply worrying backdrop against which we in the agricultural research-for-development sector work on.

Agricultural research-for-development

International research centers like ICRISAT, through publicly available research, broad network of partnerships, and long experience in agricultural research-for-development (R4D) are well-positioned to contribute to the global fight against poverty and hunger.

Every 1 USD spent on international agricultural research leads to a return on investment of 9 USD worth of economic value in developing countries. The key here is long-term R4D investments, which typically rank first or second in terms of returns to growth and poverty reduction, along with investments in infrastructure and education.

International agricultural research in the CGIAR has contributed much to agricultural development in general and to world food security concerns in particular. Over the course of nearly 40 years of investment, a growing pipeline of research products, innovations and impacts has been changing lives on a large scale. At ICRISAT, we share the vision of a prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics with our partners all over the world. R4D investments have enabled us to generate scientific and technological innovations to: n Reduce smallholder farmers’

vulnerability to drought and climate change while increasing crop

diversity and value; n Harness development pathways for

inclusive growth and prosperity; n Raise and secure productivity for

health, income and sustainability; and

n Increase productivity to help end hunger and food insecurity.

Our integrated genetic and natural resource management approach holds great promise in improving livelihood opportunities for smallholder farmersparticularly in the drylands.

For instance, in the nutrient-starved soils of sub-Saharan Africa, 200,000 poor farm families have increased their productivity by up to 120% and their incomes by 50% with an innovation called microdosing. This technique ensures that even small, yet affordable, doses of fertilizer applied at the right place at the right time vastly benefit the crop.

ICRISAT’s scientists have used a range of proven models to provide insights on the potential impact of climate change on crop productivity. Out of these models, we have identified and minimized various yield gaps with the use of crop management practices and adapted crop varieties under current climate and climate change scenarios.

Another successful case is the low-cost ELISA-based kit developed by ICRISAT which is now helping groundnut farmers in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to export their produce to markets in the west.

ICRISAT has also strengthened its efforts on transgenic research for crop improvement by establishing the Platform for Translational Research on

Modernizing the agro-food system can be a strong engine for direct and indirect growth and poverty reduction in the drylands. It is all about shared challenges, technology exchange,

capacity building, and creating opportunities through partnerships

Modernising Agro-Food System through Partnerships


Food Security

Aiming to open up new challenges and opportunities towards improving the quality, safety and nutritional

value of grain-based foods, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) teamed up with the Vienna-based International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC) to conduct the first ever ICC India International Grains Conference in New Delhi.

With the theme “Developments in grain science and technology to ensure high quality, safe and healthy grain-based foods,” the conference brought together grain scientists and technologists, breeders, millers, bakers, cereal and grain food processors, suppliers and traders to discuss the quality, safety and nutritional value of grain and foods made from cereals, with specific reference to the needs of India and the Indian subcontinent.

Growing demand“The demand for grains is growing as a number of major

global issues continue to impact the world's food security,” said ICRISAT Director General William D Dar.

He pointed out that grain science and technology has become vital in addressing major concerns such as minimizing

First international grains conference

grain post-harvest losses, providing people access to quality and safe food, fighting hunger and malnutrition, and improving livelihoods of resource-poor households in the semi-arid tropics.

ICC Secretary General and CEO Roland E Poms, said that while focussing on the Indian context, the program is also globally relevant as it covers such areas as crop improvement, storage, and nutrition processing and analysis for all major cereal grains and products.

The NutriPlus Knowledge (NPK) Program of the Agribusiness and Innovation Platform (AIP) of ICRISAT is coordinated the event.

Knowledge sharingDuring the conference, renowned speakers from

international and national research institutes, multinational and domestic food companies, entrepreneurs, and food research and consultancy organizations shared knowledge and information on grain and food quality.

An expert panel discussion followed and a technical trade exhibition, and a poster paper program was also presented.

Transgenic Crops (PTTC) with support from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India (GoI).

Inclusive market-oriented development

At ICRISAT, we believe that farming must be done as a business, and one of our critical focus areas involves fostering agro-enterprises. We do this by promoting and initiating key approaches such as public-private partnerships, increased demand for agro-input and outputs, a conducive business environment, and above all, by advocating proactive government policies.

Our emphasis is on the smallholder

farmers in the dryland tropics. In India these comprise 65% of the agricultural landscape. These farmers must be key partners in agri-business and food processing ventures.

Modernizing the agro-food system can be a strong engine for direct and indirect growth and poverty reduction in the drylands. It is all about shared challenges, technology exchange, capacity building, and creating opportunities through partnerships.

This is the essence of our Inclusive Market-Oriented Development or IMOD approach under our new strategic plan to 2020. IMOD is a dynamic progression from subsistence towards market-oriented agriculture.

This pathway is what will reduce poverty since markets create demand for a wider diversity of higher-value foodstuffs and agro-industrial products. This stimulates agro-enterprises that raise rural incomes and create opportunities beyond agriculture. Smallholder farm families have to be empowered and assisted along this development pathway to lead them from pessimism to prosperity.

At ICRISAT, this seed was sown as early as 2003, with the setting up of the Agri-Science Park@ICRISAT supported by the Government of Andhra Pradesh– now renamed as the AgriBusiness& Innovation


Food Security

Platform or AIP. In this program, an inclusive growth and development strategy through public-private partnerships is the key.

The NutriPlus Knowledge (NPK) Program of AIP works on value addition and post-harvest management in the agri-food sector. We do this by promoting innovative processing, product development and food safety enhancement of ICRISAT mandate crops namely chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, sorghum and pearl millet.

NPK has been involved in exploring technologies for developing innovative products based on sorghum and millets, in order to offer healthier and safe food options to consumers. NPK also seeks to link resource poor farmers to the dynamic Indian agro-food processing industry.Through the activities of the NPK program,we actively collaborate with partners such as the ICC and with our various stakeholders in the grain and food industry to promote grain science and technology with focus on quality, safety and health.

Meanwhile, the Agri-Business Incubation (ABI) Program of AIP has emerged as a champion and a model in creating competitive agri-business enterprises. ABI helps entrepreneurs and innovators by facilitating commercialization of technologies and services of our NARS partners through the Network of Indian Agri-Business Incubators (NIABI).

In India and in most developing countries of the world, much of the industrial activity is agro-based, with agro-food processing alone accounting for a big percentage of the total manufacturing industry.

We believe, therefore, that the fight against poverty, hunger and malnutrition involves stimulating agro-enterprises to raise rural incomes and to create opportunities beyond agriculture, through the IMOD approach.

Again, we must remember that markets provide cash to enable the poor to break out of the poverty-hunger trap. Social and technical innovations increase farmers’ rewards from market participation. And innovations must be specially tailored to the conditions of the poor.

Sustainable and inclusive growthHundreds of millions of people,

particularly those in the drylands, continue to live in poverty. At the heart of this global inequality lies food and

nutrition insecurity.What every nation of the world

needs is a sustainable, inclusive, resilient, profitable and healthy agricultural sector. We at ICRISAT believe that critical to achieving this is to pursue the following:

Crop diversification minimizes the risk of crop failure that might result from the vagaries of the climate. At the same time, farmers could greatly benefit by adding high-value specialty crops such as fruits and vegetables to traditional grain/cereal crops of the drylands.

Apart from bringing in more cash, diversified systems create a more nutritious household diet and provide remunerative labor opportunities as well as valuable by-products such as firewood, fibre and fodder.

Once IMOD has been triggered for staple food crops, the stage is set to expand it into additional high-value cash crops, because the basic experiences and channels for input supply and output marketing have been established.

We have been successful in introducing highly productive small market gardens which are now helping reduce poverty and improve nutrition in the Sahel region of Africa.

We have also explored opportunities for value addition or optimization in a sweet sorghum-food-ethanol-fodder production chain in a wide range of varieties and hybrids. We have also started forming public-private partnerships to make sweet sorghum a viable supplement feed stock for ethanol production.

Towards climate change adaptation, we have been developing and promoting resilient crops for the poor in the drylands, some of which are: short-duration chickpea cultivars that can withstand high temperatures; pearl millet flowering at 40+°C; and drought-resistant groundnuts.

We have also been conducting basic research on various dimensions of climate change, hazard analysis, and vulnerability assessment; and in reducing disaster risks and strengthen disaster resilience.

To build a resilient food system, we have to promote pro-poor agricultural growth by putting more investments in R&D, rural infrastructure, information monitoring and sharing, and by promoting institutional development and innovations.

Most importantly, our approach must be deliberately inclusive of those who need us most. Women and children

particularly suffer the most from poverty, hunger and malnutrition in the tropical drylands.

In building a resilient food system, we must empower the poor, especially women and children, to participate and benefit in the development process.

Partnership in grains science and technology

The demand for grains is growing as a number of major global issues continue to impact the world’s food security. Hence, grain science and technology, particularly in a country like India, has become a key factor in agro-enterprises development. Grains R&D addresses critical issues such as postharvest losses of grain produce, providing quality and safe food, fighting hunger and malnutrition, and improving livelihoods of smallholder farmers by providing them with entrepreneurial opportunities.

ICC has been instrumental in revolutionizing the field of grain science and technology through international cooperation, particularly in developing standard methods to improve food quality, food safety and food security for the health and well-being of all people.

We appreciate ICC’s initiative in leading the promotion of grain science and technology in this region of the world.

Path to food & nutritional securityIndeed, it is partnerships which hold

out the greatest hope of finding solutions to the challenges we face – but there is much, much more to be done.

An inclusive market-oriented development approach – in ways that alleviate hunger, end poverty, and promote sustainable development – requires us to work together more effectively.

The survival of one billion people – the weakest and most vulnerable on the planet – depends upon us finding answers to hunger now.

The future of nine billion plus people depends on us putting in place the right technologies, policies, systems and approaches to deliver food security in an environmentally sustainable manner within a few decades.

------------------------------------------This is the author’s keynote address at the

inaugural session of the Ist ICC India International Grains Conference, held in New Delhi on January 16. ICC is International Association for cereals science and technology, based in Vienna.


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Welcome to Sifter International, a legacy of trust, reliability and

honesty along with new mantra of youth, dynamism and aggressive – a company that is committed to bringing world class agro based food processing machinery to its customers.

Sifter International is a leading manufacturer of agro based food processing machinery which started in 1978 in India. With the experience of more than 3 decades and a team of more than 300 people, Sifter International is a renowned name worldwide which has successfully exported machinery in more than 40 countries like USA, Ukrain, Iran, Iraq, Syria, UAE, Balgium, Romania, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Spain, Mozambique, Malawi, Republic of Sierraleone, Borkinofaso etc.

