Centre for Processed Foods (CPF), a consultancy firm, pitches for contract manufacturing as a viable option for start-ups and large companies. This is to help cut down on production costs, scale-up operations in a time-bound manner and allow faster time-to-market with speedy access to revenue generation.

According to Chetan Hanchate, director, CPF, the big advantage of contract manufacturing is that there is no need for startups to invest in new product, me-too products, manufacturing machines. Instead they can directly approach a contract manufacturing company and have access to operators, product designers, or plant operators and packaging facilities. This keeps overhead costs less leading to a higher return on investment (RoI).

"For the third-party operator, there is bigger responsibility to ensure highest  quality product against strict NDAs. It gives the company to strengthen its skilled workforce with managers, engineers, operators, among others. Usually the staff are on the rolls of the contract manufacturers and can be easily controlled and accessed. When one works with a contract manufacturer, companies can gain all of the benefits of a large workforce without having to hire workers, manage payroll, or schedule shifts," he added.

"We have identified the contract manufacturers in Karnataka at Bengaluru in Nelamangala, Doddaballapur, Jigani, besides, Pune, Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Guwahati. All these companies are well connected by road, rail and air to transport the finished food product. A number of companies & entrepreneurs have started approaching us for contract manufacture," said Hanchate while speaking to FnB News.

"We have been networking and teaming up with food contract manufacturers and packers. This segment is critical for the product development, production and marketing. Moreover our contacts span across contract manufacturers standalone production units for dry powders, wet powders, beverages, fried snacks, extruded products among others. There are also companies that we are connected with who have a range of machines for multi-product manufacturing. Then there are companies who will undertake packaging of sorts. These include aseptic packaging, boxes, cans, cartons, flexible packaging, pallets, trays and wrappers," he added.

The Bengaluru-based CPF offers its expertise from concept to commissioning. To this end, it has its own incubator centre and Common Facility Centre for testing, training, raw material depot, to support production processes, according to Hanchate.

There are already five+ exclusive contract manufacturing facilities complying to GMP, ISO:22000, FDA Registered, BRC and FSSAI certified plants capable of handling different kinds of traditional, continental, fusion, functional and nutraceutical foods in solid, dry powders, wet gravies and liquids of different production capacities. "It is also important to highlight that all these contract manufacturers strictly adhere to the non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) & contract arrangement," stated Hanchate.

With these facilities all startup entrepreneurs and existing small-scale industrial units can outsource their  manufacture and packaging. They can easily launch products both in the domestic and international market without capex.

Similarly going by the market opportunity for contract manufacturing, existing production plants with excess capacity can go for upgrade of machinery and grab a share of the contract manufacture opportunity in India from the food and beverage sector, according to Hanchate.

Here CPF is engaged in guiding the new- age entrepreneurs or the established food companies to opt for contract manufacture. We can assess, coordinate and plan the techno commercial-cum- regulatory compliance which can be implemented. "It is a win-win situation for both," trailed off Hanchate.