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Vision 2030: Government initiative for the food sector
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Thursday, 02 February, 2023, 13 : 00 PM [IST]
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Udit Bagga
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As per recent reports, India’s food sector is one of the largest in the world, and its output is expected to reach $ 535 billion by 2025-26. This sector is definitely expected to generate 9 million jobs by 2024.
Not just this, but it is found that the Indian food industry is expanding at a CAGR of 11%, and the food processing sector accounts for 32% of the total food industry. India’s food sector attracted $ 4.18 billion in foreign direct investments between April 2014 and March 2020.
By 2030, Indian annual household consumption is expected to triple, making India the fifth-largest consumer in the world.
Key growth drivers that will lead to the growth of the food sector in 2030
An Innovative, Competitive Food sector driven by Technology and talent:
Innovation is fundamental to achieving sustainability in all its forms. India has been making good progress in embracing technology and innovation in recent years. In the period to 2030, a wide range of new digital innovations and data capture and analysis techniques will emerge.
These will change how we manage our natural assets; produce, process and distribute food and its by-products and residues; and improve transparency along the food chain. The sector stands on the cusp of being able to utilise these technologies, data and innovation to enable the new sustainability improvements that are required and to capture and share their impact.
Scope and ways to improve the food sector in 2030
Vision 2030: The Way Forward
• The government has been opening up liberalising, which is helping the food industry immensely grow in the coming years. India was a closed economy till 1992, and after that, the government opened up, and from then, the country has seen amazing growth. If the government opens up the food sector and takes many amazing initiatives, this food industry will grow many folds in the next few years.
• Some basic initiatives we look forward to are the ease of doing business, licenses, and tax compliance under one roof. The government is surely making initiatives and is in the process of making it a streamlined process, but there are still some loopholes that could be sorted. Once things are smoothly planned, it will push the food industry for more people to be part of it.
• Technology Advancements in the Food Sector-Over the past few decades, technology has become an integral part of our lives. From drones to automated processing to robots, we now have access to numerous innovations — and the food industry has experienced noteworthy transformations as a result. These developments give us a chance to overcome challenges on various scales, including food delivery, food shortages and everything in between. The relationship between market demands and new technology is evident, especially when you consider the food industry. As consumers make their demands apparent, industry leaders can respond with technological advances to meet their needs. In this way, food has become healthier, more accessible and more considerate.
• Sustainable Packaging and Waste Reduction-In today’s time, sustainability has become a need of the modern consumer — and brands must comply to stay relevant. As noted previously, more consumers want to reduce waste, which mainly starts with choosing food products that come with reusable packaging. That’s where technology comes into play. The latest technology has made eco-friendly packaging alternatives more available. These options, including edible packaging and recyclable packaging, reduce waste to almost zero — and the nanoparticles can even kill the bacteria, making the food healthier and safer.
• AI-Based Advancements- As technology grows, AI-powered solutions help restaurants create forecasts. To keep a well-stocked kitchen, restaurants keeps a track demand and order supplies accordingly. AI technology in daily usage can allow businesses to gauge sales so they can order the exact amount of products they need. As a result, this can surely save the money and time too of the owners and restauranteurs.
• Organic Food Practises: The emerging food technology trends mark a shift towards sustainable and personalised food choices. These include alternative protein sources, local foods, nutraceuticals, and personalised nutrition. The concern over environmental impacts is causing FoodTech restaurants and brands to integrate waste reduction practices as well as zero-waste workflows. Also, a substantial rise in food safety concerns directly impacts food transparency across the food value chain. With digitisation being an integral part of the food industry, companies are adopting restaurant digitisation, digital food management, and food robotics to improve operations, and we also look forward to better practices.
Farmers in 2030
The Indian farmer of 2030 will follow principles of precision through and through, using advanced mechanization for production, predictive analysis for production planning, and biotechnology to improve yield while reducing input use considerably as compared to 2020. Farmers will participate in a highly digitalized ecosystem, receiving services and transacting on smartphones and engaging with consumers to assure them of quality while retaining higher margins for themselves. Crop choices and production planning will be based on a market-driven approach enabled by technology as opposed to tradition.
Road ahead:
The rise in health issues, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, busy lifestyles and an increase in food adulteration have witnessed a change in the consumer’s buying behaviour, which includes demand for ready-to-cook, ready-to-eat meals and healthy, immunity-boosting snacks in the year 2030
(The author is co-founder at OTB)
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