Sifter International an ISO 9001 (Quality Control) & ISO 22000 FSMS (Food Safety Management System) Registered Firm & Group companies are equipped with state –of the-art production plants in the heart of industrial town Faridabad, Haryana. The company is having CE certification

for supplying the machines to European countries. The company has been engaged in the manufacturing of wide variety of agro based food processing machineries like:1. Rice Mill2. Wheat Roller Flour Mill3. Dal and Besan Mill4. Dehulling of Seeds5. Essential Oil & Oleoresin6. Cattle Feed Machinery7. Maize Starch, Grit Machinery8. Guar Gum Powder Machinery9. Spices Machinery10. Extraction From Herbs11. Fruit Juice Machinery12. Tomato Processing Machinery13. Potato Chips Machinery14. Solvent Extraction Machinery15. Basic Drugs From Roots

Our manufacturing facilities are equipped with latest machines like CNC Laser Sheet Cutting, Bending, Punching Machine, CNC Turret Punch Press, CNC Press Brake, NC Shearing Machine, Universal Milling Machine, Dynamic and Static Balancing Machine & Grinding Machine to keep pace with changing technology and requirement.

Our R&D unit of Sifter International is equipped with the state f art technology & professional from the different field of engineering. With the feedback and suggestion from the global customer sifter continuously work on improvement and innovation of technology. In sifter R&D unit various activity such as development of new technology, improvement of existing machines, development of new process technology, process optimization etc. have been carried out to meet the

demand of our esteem customers.At this unit demonstration of various

process and machineries have been carried our from time to time. It also organizes various demonstrations on clients request. In our R&D unit w have installed complete cleaning & grading plant of any type of cereals, de-hulling machines for various seeds, different types of dries like tumbler drier, spray drier, spin flash drier, vacuum drier, scrap surface drier, three stage evaporator, fludized bed drier, ACM grinding system, dall mill, rice mill machines and degerminator & dehulling machine.

At Sifter International, it has always been our endeavor to provide quality, consistency, and excellent service.

Business Initiative Directions is the leading organization awarding companies worldwide. We are awarded for the WQC (World Quality Commitment) International Star Award in the Gold Category at Paris, France 2009, We received Global award for Perfection Quality and Ideal Performance at Berlin (Germany) for the year 2010.

www.sifterinternational.com

S. C. Sharma

SIFTER INTERNATIONAl

SIFTER INTERNATIONAL, INDIA received the World Quality Commitment Award in the

Gold Category

Profile



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Government to Set Standards for

Policy

The government cannot ban junk food but will soon prescribe health standards for its ingredients. The Health

Ministry has informed the Delhi High Court that the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India will come out with standards for trans-fatty acid for food items sold off the shelf like samosas, jalebees, pakoras, burgers and pizzas.

Most of the junk foods, considered bad for the heart, have high quantity of trans-fatty acids and are low in minerals, vitamins and other essential food nutrients. And, they are said to be a major reason for obesity among children in schools in cities.

The ministry told the court that the authority has constituted a scientific panel to prescribe standards for fatty acid residues, poisonous metals and microbiological parameters in food items, including those considered junk food.

The food safety law provides the power to the state governments to impose a fine on those selling sub-standard food not adhering to the standards

Once the new standards are prescribed, the ministry has said that its enforcement will be the responsibility of respective state governments. Such (state government) authorities are required to collect samples of food and take action on the findings of the tests reports based on safety parameters and standards prescribed by the authority, the ministry’s reply to the court said.

The food safety law provides the power to the state governments to impose a fine on those selling sub-standard food not adhering to the standards. Despite that, action against adulterated or sub-standard food has not been of desirable levels.

No ban On the bigger question raised in

the Public Interest Litigation of Rahul Verma regarding imposing a ban on junk food in schools and educational institutions, the ministry said it was an administrative decision to be taken by respective educational institutions. The ban cannot be imposed under the Food

Safety and Standard Act of 2006.The HRD ministry has already

instructed Navodaya Vidalayas to provide healthy food to its residential students. The Navodaya Vidalaya committee has prescribed a daily menu for the hostels. Another school wing in the ministry, Kendriya Vidalaya Sangthan has issued circulars regarding ill-effects of junk food and highlighted the problems of obesity linked with it.

The Health Ministry also informed the court that the authority was preparing guidelines on making quality and safe food available in school canteens.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had sought the central government's response on a petition filed by students of a private school in south Delhi seeking a ban on the sale of junk food and carbonated drinks within 1,500 feet radius of their institution.

The division bench of Acting Chief Justice AK Sikri and Justice RS Endlaw also asked the government to file a status report after its counsel said it had asked

Junk Food


Policy

all the states to take adequate measures in this regard and various states had sent their action-taken-report on the issue.

In a case related to a plea by non-profit organisation Uday Foundation for ban on sale of junk food and aerated drinks in and around schools, the students of Father Agnel School in South Delhi sought to be made a party.

The petition said, "Ban such evidently harmful foods and beverages from the canteen of schools and from their immediate neighbourhood."

The students said, due to junk food the students will end up with obesity and other lifestyle diseases which will cost the nation heavily.

Expert’s suggestionThere are ways one can satiate one’s

craving for junk food, says Health and Nutrition expert, Chef Sachin Sahgal of Tivoli Garden Hotel. Here are some of his suggestions.

Burgers: Instead of going for a regular burger that is loaded with cheese and has a stuffing of egg yolk, mayonnaise, fried potato and vegetable patty, you can put together a burger or sandwich at home by using whole wheat

bread bun. Use light eggless mayonnaise as spread in place of egg mayonnaise, and grilled slice of tofu instead of fried vegetable patty and cut calories by half. Further on, add soya sauce, herbs like oregano or basil, salt and pepper, and some fresh lettuce with slices of tomato and cucumber.

Fried chicken: Forget frying, settle for homemade roasted chicken or fish instead. Chicken and fish are high in proteins and when roasted or grilled, they are non-fattening too. You can do well by marinating the pieces of chicken with yoghurt, salt, red chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice and garam masala, and refrigerate it for 2-3 hours. Further on, grill it or roast in an OTG (owen toaster griller).

Even when eating out, it is better to go for tandoori chicken or fish tikka instead of mutton kebabs as they are high on fats and carbohydrates.

Colas: Colas contain caffeine which is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a psychoactive stimulant drug and a mild diuretic. Colas make you lethargic too. So, ditch colas, go for coconut water, sugar-free butter milk or freshly squeezed juices.

Health benefits of coconut water:v It supplies beneficial nutrients

to the body and maintains body temperature.

v Helps prevent cancer.v Improves blood circulation.v Cleanses the body by flushing out

toxins.v Helps cope with kidney stone and

urinary problems.v Revitalises the body when taken

after workout.v Helps cope with disorders such as

diabetes.v Develops a strong immune

system.v Helps cope with skin problems

like pimples.v Supplies natural sugar to the

body.

Health benefits of butter milk:v Helps overcome obesity.v Improves digestion.v Increases immunity.v A source of valuable vitamins and

minerals.

Many cooperative dairies are now selling cooled buttermilk in pouches.

COOPERATIVE GOLD STORAGE

Cold storages are essential for extending the shelf life and the

period of marketing of fruits and vegetables, thus helping farmers to avoid distress sale and realize better prices. National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has liberalized its pattern of assistance for funding cooperatives under its cold storage programme.

Activities Assistance is provided for

establishment/ modernization / modification of cold storage by cooperatives.

NCDC also assists cooperative cold storage for their business operations by providing margin money / working capital.

Quantum of Assistance: Quantum of Assistance may be up

to 90-95% through State Govt., and upto 75% of project cost directly to the society.

Norms for Direct Funding Cooperatives operating for minimum

three years & broadly fulfilling following criteria are eligible: 1) Net worth should be positive 2) There should be no erosion in share

capital 3) Cash profit in last three years and net

profit in two years 4) Should be in a position to provide

minimum 1.5 times security

Special Features of the SchemesUnder the Restructured Central

Sector Scheme, subsidy of 20% - 25% of

the project cost is available for Under-developed (UD) States and Least-developed (LD) States respectively.

NCDC has dovetailed its cold storage programme with National Horticulture Board (NHB) and provides enhanced back-ended subsidy @ 40% of the project cost for general areas and 55% in case of hilly and scheduled areas under Capital Investment Subsidy (CIS) scheme of Government of India for maximum storage capacity up to 5,000 ton per project.


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Spreading Coffee Flavours to New Areas4th India International Coffee Festival

Coffee

Commerce and Industries Minister Anand Sharma has urged the coffee industry to

brand Indian coffees in the overseas markets to spread awareness.

Inaugurating the fourth edition of the India International Coffee Festival (IICF) 2012, Sharma said the industry should look at popularising the India brand of coffees, focussing on specific flavours. He also stressed upon the need to promote coffee cultivation in the non-traditional areas.

The IICF 2012 was organised by the India Coffee Trust, an industry body, in collaboration with the Coffee Board of India to promote consumption. The event also aimed to highlight the growth opportunities for growers, roaster and retailers among others. About 400 delegates from both India and abroad including Australia, Germany, USA, Nigeria and the UK participated in the event.

Coffee Board Chairman Jawaid Akhtar said coffee has transitioned from being a traditional South Indian beverage to a national drink over the past few

years. The Board is actively involved in promoting the beverage in non-traditional markets, he said.

Consumption in non-traditional markets has grown 40 per cent year on year and the northern states have contributed to more than half of it. The growth is attributed to the spurt in out-of-home consumption triggered by rise in café outlets coupled with increasing income levels and urbanisation.

Anand sharma, union Minister of commerce &Industries, along with Jawaid Akhtar, chairman, coffee Board, during the India International coffee fair 2012 in new Delhi

The market has been abuzz for a while about Nestle brewing up plans to

bring into the country its Nespresso machines aimed at the home segment. But home grown Coffee Day has pipped the Swiss MNC to the post.

At the India International Coffee Festival in Delhi, Coffee Day unveiled its WakeCup range of home coffee machines, priced at a competitive Rs 3,999, that dispense the brew in 30 seconds.

“It's the first time anybody is offering home coffee machines at this price point in India,” said K. Ramakrishnan, President, Marketing, Café Coffee Day. It will be available in the market in about 3-4 months time, he said, and sold exclusively through the CCD cafes to start with.

The CCD outlets will also supply the capsules (which contain roasted powder) for the machine priced at Rs 10 for a single serve.

PriceAt present, most coffee machines

for the home segment in the market are priced upwards of Rs 10,000.

Miele India, the German luxury appliances company, even retails high end Nespresso machines (costing over Rs 2.2 lakh) at its retail centres.

Dhananjay Chaturvedi, Country Head, Miele, feels the Indian consumer is quite ready for the mass market coffee machine at home experience.

He says two types of people have been buying high-end coffee machines from the Miele stores: one, those who are passionately fond of coffee and two, those who like to keep up with trends and think that a coffee machine is a necessary accessory to have in the modern kitchen.

Coffee Day, which was an early mover in the US style modern coffee café segment in India, says it now sees huge potential for growth in the in-home segment, given that per capita consumption of coffee in India is barely 82 gms (in the south it is 403 gms).

It is 4 kg in the US and nearly 10 kg in some European countries.

Coffee Day unveils machines for home market


Coffee

Coffee consumption unaffected by Euro crisis

Starbucks to open India store All set for tie-up with Tata Coffee

The European economic crisis has not affected coffee consumption so far,

said International Coffee Organisation's Executive Director, Roberio Oliveira Silva.

