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"Our frying systems grabbed market share quickly"
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Monday, 17 June, 2013, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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fiogf49gjkf0d  Indians love their snacks, particularly the savoury ones. But for a long time, namkeen manufacturers in the country did not only use the traditional frying system, but also paid scant heed to the equipment and testing.
Of late, the country has begun to export snacks to various developed countries, where maintenance of high quality standards, from manufacturing to packaging, is the need of the hour.
Harcha Bhaskar quizzed Arun Dadda Verma, managing director, Economode Food Equipment India Pvt. Ltd, on his company’s forays and the prevalent trends in the equipment man facturing sector in the country. Excerpts:
How has been the journey of the company since it started?
Our company started manufacturing business with batch-type frying systems with contemporary outlook. We overcame all shortcomings of conventional frying systems, for example hot and smoke-filled working environment and high-energy consumption.
We incorporated multiple features to make our batch-type fryers safer and environment-friendly as compared to traditional frying systems. Our batch-type frying systems grabbed a significant market share within a relatively very short span of time.
Encouraged by it, we came up with namkeen continuous fryers for frying sev, gathiya, papdi, boondi, pellets, moong dal, chana dal, peanuts, coated nuts, green peas, etc. In the meanwhile, we realised that the critical aspect of our industry was skilled manpower.
Considering this, we started working on automation, and consequently, we came up with automation in chip-frying, Kurkure production and pellet-frying with fully- or semi-automatic potato chip lines (for potato chips and sticks), knick-knack (Kurkure) production lines and pellet-frying line machines (for all kinds of wheat cereals and potato-based pellets).
How did the idea of starting an equipment manufacturing company originate in your mind?
By training and education, I am a food technologist, and I experienced that the snack food industry was essentially in unorganised hands and was dependent on traditional machines and techniques.
These machines were not safe to use, production cost was high, required high maintenance, emitting high smoke and entailed poor working condition besides being entirely labour dependent.
This led me to think about developing a system, which could either overcome or at least minimise these shortcomings and as a result Economode was born.
Can you share the details of your expert team, which is into the manufacturing of equipment at various stages?
Actually, our company is not person-dependent. Rather it is highly process-oriented.
What quality assurance tests do your products go through while manufacturing?
While manufacturing we concentrate on quality assurance for each of the component. For this, our machines go through different quality tests, i.e. hydraulic leak test, chemical testing of raw material, dry run test, etc., and after the assembly, each machine goes through a rigorous dry run to identify and fix the defects before being shipped.
What are the various products of the company? What are their applications, and benefits to the industry?
We provide precision-engineered, high-performance food processing machines with high yields. In addition to this, we also manufacture batch frying systems, such as circular, rectangular fryers and many more, which are widely appreciated for their rugged performance.
We use globally-approved and internationally-benchmarked burners, pumps and other accessories, which help to save 40-50 per cent fuel and ensure hygienic conditions. It reduces 30-50 per cent human dependence. It has multiple fuel options which help our customers choose the most economical and environment-friendly fuel option available to them.
Which equipment of the product range acts as a USP for your company?
It is very difficult to say, but in my view our continuous frying system is our USP.
Who are the competitor companies in India? According to you, is India lagging behind in technological developments in the food processing sector?
We do not see anybody as our competitor. In India, except traditional equipment, snack food industries uses either our machine or foreign technology-based machines. Our machines are indigenous and are customised to the clients' requirements. Hard work and extensive R&D behind every project makes our machine different from others.
Yes, I think in India there are lot of things that need to be done to uplift the snack food industry. As far as technological advancement or development is concerned, namkeen production still needs lot of R&D to get fully automated.
Which are the Indian food processing companies to whom the equipment have being supplied?
Our client range varies from small entrepreneurs to the giant snack food producers of India. In the last seven years, we sold more than 1,000 pieces of equipment to local players, including Haldiram Foods (Delhi), Baba Foods (Delhi), Mrs Bector’s (Delhi), Balaji Gruh Udyog (Delhi), MTR Foods (Bangalore), Dharwadi Mishra Peda (Hubli), Mukrochak (West Bengal), MaaTarini (Orissa), Garden Namkeen (Mumbai), Tip-top Foods (Mumbai), Pariwar Namkeen (Uttar Pradesh), Shakti Masala (Tamil Nadu), Ramdev Masala (Ahmedabad),
Deep Kiran Exports (Ahmedabad), Petco Foods (Surat), Kitchen Express Overseas (Ahmedabad) and Ganesh Gruh Udyog (Ahmedabad).
What are the latest research and developments happening in the company?
These days, we are focussing on the automation of the continuous namkeen fryers. We are also focussing on developing an automated single machine which can produce a complete range of traditional Indian snack foods.
Are there any customised products that you offer to your clientele?
Yes. We can say that our machines are 100 per cent customised. It is seen that snack foods change from area to area, and accordingly the production range changes. So to keep up with these changes, we have been customising our machines as per the clients' specifications.
What technological trends have been noticed by you in food processing in the snack sector?
We have noticed that due to lack of technological know-how, high dependency on a skilled workforce and traditional machinery and techniques, financial constraints and limitations and the lack of government support, the snack food industry could not attain the height that it could have.
In my opinion, financial support in automation can significantly speed up the development of the snack food industry.
Which are the various countries to which Economode equipment is exported?
Apart from Economode’s presence in the Indian market, it has a good presence overseas. The UAE, Jordan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Israel, Nepal, Mauritius and Lebanon are the nations where Economode has exported its machinery.
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