FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY IN INDIA

 

India is the world’s second largest producer of food next to China, and has the potential of being the biggest with the food and agricultural sector. The food processing industry is one of the largest industries in India-it is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth. The food industry is on a high as Indians continue to have a feast. Fuelled by what can be termed as a perfect ingredient for any industry - large disposable incomes - the food sector has been witnessing a marked change in consumption patterns, especially in terms of food.

 

The food processing industry has been slated for accelerated growth. It is projected to be a futuristic industry and it is anticipated that, over the years, it will emerge as a leading player in the global markets. As a result, the industry is seen to be witnessing feverish activity.

The size of the processed food market is estimated to be over Rs 110 bn and is growing at 10 to 15% per annum. The Rs 4000-bn food market in India has been growing at the rate of 6.5% a year. The Indian middle class spends an estimated around Rs 700 bn annually on food and groceries alone. The ready-to-eat segment is growing faster as technology is improving and so is the lifestyle of the people.

In the overall scenario, most segments, have shown creditable performance. While milk pro-ducts, biscuits and chocolates have maintained a modest growth of 4 to 6% per annum, fruits and vegetable products and malted food recorded growth rates exceeding 10% a year.

The installed capacity of fruits and vegetables processing industry has increased from 1.1 million tonnes in January 1993 to 2.1 million tonnes in 2006. The processing of fruits and vegetables is estimated to be around 2.2% of the total production in the country. The major processed items in the fruit and vegetable segment are fruit pulps and juices, fruit based ready-to-serve beverages, canned fruits and vegetables, jams, squashes, pickles, chutneys and dehydrated vegetables. Some recent products introduced in this segment include vegetable curries in retortable pouches, canned mushroom and mushroom products, dried fruits and vegetables and fruit juice concentrates.

 

The fruits and vegetable processing industry is highly decentralized, and a large number of units are in the cottage, household and small-scale sector, having small capacities of up to 250 tonnes per annum. Since 2000, the food processing industry has seen significant growth in ready-to-serve beverages, fruit juices and pulps, dehydrated and frozen fruits and vegetable products, pickles, processed mushrooms and curried vegetables, and units engaged in these segments are export oriented.

 

With rapid increase in the per capita income and purchasing power along with increased urbanization, improved standards of living, there lies a large untapped opportunity to cater to 1000 million domestic consumers. It is estimated that 300 million upper and middle class consume processed food. With the convenience needs of dual income families, 200 million more consumers are expected to move to processed food by 2010. The market size for the processed foods is thus bound to increase from US $102 billion currently to US $330 billion by 2014-15 assuming a growth of 10%. The share of the value added products in processed foods would almost double from US $44 billion currently to US $88 billion during the same period, growing at the rate of 15%. This presents enormous opportunities for investment in processed food sector.

 

 

Top Food Processing Companies in India

 

Nestle

Britannia

Rei Agro

GlaxoSmith Con

Kwality Dairy

KRBL

Hatsun Agro

Heritage Foods

LT Foods

Kohinoor Foods

Usher Agro

Modern Dairies

Vadilal Ind

Bambino Agro In

Chaman Lal Seti

Agro Dutch Ind

Umang Dairies

Sita Shree Food

ADF Foods

Himalaya Inter

Tasty Bite

Freshtrop Fruit

Lotus Chocolate

Flex Foods

Mavens Biotech

Chordia Food

Mount Everest

KGN Enterprises

Hindustan Foods

Vaghani Techno

IFM Impex Globa

Saptarishi Agro

IB Infotech Ent

Niir Project Consultancy Services (NPCS) can provide books and project reports on Food Processing Projects , which can be useful to know more about subject.

 

 

http://niir.org/books/books/food-processing-processed-food-agriculture-based-products-industries/z,,a,23,0,a/index.html

 

http://niir.org/profiles/profiles/food-processing-agriculture-based-projects-snack-food-frozen-food-agro-processing-technology-processed-food-instant-food-food-industry-food-preservation-canned-food-packed-food-ready-eat-food-cereal-food-pickle-grain-milling/z,,34,0,a/index.html

 

 

http://niir.org/profiles/profiles/fruits-vegetables-processing-dehydration-canning-preservation/z,,2b,0,a/index.html