For 2010, the organisation estimates global coffee consumption at 135 million bags of 60 kg each, a 2.4 per cent growth over 2009. The organisation is yet to finalise the consumption figures for 2011. “However, our internal estimates for 2011 have proved that consumption has been resilient,” Oliveira said.

Europe, where demand grew by 2.9 per cent in 2010 at 40 million bags, accounts for a third of global coffee consumption. It accounts for about 70 per cent of India's exports. For the 2011-12 crop year, Indian exporters have seen a sluggish order book as buyers in Europe have opted to buy as and when needed

to cover for immediate requirements.“At the same time, production is

exactly what the market needs. So we haven't seen so far any problem with regard to production and consumption,” Silva said. The organisation has revised up its global crop estimate by 3 per cent to 132.4 million bags from 128.6 million bags in December 2011. In a bid to boost consumption, the organisation plans to revive its promotional campaigns in emerging countries, such as Russia and China, and producing countries, like Indonesia, India and Africa.

“Our promotional campaigns were stopped for a while now. We are trying to reactivate them at our forthcoming meeting in March,” Silva said. The organisation sees a need to boost consumption in coffee-producing countries as it helps stabilise prices for

the farmers.Total consumption in producing

or exporting countries — including Brazil, Vietnam and India — grew at 4.2 per cent in 2010 at 41.33 million bags. In importing countries, growth in demand stood at 1.7 per cent at 93.7 million bags.

Starbucks, the world's largest coffee shop chain, will open its first outlet

in India later this year in tie-up with Tata Coffee. The two companies will form an alliance for this purpose. Tata Coffee Managing Director Hameed Huq said. "We are working on the final modalities.... Hopefully, we will see the first Starbucks store by the end of this year," he said.

The $10-billion-plus US giant already has an agreement to source coffee beans from Tata Coffee. Cafe Coffee Day, India's largest cafe chain, said the entry of Starbucks will help expand the overall coffee retail market, which is still in a nascent stage. "There's huge potential in coffee retail market in the country. The entry of Starbucks will only open up the market for all the players," said Cafe Coffee Day Chief Operating Officer Venu Madhava.

"After all, there are 2 lakh cafes in Italy while India only has 2,000," he added.

Besides Cafe Coffee Chain, the US retailer will face competition from Barista Lavazza and Costa Coffee, among others. Starbucks serves coffee, baked products and other food items at over 17,000 retail stores in more than 55 countries. Tata Coffee is one of the largest integrated coffee plantation companies in the world with 19 coffee estates spread across 8,037 hectares in Coorg, Chickmaglur and Hassan districts of Karnataka and in Valparai district of Tamil Nadu. It also retails coffee with its own brands in the domestic market.

Tata Coffee has reported 51.67% dip in its net profit for the quarter ended December 2011 at 24.03 crore. This was mainly because of the poor performance of its US-based coffee brand Eight O' Clock Coffee. "We were impacted badly by the green coffee prices," Huq said. "However, we have been able to hold on to our market share. We expect to improve our performance with stabilisation of the commodity prices in the US," he said.

Huq said the company plans to enter Russia and other European markets by either acquiring a company or setting up a manufacturing facility. "We are scouting for suitable location in Europe for this,".

He said that the company is also ramping up the production of instant coffee from 6,600 metric tonnes to 8,500 metric tonnes per annum by 2012.

"It will also enhance the quality of the soluble coffee," he said. The company has two instant coffee manufacturing facilities, one at Toopran near Hyderabad and the other at Theni near Madurai in Tamil Nadu.


India's Coffee Output:Exporters see 2011-12 crop at 3 lakh tonnes India's coffee output in the current crop year 2011-12 could be lower than the initial estimates on decline in yields, especially of the robusta variety. The harvest of robusta has begun in some coffee zones in Karnataka and the trade expects about a 10 per cent decline in crop.

In its post-blossom or initial estimates, the state-run Coffee Board had pegged the 2011-12 crop at 3.22 lakh tonnes (lt), with a projected Arabica output at 1.04 lt and Robustas at 2.17 lt. The coffee crop has a bi-annual cycle, wherein the crop size peaks every alternate year. Last year was an ‘on year' for the Indian coffee, where the production peaked to 3.02 lt.

The harvest of Arabicas, the milder and premium varieties has almost been complete. “The Arabica output is broadly in line with the estimates. However, the robusta crop is seen lower. Being an ‘off-year,' we doubt whether the plants have strength to deliver another huge crop this year,” said Ramesh Rajah, President, Coffee Exporters Association. Rajah expects the 2011-12 crop at around 3 lt, almost same as last year.

Coffee Board Chairman, Jawaid Akhtar said the board was still in the process of post-monsoon crop assessment and will finalise its estimates in a couple of weeks.

Tea Board has recommended schemes worth Rs 3,000 crore for implementation during the 12th Plan beginning April 1.“This is far higher than the investment of Rs 862.75 crore

during 11th Plan. Besides entailing higher outlay for all schemes, some new schemes are envisaged during 12th Plan,” Dr S. Ramu, Tea Board member representing factories, told Business Line.

“We have been pressing for continuance of factory machinery upgradation scheme in 12th Plan with increased subsidy to retain Indian tea's competitiveness. The Board has recommended Rs 500 crore for this scheme against Rs 354 crore spent in 11th Plan,” he disclosed.

“Our approach has been to ensure that the 12th Plan is eventful for tea industry. Accordingly, we are happy that Rs 800 crore had been recommended for Plantation Development Scheme including Special Purpose Tea Fund for replantation and rejuvenation against Rs 256 crore spent in 11th Plan,” P. Viswanathan representing Parliament, said.

Financial Outlay“An outlay of Rs 400 crore (11th Plan: Rs 115 crore) for

Market Promotion Scheme and Rs 200 crore (Rs 110 crore) for Research and Development are other major recommendations,”, he said.

“Two new schemes have been recommended — Rs 300 crore for small grower development fulfilling our long-pending demand, and Rs 50 crore for monitoring implementation of Tea Act's regulatory provisions,” said Koshy Baby, member representing small growers.

Tea Board recommends schemes worth Rs 3,000 cr

Coffee

Mark your dates25-26-27, August 2012

www.graintechindia.com

gayathri Vihar, palace ground,Bangalore, India

3rd

International Exibition on Grains, Cereals, Spices, Oil Seeds, Products & Technologies



Storage

Better storage facilities to ensure food security

Efficient and effective storage is one of the most vital components of the food system

management process. An efficient and strategic storage system not only reduces wastage but also helps in building a robust, just-in-time supply chain. This helps in reducing price volatility, ensuring higher nutrition retention, preserving value of commodities, reducing food inflation as much as in plugging the demand-supply gap. Creation of this additional infrastructure could have a multiplier effect in establishing associated agri- and food business ecosystems. Dry storages and cold chains consisting of production centres, centres of aggregation and even ports could then help in reaping a comparative advantage in export trade and also in efficient imports.

Current SituationFood warehouses in India have

traditionally been lacking in optimal size, adequate design and air movement, friendly storage systems, proper hygiene conditions, inventory management and even technology-aided solutions. Although slightly more modern form of warehouses have started appearing across the country, these are still a far cry from the sophistication of the modern-day warehouses in some other parts of the globe.

There is a unique and surprising co-relation between fragmented land holdings and warehousing pattern. Lower land holdings mean that every farmer has to secure his limited production in gunny bags. The produce is sometimes bagged at the field or at the mandi. Major aggregation for cereals and other crops happen at the mandi, before the crops begin their journey to areas of consumption. In countries with higher land holdings, the entire produce comes in a loose form, which can then be put through silos which are far more efficient in preventing wastage.

Latest estimates show India's total agri-warehousing capacity to be around 91 million tonnes, of which 37 million tonnes are owned by Government agencies like the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and the State Warehousing Corporations (SWC). The Government uses around 60 million tonnes, which include a hired capacity of 23 million tonnes.

The Rural Godown Scheme introduced in 2001-02 has been successful in increasing the storage capacity. Since inception of the scheme, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has extended Rs 732.23 crore so far as subsidy, which has helped in creating 28.43 million tonnes of storage capacity. The scheme was recently modified to help creation of single warehouses of up to 30,000 tonnes. Though farmers as well

as groups of farmers have comparatively created smaller warehouses, larger storage-specific companies like National Bulk Handling Corporation, National Collateral Management Services, Star Agri, Origo, Ruchi Infra, etc, have created and are managing warehousing spaces with much larger capacities, creating liquidity against deposited stocks by acting as collateral managers to commodity-finance products of the banks.

Current deficit in warehousing is estimated at 35 million tonnes based on the current production numbers. To increase storage capacity, the Government has formulated a scheme to build an additional storage capacity of 15.27 mt in 19 states through private participation on a fast-track mode. However, there are also regional imbalances in the existing warehousing capacity. The northern region accounts for 48 per cent of the total capacity whereas the east and north-east cumulatively account for only 8 per cent of the total capacity. The west, south and central regions have 13 per cent, 22 per cent and 9 per cent of the capacity respectively.

Cold chains are another major area where India need to revamp infrastructure. At 180 million tonnes, India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables. But the cold storage capacity in the country can support only 23-24 mt of produce. Out of these, about 80 per cent is used to store potatoes. As the chains are highly fragmented and skewed towards a few States, it becomes difficult to integrate them with distant and export markets. Only 2 per cent of the products that need temperature-controlled environments are actually under such conditions in India; whereas in China it is 15 per cent, and in Europe and North America, it is as high as 85 per cent.

For the development of the warehousing industry in a regulated

– RAnA KApOOR


Storage

manner the Warehousing (Development & Regulation) Act, 2007 has been enacted. This, as an authoritarian body, has been set up to look after the development and regulation of warehouses, the regulation of negotiability of warehouse receipts (WR) and to promote an orderly growth of the warehousing business. The regulation aims to ensure safe warehouse receipt finance for banks and in turn, the negotiability of the WRs could open up a larger secondary market for the receipts. Most importantly, it could minimise distress sales by farmers.

New-age banks have started extending agricultural loans to various agri-value chain participants in the form of credit lines against pledge of different agri-commodities represented by physical WRs. Agricultural commodities stored in warehouses or cold storages are considered as collateral for such loans.

Public-Private PartnershipThe FCI has rolled out a public-

private-partnership scheme to construct warehouses across the country. This model aims at addressing the massive requirement of funds to construct more warehouses. The immediate capacity requirement has been estimated at 4.5 mt with an investment of over Rs 4,000 crore.

The Ministry of Food Processing

Industries has launched the third phase of Mega Food Parks Scheme where it offers incentives to entrepreneurs setting up infrastructure for the food-processing industry. This scheme will help also in increasing the cold-chain capacity in production zones and in creating a hub-and-spoke model having primary and central processing centres.

RoadmapWarehousing capacity needs to

be increased significantly in a short time. Construction of infrastructure is a capital-intensive and time-consuming process. Ports, agri-clusters and consumption centres present excellent opportunities as locations for construction of additional storage spaces.

Existing storage infrastructure has to be improved. Warehouses owned by the Government agencies are old and require renovation. Scientific and hygienic practices will not be implementable in absence of proper structures.

A hub-and-spoke model of warehousing may be adapted for building an efficient and integrated warehousing system, with smaller warehouses coming up near agri-clusters and production zones. Larger warehouses can be built at ports, major mandis as well as near major consumption centres.

A holistic application of information

technology needs to be injected at all State-owned and private warehouses for real-time collation of data. Efficient software can be instrumental in developing well-organised and secured warehouses with lesser manpower deployment as well as in a real-time check on movement of material. This can reduce pilferage.

Silos can be constructed at strategic locations in larger single-crop or double-crop areas and PPP may be useful in such initiatives.

Setting up cold chains will require investment in technology, increase in service standards, Government incentives in the form of aid for acquisition of land for setting up cold chain and food processing facilities, reduction in foreign direct investment restrictions in retail, speeding up implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and facilitation of multiple avenues of investment flow in this critical sector.

A modern, technologically aided, integrated warehousing and cold-chain infrastructure is the need of the hour for sustainably managing India's massive and widely dispersed food storage demand and in ensuring national food security.

(The author is the founder, CEO and Managing Director of YES Bank.)



Spices

The spices industry is confronting a major challenge of declining quantity for exports due to supply shortfalls and quality concerns.

This calls for immediate crisis management by revamping the entire supply chain starting from researchers, farmers, exporters, importers and consumers while ensuring adequate Government intervention and back-up support, Dr A. Jayathilak, Chairman, Spices Board, said.

Inaugurating an one-day workshop on ‘Sustainable Growth in the Spices Sector' organised jointly by the Spices Board, World Trade Organisation (WTO) Cell of Kerala Government and the World Spice Organisation, he said that though substantial jump in exports was observed in the past five years, export in quantity of spices has declined in the recent past.

While 32 per cent of the quantum and 40 per cent of the value targeted for spices export has been achieved in the year 2011-2012, the question as to why there is a fall in quantity remains. While Kerala's contribution to the spices sector needs to be improved, Karnataka had made huge advancements in pepper production.

India's ExportsIndia is the largest producer, exporter and consumer

of spices in the world, but exports only 10 per cent of its total production, though it contributes almost 50 per cent of the global requirements, a press release issued here said.

There has been increasing global demand for spices and India has to consolidate and maintain its position as the world leader in this sector.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr K. Prathapan, Director, State Horticulture Mission, stressed the need to ensure quality planting materials to farmers. The work shop is a definite step on convergence of resources in this sector. Research and results of research should reach the farmers, he said.

The workshop chalked out strategies to ensure high yield and better quality among five major spices with high export potential — black pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric and nutmeg — by securing high quality planting material, overcoming soil constraints, dealing with devastating diseases and assuring stable price.

Philip Kuruvilla, Chairman, WSO, detailed the parameters to remain internationally competitive for sound export business in the WTO era.

He outlined the major challenges in spice trade and highlighted the need to meet international standards on food safety and food security by resolving the problem of pesticide residues, presence of aflatoxin and illegal dyes.

George Paul, Director of the World Spice Organisation, said that agricultural sustainability is primarily a question of human sustainability and therefore purity of food is an important factor. The international food safety standards are nothing but standards for human sustainability.

Scientists and experts from the Kerala Agriculture University, Indian Institute of Spices Research, World Spice Organisation and Spices Board, led the technical session on field problems and research interventions.

Constraints and opportunities from the farmers' perspective were also discussed. Spice farmers from various parts of the state, spices exporters, traders, scientists and foreign delegates participated.

Call to revamp supply chain to increase spices export


Processing

Mango drinks demand propels processing systems Growth

Mango, the undisputed king of fruits retains its popularity and demand

beyond the mango season and packaged mango drinks meet this demand. Particularly, when it comes to flavors, Mango is the first choice among all, though Orange and Lime are the other popular variants.

All the packaged fruit drinks are derived from fruit pulp. Over the years it has been observed that, Indian life style has a fondness for fresh fruits and vegetables or those processed at home. Specially, now-a-days preferences are shifting towards healthier lifestyles, so is the demand for fruit drinks and juices. Earlier fruit drinks were considered something which gives refreshment but now due to the health conscious consumers it has evolved as part of a Nutritional diet.

The total size of non-carbonated, packaged fruit drinks in India is estimated around Rs 2, 500 crore, which includes fruit drinks (below 20 per cent fruit pulp), nectars (between 25-85 per cent fruit pulp) and juices (above 85 per cent fruit pulp). Mango flavored drinks posses the highest share within the packaged fruit drinks category.

The overall beverage market is largely segmented into real fruit drinks and carbonated / synthetic drinks. Former is based on natural fruit pulp / juice, while latter is based on artificial flavours. Among the fruit based beverages are fruit drinks like Frooti, Maaza, Slice and Jumpin; fruit juices like Pepsi’s Tropicana and nectars like Dabur’s Real. The major beverage brands like Parle Agro, PepsiCo, Coco-cola, Dabur and Godrej have been leading the market for packaged fruit drinks and beverages.

Mango Frooti, the popular mango drink by Parle Agro since 1985, is rated as India’s Most Trusted Fruit Beverage Brand and even after 25 years Frooti remains the most preferred mango drink world wide. Frooti is distributed through over 10 lakh retailers in the country with a market share of over 27% and it is the biggest revenue generator for Parle Agro. Maaza manufactured by Coca-Cola is marketed mainly in India and Bangladesh and enjoys 33% share of the 50 million packaged juices market. PepsiCo’s fruit flavored soft drink,

Slice, was introduced in 1984. This brand comprises around 13% market share in the beverage industry. Jumpin is a sweet and delightful non-carbonated beverage brand in the fruit drink sector by Godrej Beverages & Foods. Jumpin comprises of 10% market share in the beverage market. Dabur commands a good market share in the fruit nectar market and beverage segment with its Real brand.

India is the largest cultivator of the most widely recognized variety of mango, Totapuri, used in pulp manufacturing. The country also dominates the world market for mango pulp and possesses 67% share of world exports.

Given the fact that the shelf life of fresh mangoes is just about 5 days, the importance of ‘fail-proof’ food processing technology is critical to ensure adequate stocks of pulp are processed and delivered to companies for beverage processing to sustain the demand through the year till the next mango season. Further, today’s advanced technology, like evaporator, ensures that the mango pulp is reduced in volume by reducing the water content. This in turn means that the fruit processing companies are able to cut down significantly on packaging, transportation & storage costs as more quantity of pulp can be filled in same size of containers.

The manifold growth in the packaged mango drinks segment has propelled fast paced growth in the proverbial mango-processing basin of India – the common borders of three states, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka – primarily the Krishnagiri-Chitoor belt. Fruit beverage companies like Parle, Pepsi, Coca Cola and the likes, rely on pulp processed from this mango belt of India.

This mango processing belt of India is lined with numerous mango processing units, which work during the mango season. If the food processing systems used to process this mango fruit to pulp fails, it can lead to huge losses for these units, most of them SMEs. Since this means that the stock of mangoes waiting to be processed get spoilt if not processed the soonest it ripens.

V gokul Das, MD hRs process systems Ltd



Role of Processing SystemsThis is where companies like HRS

Process Systems Limited step in. This UK based company offers food processing systems and also service support to units like these to ensure that mango processing can be optimized with higher productivity and minimum or ‘nil’ downtime for these units.

Rasaa Foods Pvt. Ltd., found in 2005 and promoted by Venkataramana Reddy makes mango pulp primarily for Parle and few more major players in the market. Rasaa Foods has installed capacity of 18,000 tonnes per annum as of now and plans to set up a bottling unit (for manufacturing ready-to-drink items).Over 80% of their processed mango pulp is shipped to Parle, primarily for Frooti.

HRS installed a new Evaporation Plant for Mango pulp processing at Rasaa Foods this summer. An Evaporation Plant essentially reduces the volume (water content) of the processed mango pulp which in turn decreases the packaging, transportation and storage costs by over 50%

The plant operated non-stop for the full season of over 60 days. Moreover, Rasaa Foods was able to achieve 15-20% more production than what was committed due to technology and design incorporated by HRS.

This Evaporator Plant produces 3000 kg per hour for 28 brix and 4000 kg per hour for 21 brix of mango pulp.

Given below are the few USPs of the Evaporation Plant, installed by HRS: v Reduction in packing, storage

and transportation costs due to reduction in pulp volume by efficient evaporation.

v Fully automated PLC based operating systems with touch screen control panel for high quality and volume production.

v Innovative evaporator design requires CIP (Cleaning In Place) only after 6-7 days, which otherwise needs 3-4 days, thus improving production time and reducing costs.

v Surface condenser for evaporation to prevent contamination in cooling water circuit. There is no mixing of vapours from product and cooling tower water.

v Comparative low power consumption and lower production costs.

v Efficient plant engineering to ensure Non-stop production for full season without any loss of day due to equipment breakdown / malfunction.

Innovative technology backed by professional service support is enabling the mango processing basin of India to gear up to meet the growing demand for mango pulp used in packaged fruit drinks and other products in India. In India, 10 per cent of the juice consumption is in the packaged segment and 90 per cent are still consumed out of home through the unorganized sector. This provides a huge growth opportunity for the juice industry in the packaged ready-to-drink segment.

HRS PSL Bags Order from Maha Juicy Food Processing

HRS Process Systems Ltd. (HRS PSL), part of UK based HRS Group, recently bagged the contract for Aseptic fruit pulp sterilizer and filler from Maha Juicy Food Processing Pvt. Ltd. for their plant in Chittoor District in Andhra Pradesh. A leading heat transfer specialist that operates at the forefront of thermal processing technology, the Rs.380 million, HRS PSL largely caters to the food processing market with its innovative Heat Exchangers, Evaporators and systems for Food/Fruit/Beverage Processing.

Maha Juicy Food Processing order, worth Rs. 24 million, is to be supplied and commissioned by HRS PSL in March 2012. This new Aseptic Sterilizer has been designed to process more than 6000 kg / hr of fruit pulp /puree concentrate and can fill in bulk packing starting from 200 kg to maximum 1000 kg. The sterilizer and filler are mounted on independent skids and are fully automated with PLC based touch screen control panels. The filling machine has fully automated conveying systems, which can handle palletized drums or one tonne bins.

“ This order highlights our track record of successful implementations leading to larger repeat orders from

all our clients.”“We appreciate the thorough

professionalism, in-house quality standards and excellent service back-up given by HRS. Our decision to associate with HRS once again, will be definitely rewarding,” said Madana Mohan, Managing Director, Maha Juicy Food Processing Pvt. Ltd.

HRS PSL is one of India's leading heat exchanger and fruit/food processing solution specialist, with over a decade of experience in supplying state-of-the-art solutions for heating, cooling, pasteurizing, sterilization, evaporation and aseptic processing of various fruit pulps / beverage for the food / fruit industry. These include process plant equipment like Pre-Heater, Pasteurizer, Aseptic Sterilizer, Aseptic Filler, Evaporation Plant, CIP system and process line for beverages. HRS also caters to turnkey process line requirement for pulp and beverage.

Established in 2003, with headquarters in Pune, HRS PSL has three regional offices in Delhi, Baroda and Hyderabad along with the group companies in UK, Spain, Germany, USA, Peru and UAE.

Processing



At Rajpipla village near Surat, a group of farmers have set up a

unit to extract fibre from banana stem, considered a waste and pollutant. The unit generates about 3,000 man-days of employment annually, besides generating a modest profit and compost for the village.

Jasmine growers near Coimbatore are now able to export them to the Gulf and the US, thanks to the packaging technology that has enhanced the shelf-life of the flowers.

These fibre extraction and packaging technologies are a few of the 44-odd such ideas that were incubated and commercialised by the Network of Indian Agri-Business Incubators (NIABI), under the World Bank-funded National Agriculture Innovation Project (NAIP).

Ten incubators or business development units (BDUs) operate under the NIABI across the country facilitating commercialisation of innovative agro-technologies. Though the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) is implementing the NAIP, the activity of agri-business incubation through the 10 BDUs is coordinated and mentored by the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-arid Tropics (Icrisat).

“Started in 2009, the programme currently has some 75 entrepreneurs whose ideas are being incubated,” said Mr Kiran Sharma, CEO of the Agribusiness and Innovation Platform at ICRISAT. The incubators provide a risk-free environment for entrepreneurs to test a concept or business plan, commercialise

The prevailing cold weather in the northern states will have a

positive impact on the wheat crop. Scientists believe the output this

an idea and even provide linkages to finance and market access among others, Sharma said.

Global MeetIn a bid to further promote

entrepreneurship in agri-business sector, Icrisat and ICAR are organising the 2{+n}{+d} Global Agri-business Incubation Conference in Delhi from February 6. Agri-experts and entrepreneurs from over a dozen countries including Africa, Malaysia, the UK and the US would interact with the Indian farmers and policy markers at the three day event.

The conference aims at promoting the concept of developing agri-business and entrepreneurship in agriculture sector, said Dr S. Ayyappan, Director General, ICAR.

“We would like the small land holders to benefit from the economic activity,” said Dr William D. Dar, Director-General, Icrisat, stating that his agency was a catalysing instrument by co-ordinating the mentoring process.

year may touch 87 million tonnes in the ongoing rabi season, 2011-12, against the targeted production of 84 mt.

Last year, again due to conducive weather and technology deployment, output was 85.9 mt. Sowing is still on in in some parts and is likely to be completed in another week.

The cold wave, followed by rain in the northern parts, has cleared the fog which could otherwise impact the crops, as it reduces the photosynthesis period, thus impacting productivity. A cold wave is generally considered good for the wheat crop, as it favours the plant’s physiology

According to Indu Sharma, director at the Wheat Research Institute, Karnal, told Business Standard: “The prevailing weather would help productivity. Provided there is no (further) abnormal change (in weather), wheat production this year could touch 87 mt. Last year, production was projected to be 82 mt

Network of Indian Agri-Business incubators

Bumper wheat crop expectedbut reached 85.9 mt due to conducive weather.The area under wheat this year is likely to be 29 million hectares, more or less the same as compared to last year.”

Said S K Thind, in charge of the plant clinic at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, “We expect yield to increase by five to 10 per cent this year in the northern states.”

The cool temperature, said Sharma, would check the sporadic rise in yellow rust attack. which will further help in increasing the productivity. Also, a higher temperature, as was seen till December 20, reduces the number of ‘tillers’ in a plant.

In Punjab, wheat sown area should remain about 3.5 million ha, about the same as last year. The state agriculture department is expecting production of 15.54 mt this year. The sown area for Haryana wheat is about 2.4 million ha and it is eyeing 11.7 mt this rabi, compared to 11.6 mt last year.

News


The government has lowered the minimum export price (MEP) of

onion by $100 a tone to $150 per tone to boost outbound shipments which have declined. The MEP of all varieties of onions except Bangalore Rose onions and Krishnapuram onions will be $150 per tone, a notification by the DGFT said.

Despite the Government announcement, onion prices have plunged, as arrivals have continued to swamp markets around growing areas in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

“Arrivals are flooding all Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yards in Maharashtra. In the last three days, after the announcement, in three days 40,000 tonnes of onions have arrived,” said Rupesh Jaju, Director of Nashik-based United Pacific Agro Pvt Ltd.

According to Jaju, arrivals were the highest in Solapur APMC at 10,000 tonnes, while 6,000 tonnes each arrived at Pimpalgaon and Lasalgaom APMCs.

“Nashik, Pune and Ahmednagar districts are flooded with onions. The demand is lower than the deluge of supply,” he said.

The problem is that the red-coloured onions arriving from kharif and late kharif crops cannot be stored. “They have to be

Aided by a drop in temperature and scattered rains across Northern

States, the country may achieve the targeted wheat output of 84 million tonnes for 2011-12, according to the Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR).

“Overall the crop is in good condition and the Government's target on wheat output is achievable,” said Dr Indu Sharma, Director of the Karnal-based DWR.

Wheat output in 2010-11 stood at an all-time high of 85.95 mt and the Department of Agriculture is targeting an output of 84 mt for the current year.

The recent rains and hailstorms in Punjab and Haryana have not affected the rabi crop. “The rains and prevailing lower temperature will help the growth of the crop which is in tillering to jointing

shipped immediately,” said Jaju.On the other hand, countries such

as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Bangladesh have ample stocks. It is the main reason why prices have not gained despite a lower MEP. The Centre had come up with the MEP in September after farmers and traders boycotted markets in protest against a ban on exports after onion prices ruled at over Rs 1,000 a quintal. The ban was lifted in a fortnight and the MEP has since been revised down from $450 a tonne.

“Prices could rule low for the next one month. We cannot predict what will happen afterwards, especially with regard to summer crop,” said Jaju.

"The government has reduced the MEP of onion by $100 a tonne to $150 a tonne. This will really help both farmers and traders to recover their input costs. Exporters will have a scope to get the orders," said Satish Bhonde, additional director with National Horticulture Research & Development Foundation.

"This season, the kharif production is better due to favourable climate. Onion prices are crashing due to arrival of largescale fresh crop. Besides, the late kharif crop is also expected to arrive in the markets in the next few days. At this

juncture, the decision of government to reduce the MEP of onion will help stabilize the prices," he said.

A senior official from Lasalgaon APMC said the reduction in minimum export price of onion will help in keeping the onion prices constant."Its effects will be seen soon as exporters have already booked their orders at old rates. The average wholesale prices are expected to settle at around Rs 350 a quintal.”

Onions flood market, despite export price cut

‘Wheat output target of 84 mt achievable'

News

stages,” Dr Sharma told reporter.December is when the tillers (stems)

are formed and the temperatures have been lower than normal in the previous weeks. “Temperature less than 20 degrees is good for the crop,” Dr Sharma said.

On the detection of yellow rust disease in Northern States, Dr Sharma said it was not alarming as there is no widespread occurrence. Measures to control the spread of disease are being taken by creating awareness among farmers and the appropriate fungicides are being made available, Dr Sharma added.

Wheat sowing in the current rabi season is almost over and the area was up by one per cent to 28.42 million hectares over previous year's 28.34 million hectares. Sowing is expected to go on till end January in areas where harvest

of sugarcane and potato was on. The final area under wheat in 2010-11 was 29.4 million ha.

In the current rabi season, wheat sowing was up by a tenth in Madhya Pradesh at 4.77 million ha , while in Rajasthan it was up 13 per cent at 2.67 million ha. In Uttar Pradesh, the area under wheat was marginally down at 9.41 million ha, while in Gujarat it was down 16 per cent to 1.01 million ha.


Agro Tech F o o d s

plans to launch r e a d y - t o - e a t meals, peanut butter and oil sprays nationally, and invest Rs 100

crore on capacity expansion in 2-3 years, a top official said two months after US packaged food firm ConAgra increased its stake in the company to more than 50%.

In an interaction with A Business Daily, Agro Tech India CEO Sachin Gopal said the maker of Sundrop edible oils and Act II popcorn was undertaking a series of initiatives to become a diversified foods maker. At present, its core edible oils business contributes 60% of the firm's topline.

The company will extend its

Discussions on foreign investment in retail should focus on the

agriculturists who will benefit from opening up the market, said N. Vittal, Former Central Vigilance Commissioner. At a seminar on ‘Twenty Years of India's Liberalisation', Vittal said: “The focus should be on the benefits that 60 crore agriculturists would derive from retail FDI. Instead, 5 crore trade-wallahs got all the attention and the whole issue was sabotaged. Public opinion should have been generated while discussing the issue.”

The Centre has put on hold its decision on allowing 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail following pressure from various quarters.

Agro Tech to Launch Ready-to-Eat Meals

Retail FDI debate should focus on benefits to farmers

News

Sundrop brand to high-margin variants like ready-to-eat meals, oil sprays in cans and peanut butter in bottles and tubs, as it looks to grow both volumes and margins. "Increasing share of our foods business and margin realisation go hand in hand," Gopal said.

"We need to grow our gross margins consistently. This also helps in getting better shareholder return." Agro Tech, which sells Act II popcorn, may also launch a premium brand from its American parent's portfolio to enter segments such as chocolate desserts and puddings.

"We will need a third brand in the 'indulgence' space to complete our India portfolio, but there is no time frame yet," Gopal said. "As and when the need arises we will look at getting one of our global brands here. But we don't see ourselves having more than three brands here."

In November, ConAgra acquired tobacco-and-hotels major ITC's 3.66%

Commenting on the benefits of liberalising the economy in 1991, Vittal said this rescued the country from the licence raj and helped India achieve success in the IT, automobiles and telecom

stake in Agro Tech forRs51.82 crore, increasing its overall stake in the company to 51.77% from 48.1%. Analysts say Agro Tech's aggression could also be a precursor to its American parent ConAgra further hiking its stake in its India arm. Gopal declined comment on the speculation, but said: "Increasing equity is a big move and reflects ConAgra's confidence in the India business."

Agro Tech will build a peanut butter plant in Gujarat, he said. The company's retail reach has increased to 3 lakh stores from about a lakh stores four years back, and it targets half a million points of sale by next year.

In a novel, cost-effective way to expand its reach Agro tech has hired about 140 cycle rickshaw pullers on a monthly salary to distribute its products. The exercise, which was kicked off four months back, is getting the desired results, says the company.

sectors. “Today, we have leading global car brands in the country. India's call rates are the cheapest in the world.”

Liberalisation has also helped the country improve its forex reserves, from around $2 billion in 1991 to $300 billion today. However, income-tax and Customs laws stand in the way.

The retired IAS officer took a dig at the freebie culture in Tamil Nadu. “If economy has to progress, wealth has to be created. Not distributed.”

Dr N. Ravichandran, CEO, Lucas-TVS, said, before liberalisation, India was not considered a nation connected with trade. Liberalisation and rapid advances in technology have brought about a turnaround in the way the country is viewed.

sachin gopal

(from left) Dr n. Ravichandran, cEO, Lucas-TVs; J.n. Amrolia, Director-Ashok Leyland John Deere construction Equipment company; and

Manickam Ramaswami, cMD, Loyal Textile Mills Ltd., at a seminar on ‘Twenty years of India’s

Liberalisation’, in chennai

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The International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC) has appointed Prathap

Nair, Partner, Vijayalaxmi Cashew Company, Kollam, as its ambassador in India.

The INC, formed with a mission is a source for information on nuts and dried

Ice-creams and gelatos have competition on the menu list. A string of yoghurt

chains are entering the country riding on the healthier, guilt-free dessert plank.

Red Mango, a US-based yogurt and smoothie brand, has opened shop in Ambience Mall, in the Capital.

It also announced plans to invest $3 million-5 million in the country in the next two years. Rahul Kumar, Managing Director and CEO, Red Mango, told Agribusiness Daily, “We will be opening close to 25-30 outlets, mainly in urban metropolitan cities through the franchise route.”

Red Mango follows close on the heels of Kiwi Kiss, the Canadian yogurt chain which had forayed into India last year with stores in Bangalore and Chennai.

And there's plenty more flowing in the yoghurt pipeline. Berrylite, the Singapore-headquartered yoghurt brand plans to invest as much as $200,000 in India, setting up a chain of outlets this summer.

“We will expand in India through a master franchise model. The brand has a target to launch about 150 stores in five years,” says Marc Ng, President and CEO (Berrylite).

Yogurberry, the South Korean brand too is freezing its plans for the Indian market, aiming to open around 100 outlets in the next five years.

Meanwhile, Cocoberry, the country's

Nut and Dried Fruit council appoints envoy

Frozen yoghurt chains chill out in India

first frozen yogurt chain, which opened in February 2009, is in expansion mode.

Currently, running 35 outlets and eight cities, it is targeting to grow to 300 outlets and 45 cities over the span of next three years.

“We have experienced 100 per cent growth since last year, cornering 90 per cent of the market share since our inception in 2009,” says G.S Bhalla, Founder and CEO, Cocoberry.

The chain currently offers eight flavours and 50 toppings but claims it's the perfect price and ambience that is drawing in the crowds. Sells its yoghurt at Rs 62 for 100 gm, while Red Mango which says 90 per cent of its ingredients are imported, has priced its product at Rs 89 per 100 gm.

With the product priced at competitive Rs 62 for 100 gm of yogurt, the company attributes its success to guerilla marketing, using social media extensively and choosing great locations. With an annual advertising expenditure of Rs 1 crore, today Cocoberry has already totted up 3,00,000 Facebook fans, mainly the age group of 16-25 years.

Red Mango has big plans for India too, and riding in on the health plank.

“Our USP is that we are selling non-fat frozen yogurt, kosher and glutton free, which

is fortified with pro-biotic,” says Kumar.

“In India we want to become the Pepsi of the yogurt space, the target sales for the first year being $ 1.4 million per store as annual revenue,” he adds.

At a Red Mango outlet, customers can decide their mix of yogurt, choose from the toppings and serve themselves, paying according to the weight of their bowl.

According to a Technopak report, Indian packaged yogurt market is estimated at $135 million in 2011 growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 18-20 per cent.

It is poised to touch $260-280 million by 2015. This includes the frozen yoghurt business as well.

Clearly, the dessert space on the dining table is now getting spoiled for choice.

News

fruits for health and nutrition, food safety, Government standards and regulations and trade quality standards, appoints an ambassador in each country to liaise between the council and the Government officials and all industries using nuts and dried fruits in different countries, according to Prathap Nair.

He said INC has participated at the first ever International Symposium on Cashew Nuts held in Madurai last month.


A year after inclement weather took a toll on production,

farmers in Mahabaleshwar, the hill-town in Maharashtra that produces over 85 per cent of the strawberries in the country, are bracing up for a good 2011-12 season.

“This year we expect production to cross 20,000 tonnes against 17,000 tonnes last year,” Kisan Bhilare, himself a farmer and Vice-President, all-India

The processed foods segment is gaining momentum in Northern

India, the country's traditional food basket. Increase in consumption of packaged foods driven by changing lifestyles and rising disposable incomes, coupled with the policy push by Governments to promote value addition in agriculture are driving the sector's growth in the region. The entry of modern retail is set to give a further fillip to food processing activity.

The Northern States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are major producers of foodgrains and cereals, while other such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir are major growers of fruits and vegetables.

These states, some of which actively promote value addition to farm produce through appropriate policy measures and incentives, have seen a rise in food processing units in recent years in places such as Karnal,

Strawberry Growers' Association, says.The price of strawberries, at Rs 100-

110 a kg at the production end, is also considered to be lucrative.

Adding to the cheer is the fact that domestic demand for the fruit is robust, and thanks to improved logistical support, their strawberries are now also finding takers from far-away cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Ranchi and Jaipur.

Till less than five years ago, the highly perishable nature of the fruit limited its marketability to Mumbai, Pune and Goa.

“The golden quadrilateral helped reach our strawberries to Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad by road,” Bhilare explains, adding that now thanks to the development of a cargo hub for perishable produce at Pune airport, the fruit is now being air-lifted to cities across the country.

Another change that has come about on account of greater awareness amongst farmers is the restricted use of chemical

Strawberry bowl looks forward to plenty

Food processing sector takes strides in N. India

pesticides. According to Bhilare, more growers are using natural neem-based pesticides to spray the plants once flowering starts.

Mahabaleshwar's strawberry season begins around November 15 and lasts till the middle of April. Visitors heading to the charming town know that they are just a few miles away from it the moment vendors selling mounds of freshly picked red berries begin to make their appearance along the narrow, winding, road.

With nearly 2,300 acres under its cultivation, the varieties that reign supreme here are the Californian ones – Sweet Charlie, Camarosa and Winter Dawn, the first accounting for around half the production.

The farmers also tried growing blueberry and blackberry on a commercial scale, but with little success, reiterating that Mahabaleshwar will strictly remain strawberry territory.

News

Solan, Baddi and Jalandar among others.The Northern region leads others in

terms of converting farm produce into packaged and processed foods. According to industry estimates, up to a fourth of the fruit, vegetables and milk are processed in the North against the national average of less than a tenth. Besides, the Northern states also lead others in terms of consuming processed, packaged and canned foods. This is driven by the availability of such products, affordability and awareness among the populace about them.

Major food processing companies in the North include PepsiCo, Amul, ITC Ltd, Nestle, Haldiram, Mother Dairy, Dabur and Milkfood. Though still in a nascent stage, the food processing sector has a huge growth potential, provided appropriate infrastructure and logistics supply chain are created.

The growth in food processing infrastructure would cut down on wastage of agri-food produce, which is estimated

at Rs 40,000 crore annually. In the 12th Plan, the Government plans to set up some 50 new mega food parks across the country, including states of Punjab and Uttarakhand. Such a move would include creation of infrastructure near the farm, transportation, logistics and centralised processing centres. The Government had a target to set up 30 food parks in the 11th Plan, of which 15 have been sanctioned.

The Government had declared food processing as a priority sector, which is made eligible for a priority lending by banks. There is automatic approval for 100 per cent foreign direct investment in the food processing sector. The Government has also been developing export zones and the concept of mega food parks to promote the food processing industry in India.

The Indian food processing industry is poised for strong growth in future as factors such as convenience and affordability would drive the consumption of packaged and processed foods.


The commodity futures market regulator, Forward Markets

Commission (FMC) is once again reported to be lobbying the Finance Ministry for allowing commercial banks to enter commodity derivatives market for the ostensible reason that the banks have exposure to commodities and need to hedge the price risks, writes G. Chandrashekhar.

Import of gold and crop loans to farmers are cited as examples of banks' commodity-based transactions and exposure. Currently, banks are not allowed to trade commodities. The proposal which is now sought to be given a renewed push is not new at all.

Way back in 2005-06, the Gupta Committee report recommended that banks, mutual funds and foreign institutional investors be allowed to enter commodity derivatives market. Mercifully, the recommendation was put on hold.

Little has changed in the last five years. If anything, inflation is still raging, demand-supply mismatch in case of several commodities is widening and there is hardly any evidence of banks having gained any product knowledge or market knowledge about commodities, and much less about commodity price risk management.

The most worrying aspect of the hard push to let banks enter the commodity derivatives space is not the claim of hedging their so-called risks, but finding an opportunity of investing surplus cash.

Trade in commodity derivatives: Keep out BanksCommodity

d e r i v a t i v e s market is hardly the place for banks or, for that matter, cash-rich insurance companies to park their funds. It will simply mean allowing too much money to chase

commodities especially by those with inadequate market knowledge.

Distortive ConsequencesIn case of commodities in short supply,

flow of bank funds will lead to potentially avoidable distortive consequences on market prices.

Importantly, banks seldom have exposure to commodities per se. Banks fund commodity traders and give crop loans to farmers. This way, the banks' exposure is to the borrower, not to the commodity for which it lends.

It would, therefore, make eminent business sense for commercial banks to insist that borrowers follow requisite price risk management principles including hedging in futures exchanges. Crop loans to farmers can be safeguarded by taking recourse to crop insurance or other appropriate insurance products.

Indian commercial banks have been lending to various businesses including

brick and mortar projects for decades; it is therefore reasonable to assume they have gained some knowledge about lending for such projects by following prudential norms.

Yet, the amount of non-performing assets (NPAs) among banks has been rising to worrisome levels. Commodity markets are a lot riskier and less reliable than solid brick and mortar projects. Banks must stick to their core competency. Their primary duty is to lend money prudently and after due diligence.

It is likely that the commodity futures market regulator may be overstepping his brief by attempting to promote business interests of commercial banks and commodity futures exchanges. This is best avoided. A regulator's duty is to regulate the market. Period.

In this context, one cannot help recall former Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram's statement in October 2008 after global meltdown hit the banking sector.

He said at that time, “A banker can only be a banker. If he tries to be something else, we will face the same crisis as the US and Europe are facing”.

We hope policymakers in New Delhi and elsewhere take note of this and not seek to push through so-called liberal reforms that run the risk of becoming counter-productive.

News

Backed by all-round growth in sales across various segments, ITC Ltd

posted a 22 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 1,701 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, as against the same period last year.

On a sequential basis, net profit rose by 12 per cent from Rs 1,514 crore recorded during the second quarter ended September 30, 2011. Net sales during the quarter ended December grew by 13 per cent to Rs 6,105 crore. The shares of ITC

ITC's Q3 net profit up 22% on better all-round salesfell by 3.59 per cent to close at Rs 201.35 on the BSE on Friday.

Though revenues from the agri business and paperboards segments grew on a year-on-year basis, on a sequential basis, growth was muted. While revenues from agri business were down 21 per cent from the Rs 1,435 crore recorded in the second quarter ended September 30, 2011, that from the paperboards division dipped by about three per cent from Rs 1,005 crore during the same period.

The branded packaged foods business grew, driven by higher volumes and improved profitability. “The business achieved a growth in revenues, aided by new launches and the introduction of product variants and extensions in the target markets. Improvement in profitability was further aided by improvements in the product, process efficiencies and smart sourcing,” the release said.


KFC has come a long way since being pelted with stones on its

debut in 1995, having emerged as Yum! Restaurant's largest restaurant chain and McDonald's biggest challenger in the country. Yet, analysts feel that the American fast-food major has its toughest challenge yet ahead-of reaching its target of having 500 outlets by 2015, which could be daunting in the face of growing competition and slowing economy.

KFC plans to grow on four fronts-geographical reach, food menu, serving hours and customer base, with particular focus on the Indian youth.

"There is massive headroom for growth in India," says Niren Chaudhary, managing director of Yum! India, which also licenses quick-service restaurant chains Pizza Hut and Taco Bell to franchisees. After all, organised food retail accounts for barely 2% of the massive $90-billion, or approx 4.5 lakh crore, overall food business in the country.

"But it (growth) is dependent on high volumes, since margins are low," says Chaudhary. Hence, KFC wants to serve 50 cities through 500 stores by 2015, up from just over 150 stores now. Second, it wants to move from being a lunch and dinner vendor to an all-day joint, and will look a breakfast and after-dinner options.

Then, it wants to look beyond its staple of burgers (KFC had just three options in its menu when it came to India) to serve nearly 100 different items. And fourth, it wants to reach a wider consumer base by having low-priced dishes and stepping up home delivery.

Launched as a premium fast food

Country Chicken, Australian fast food restaurant chain, plans to

have 50 outlets in India by the end of this year.

According to Rama Krishna, Director and Chief Executive Officer of Country Chicken-India, the company's first outlet in the country would be operational soon in Coimbatore.

KFC targets youth

Country Chicken comes to India

chain, KFC now has a starting price of 25, or the cost of a college canteen meal.

The fried chicken chain, which plans to expand its vegetarian and liquid refreshment offerings, will also focus on innovation to attract the Indian youth who is driving the consumer market. "Brands targeted at youth need to be aspirational and innovative," says Chaudhary. These qualities help a brand establish in the youth mind, he says.

The challenge for KFC is to be noticed in an increasingly crowded market, where few brands have built brand loyalty and a repeatable set of customers.

To widen its appeal, KFC will need to constantly fine tune its food menu, provide add-ons (some outlets offer free wireless internet access) and keep an eye on quality (French fries are no more than seven minutes old when served).

"We need to constantly evolve our strategy in this dynamic market," says Sandeep Kataria, Chief Marketing Officer of Yum!, which owns the KFC brand worldwide.

He points to the addition of KFC's new grilled chicken range as a step in this direction. It reflects a shift towards healthier meals and snacks-so a grilled rather than deep fried chicken option for which KFC is traditionally renowned.

But competition is intensifying too. Nando's, a South African chain

specializing in chicken dishes, will have 35 or 40 units in India by next year, says a company official. Also, a bunch of local chains such as Bangs, Hot Chix, Chic Punch and BFC are all looking to eat into KFC's share by expanding rapidly. McDonalds, meanwhile, plans to double its India presence by 2015.

News

Going forward, the company would open 35 outlets in Tamil Nadu and expand in to Bangalore and Maharashtra this year.

Star Quick Service Restaurants, the partner for Country Chicken in India, had established a plant in Chennai at nearly Rs.6 crore to supply processed products to all its outlets in the country. It planned to open a plant near Vellore,

at an investment of about Rs.105 crore, depending on the market.

The branded quick service restaurant (fast food) sector was growing at 41 per cent every year. “We are only pitching for the growth market,” he said. The focus would be on Tier-II and Tier-III cities. By the end of the year, the company expected Rs.120 crore turnover from Indian operations.


offering and the company may look at extending it to other bakery products such as cakes. At present, Sunfeast would focus on growing in the Rs.3,600-crore premium biscuits segment.

ITC launched Yippee noodles about ten months ago and now has a 10 per cent market share in the Rs.1,300-crore instant noodles segment. Nestle's Maggi, the leader, has about 80 per cent market share.

The foods division, at present growing at a compounded annual growth rate of (CAGR) 25 per cent, is estimated to be the largest business segment among all the non-cigarette FMCG businesses of ITC.

News

Investment in Agriculture and Allied Sectors on Constant Rise

As per the latest release from the Ministry of Agriculture, the public

and private investment (Gross Capital Formation- GCF) in Agriculture and Allied Sectors (Agriculture including livestock, forestry & logging and fishing) has been growing steadily during the recent years.

The total investment in the Agriculture and Allied Sectors has increased from Rs. 90710 crore in 2006-07 to Rs. 133377 crore in 2009-10. Similarly, public investment has

increased from Rs. 22987 crore in 2006-07 to Rs. 23635 crore in 2009-10 and private investment has increased from Rs. 67723 crore in 2006-07 to Rs. 109742 crore in 2009-10.

The Government of India has launched several schemes to increase investment in agriculture sector, such as, the Rashstriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Development and Strengthening of Infrastructure facilities for Production and Distribution of Quality Seed, National Horticulture

Mission (NHM), Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil Palm and Maize (ISOPOM), Gramin Bhandaran Yojana etc. In addition, Government has substantially improved the availability of farm credit; implemented a rehabilitation package for areas with higher agrarian stress; implemented a massive programme of debt waiver; introduced better crop insurance schemes; increased Minimum Support Price (MSP) etc., to improve investment in the farm sector.

The foods division of ITC is planning to launch a range of soya products

under the Aashirvaad brand. Terming Aashirvaad a win-win-

win product strategy (for customer, farmer and the company), Chitranjan Dar, Divisional Chief Executive, Foods Division, said the company had well-established the sourcing process of atta through its e-choupals and could match the same with soya.

Aashirvaad is now a Rs.1,000-crore brand with product offerings ranging from atta to salt, spices, instant mixes and ready meals.

The company is also in the process of pulling out its noodles and pasta products from the Sunfeast brand and rebranding

Soya products under Aashirvaad brand

them under Yippee. “The brand (Yippee) is now better known and it can take over pasta and noodles under its umbrella,” according to Dar. The Rs.1,000-crore Sunfeast brand will be a pure biscuits

chitranjan Dar

Walnuts, both roasted and raw, are very good a top nut when it comes

to protecting your heart, according to new research.

Reported recently in website, researchers from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, US, compared antioxidants called polyphenols in nine types of roasted and raw nuts. Using lab analysis, they also measured how effective the nuts’ antioxidants are in regards to heart health.

“Whether roasted or raw, walnuts beat the competition,” says researchers. They are packed with the highest amount of polyphenols that lower blood cholesterol

l e v e l s , improve blood

flow, and reduce i n f l a m m a t i o n

—thereby reducing the risk to the heart. Also, while high in fat, walnuts don’t necessarily lead to weight gain, noted the researchers.

If you like your nuts raw, Brazil

Walnut excellent for heartnuts ranked second in polyphenols, followed by (from highest to lowest) pistachios, pecans, peanuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews, and hazelnuts.

Meanwhile, another recent study has found that for women, eating about two small handfuls of walnuts every day, may “significantly” curb risks of breast cancer. “A handful of walnuts contains almost twice as much antioxidants as an equivalent amount of any other commonly consumed nut,” said study researcher Joe Vinson, who completed a separate health study on walnuts last year.


The Prime Minister's recent reference to 42 per cent child

malnutrition in the country as a ‘national shame' drew widespread attention.

However, his statement that the Government's nutritional programme – the Integrated Child Development Scheme – was not enough to tackle

India on has assured global retail giants Walmart and Metro that its

reforms agenda was well on course and the decision to put on hold Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail is “just a pause,” forced by compulsions of coalition politics.

This assurance was given by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma when he met Walmart president Doug McMillon and Germany-based Metro Group's board member Frans W.H. Muller on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

This is for the first time that senior management of the United States and German retailers met any Minister after the Indian government suspended the controversial decision to open FDI in multi-brand retail on November 24.

Sharma said the decision to open 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail “could not be implemented because of the compulsions of coalition politics as also partisan opposition.”

Britannia eyeing public-private partnerships in nutrition

Suspension of FDI in retail a pause: Anand Sharma

News

the scourge, has set big food companies thinking. Food majors such as Britannia, which have been fortifying their products in a big way, are now exploring public-private partnerships in this field.

In fact, the Britannia Nutrition Foundation, which provides a forum for organisations and experts to find models and solutions for the nutrition challenge, is already partnering some schemes in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

“We are exploring multiple models of public-private partnerships. For instance, Britannia, along with Naandi Foundation and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, supplements the school-feeding programme in Hyderabad with special iron-fortified biscuits,” Ms Anuradha Narasimhan, Category Director (Health & Wellness), Britannia Industries, said in an interview.

Incidentally, Naandi Foundation is

among the organisations that brought out the Hunger and Malnutrition Report that was released by the Prime Minister.

The Britannia Nutrition Foundation has already adopted a few villages in Karnataka and has ongoing partnerships with the Navjyoti Foundation in Delhi, and the J&K RTI Movement, United Nations World Food Programme and Clinton Global Initiative.

Ms Narasimhan said the company, whose biscuits had 71 per cent share of the urban market and 45 per cent of the rural markets, had made ‘fortification' its key initiative since the past four years.

The ‘fortified' products mainly target children and women, taking off from the National Family Health Survey III, 2004 that identified iron, folic acid and vitamin A as some primary deficiencies among children.

‘Growth story intact'“It is just a pause. The decision has

only been put on a temporary halt...the India growth story is intact and the government is committed to take forward the reforms agenda,” Sharma said.

He said while the government had restarted consultations taking on board concerns of agrarian states, only the bonafide objections would be taken into account.

A statement from the Commerce Ministry quoted McMillon as saying that Walmart was committed to invest in the Indian market as and when FDI in multi-brand retail was allowed.

Walmart also expressed its willingness to abide by the proposed conditionalities to open the sector to FDI.

‘Good for trade'“If retail FDI happens, it would be

good for the entire trade and the Indian government seems to be confident about that,” Frans Muller said.

Walmart executive vice-president (corporate affairs) Leslie Dach said:

“We are hopeful about the government allowing FDI in retail. India is a very big growth market for us. We do understand that things take some time in a democracy. Even in the U.S., similar things do happen.”

Sources said that the Walmart team conveyed to Sharma that they were committed to make investment in the back-end retail infrastructure.

Anand sharma


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List of Participants at the APEDA Pavilion in Gulfood 2012ADF FoodsMr. Vishal gautamc-23/24, AcME Indusrial Estate, sewree (East), Mumbai – 400015, MaharashtraE-mail: [email protected] Tel: 0091-22-61415555fax: 0091-22-61415577

Al-Khair Exports Mr. Mohd. suhail 252A/2 shahpur Jat, Opp. panchsheel commercial complex, new Delhi.E-mail: [email protected]: 0091-11-41752134fax: 0091-11-41752135Mob: 9818001334

AOV ExportsMr. navin Kumar Bhambri c-22/25, sector-57, noida – 201301E-mail: [email protected]@vsnl.net Tel: 0091-120-4292929fax: 0091-120-4333038Mobile: 9871385600

Amira Foods (India) Ltd Mr. Karan A chanana 54, prakriti Marg, M.g.Road, sultanpur Mehrauli, new Delhi-110030 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]: 0091-11-46057500 fax : 0091-11-46057570

Aroma Agrotech Pvt. Ltd.Mr. Anil Kumar garg 145, new grain Marketgharaunda (Karnal) haryanaE-mail: [email protected]:- 0091-1748- 252139, 252339 fax: 0091- 1748 – 253639

Basic India Ltd.Mr. Athar Zia1103,nirmal Tower,26, Barakhamba Road, connaught place, new Delhi 110001E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]. 0091-11-43178600 - 699, fax : 0091-11-43178668 Mobile: - 98100 58415

Best Foods LimitedMr. M p Jindalunit no.502, Building D'Mall, plot no. A-1, Wazirpur, District center,netaji subhash palace, pitampura,new Delhi-110034E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] : 0091-11- 49294929, fax : 0091-11-41540246

Dharamvir Exports Pvt. LtdMr. T s Ahluwalia A-112, Defence colony, new Delhi – 24E-mail: [email protected]: 0091-11-24335242fax: 0091-11-24332488Mobile: 9560453366

Emmsons International Ltd Mr. Anil Monga 101, south Delhi house 12, Zamrudpur community centre, Kailash colony, new Delhi-110048 E-mail: [email protected]@emmsons.comTel : 0091-11-29247721-28 fax : 0091-1129247730, 41632081

Frisco Foods Pvt. Ltd.Mr. Tarun JainB-4, Ist floor, shankar garden , new Delhi – 110018E-mail: [email protected]@frisco.co.in Tel: 0091-11-45299900fax: 0091-11-45299905Mobile: 9560225071

Goel International Pvt Ltd Mr Vinod goel sonkra Road, Taraori Distt. Karnal, haryana –132116E-mail: [email protected] : 0091-1745-242244, 241644 fax : 0091-1745-242544, 241544

Green Village Agro (P) Ltd.Mr. Ashok guptanear police station, Railway Road, Taraori – 132 116 Karnal (haryana) E-mail: [email protected]@greenvillageagros.comTel:- 0091-1745-244255fax:- 0091-1745-244256

Hemkunt Speciality Cones Pvt. Ltd.Mr. B s gujral1964, MIE Bahadurgarh, haryana – 124507E-mail: [email protected]: 09811035776, fax: 011-25458326

India Agro Exports Pvt. Ltd.Mr. Ranjit p shah15, Race course Road, guindy, chennai – 600032E-mail: [email protected]@psarki.com Tel: 0091-44-66848484fax: 0091-44-22451193Mobile: 9840086727

Jairamdass KhushiramMr. Ankit Aggarwalplot no. 5, sector 19-c, Opp. punjab national Bank, Vashi, navi Mumbai – 400705, Tel: 0091-22-27831232, 27838111fax: 0091-22-27835618E-mail: [email protected]: 9820232008

Januz UniversalMr. Dharmil D Thacker 305, Mahindra chambers, 619/28 W.T. patil Marg, chembur, Mumbai – 400071E-mail: [email protected]: 0091-22-25205488fax: 0091-22-25215488Mobile: 9820617017

Keventer Agro Ltd.Mr. c L chhabrasagar Estate, 2 clive ghat street, Kolkata – 700001E-mail: [email protected]@keventer.com Tel: 0091-33-25428533-34fax: 0091-33-30224573Mobile: 9811116816

Kohinoor Foods Ltd. Mr. gurnam Arora 201, VIpps centre, 2, community complex, g.K.-II Masjid Moth, new Delhi - 110048 E-mail: [email protected] : 0091-11-41635757 fax : 0091-11-41638586,41638587



Lakshmi Energy and Foods Ltd. Mr. Balbir singh uppal 18-19, (first floor), sector 9-D, Madhya Marg, chandigarh-160017E-mail: [email protected]@lakshmigroup.inTel: 0091-172-2740352, 2744008 fax:0091-172-2743057, 268365

MerryfoodMr. Rajul Tandon151 B Rasulabad, sitaram Tandon Marg, AllahabadE-mail: [email protected]: 0091-532-6597610fax : 0091-0532-2545612Mobile: 9935535800

Natural Frozen & Dehydrated FoodsMr. Mohd. Abbas neghanig-14, Aristo complex, Waghawadi road, BhavnagarE-mail: [email protected]: 0278-3001296Mobile: 9879598786

Navkar Processors Mr. pravin choudhary1327, Deshpande Lay out, nagpur, Maharashtra – 440008E-mail: [email protected]@nakodas.comTel: 0091-712-2778824fax: 0091-712-2721555Mobile: 09923080000

New Bharat Rice Millsshri sanjiv Khosla 2612/13, 3rd floor,punjab & sind Bank Building naya Bazar, Delhi – 110006E-mail: [email protected]@tajmahalrice.comTel :0091-11-23924438, 23924476fax:- 0091-11-23924263

P K Overseas Pvt. Ltd.Mr. suresh Manchanda 4043/2, naya Bazar, Lahori gate, Delhi – 110006 E-mail: [email protected]@pkoverseas.comTel- 0091-11-23922700, 23986913fax- 0091-11-23972700Mobile – 9811778818

Pioneer Industries LimitedMr. s s Tomarplot no. A3-A4, Industrial growth centre, Defence Road, pathankotE-mail: [email protected]

Tel: 0091-186-2245352/3/4/5fax: 0091-186-2245351Mobile: 9915021804

Punjab MarkfedMr. h s Bains4, Markfed housesector – 35-B, chandigarh – 160022E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 0091-172-607812, 2662882fax: 0091-172-2661542

Punjab RicelandMr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Directorchabhal Road, Tarn Taran- 143401, punjabE-mail: [email protected]:- 0091-1852 – 222360 , 222462 fax: 0091-1852- 222506

R.P. Basmati Rice Ltd.Mr. Anuj singhalMadanpur, g. T. Road Karnal, haryana – 132001E-mail: [email protected]: 0091-184 –2220236, 237fax:- 0091-184 –2220235

Sarveshwar OverseasMr. Rohit gupta sarveshwar sales centre, Below gumat, Jammu – Tawi (J&K) –180001E-mail: [email protected]@sarveshwarrice.comTel:- 0091-191 –2481954fax:- 0091-191-2480292 / 2483941Mobile:- 09419333000

Shreeji ProteinMr. Aravind M sentanew Kumbharwada, Mahuva, Distt. Bhavnagar, gujarat – 364290E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Tel: 02844-223933, fax: 02844-223944Mob: 9924439575

Shri Ambica International Food Company Pvt. Ltd.Mr. subhash goelnadana Road, Taraori – 132 116 Karnal E-mail: [email protected]:- 0091-1745-09254387880, 09254386880, 243367fax:- 00-91-1745- 243333

Shri Vishnu Eatables (India) LtdMr. sahil MittalLD 137 pitampura, Delhi – 110085, IndiaTel:- 2731 6628E-mail: [email protected]@indiantreat.biz

Srini Food ParkRaveendra nallurisrini food park (pvt) Ltd.plot no. 488 & 489, 3rd floor, ganesh Tower, Ayyappa society, Madhapur, hyderabad – 500081 Andhra pradeshE-mail: [email protected]@srinifoodpark.com phone : +91 4023118337cell : +91 9989193337 fax : +91 4023118338

Surya Fresh Foods Ltd.Mr. shekhar AgarwalD-1, sector – 2, noida – 201301E-mail: [email protected]@priyagold.com Tel: 0091-120-2522989fax: 0091-120-2558154Mob: 9958677855

Tastel Fine Food Pvt. Ltd.Mr. Ashoo Talwar174, govinda, Jawahar nagar, Road no. 2, goregaon West, Mumbai – 400062E-mail: [email protected]@tastel.co.in, Tel: 022-42080050

Trimax InternationalMr. V.K Manchanda 278 Rajdhani Enclave, Britania Rani Bagh Road, pitampura, new Delhi-110034, IndiaTel:47999841, 98101-49841E-mail: [email protected]

Trimula G. BasmatiMr. Ankur Agarwal, Directorc5/41, safdarjung Development Areanew DelhiTel.:- 08800355005 / 09971889028E-mail: [email protected]

Twilite Products (India)Mr. Kultaran singhB 27-28, nIcE, satpur, nashik, Maharashtra-422 007E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Tel: 0091-253-2350333/ 2353222fax: 0091-253-2350334Mobile: 9766243000

Veer Overseas Ltd. Mr. sushil Jain 2637, II floor, naya Bazar, Delhi-110006E-mail: [email protected]@sify.comTel : 0091-11-23915369, 23915890, 23984263, fax : 0091-11-23934499



Visnukumar Traders Pvt. Ltd.Mr. p Vishnukumar112B, p.h. Road, Velappanchavadi, chennai – 600077phone : 44 65715715, 716, 717 fax : 44 26801825, Mob: 9840052415, E-mail: [email protected]

Whitefields International Pvt. Ltd Mr. sumeet saluja 255, Okhla Estate phase-3, new Delhi-20E-mail:[email protected];[email protected]: 0091-11-47599999, fax : 0091-11-41662967

Aaksh BeveragesMr. Kshitij Kamat242, powai plaza, hiranandani, powai, Mumbai, MaharashtraE-mail: [email protected], Tel: 0091-22-42152244, 40260040

Aum Agri Freeze FoodsMr. sandip shah, cEO 3/10, BIDc Estate, gorwa, Vadadora – 390016, gujaratE-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Tel: 0091-265-2280017, fax: 0091-265-2291613Mob: 9426416803

Holista TranzworldMr. siva, Manager sales6/11CasaBlanca,IVfloor,CasaMajorRoad,Egmorechennai – 600008, E-mail: [email protected]: 0091-44-2819130, fax: 0091-44-28194456

Naturo Foods And Fruit Products Pvt.Ltd.Mr. g. Lakshminarayanan, Executive Vice president# 34/1, Ekarajapura Village, hasigala post sulibele hobli, hoskote Taluk, BAngALORE - 562 114 E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 0091-80-27971911, fax: 0091-80-27971763

Selmax Exports Pvt. Ltd.Mr. narendra shah 28,creative Industries, sunder nagar , Road no -2,Kalina , santacruz ( East ) , Mumbai - 4000 98 , IndiaE-mail: [email protected], Tel : 0091 22 6111 3777fax : 0091 22 6111 3789, Mob: 98201 52917

Swathy Enterprisess sankaranarayanan (santhosh)Mob.: 91 94477 98048 post Bag no.2156, Kollam 691013 , Kerala , India Tel 91 474 2743965, 2768048, fax: 2764030E-mail : [email protected], [email protected]

Shree Jagdamba Agrico Exports Pvt. Ltd.Mr. satish goelAbainpura Road, gharaunda, Distt-Karnal, Karnal - 132114, haryana, E-mail: [email protected]: 250197, fax: 252131

Capital Foods Ltd.Mr. Rahul Mehta, International Business headVilla capital, sadhna compound, Oshiwara Bridge, s V Road, Jogeshwari (West), Mumbai – 400102E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]: 0091-22-67740100, fax: 0091-22-67740165





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