Food & Beverage News: F&B Specials - Are we ready for the global markets?

Can we deliver to the demands of the huge Indian market, representing more than one billion population? If we can do it, we will do it in the global market, too." This was the poser made by Dr V Prakash, Director, CFTRI, Mysore, at the conference on "Are we ready for global markets," organised by PFNDAI (Protein Foods & Nutrition Development Association of India) in Mumbai on December 5.

In his keynote address on "The Current Global Market -- Challenges for Innovative New Food Products," Dr Prakash said, "We have the potential, knowledge, infrastructure and sufficient agricultural production, but we have to first meet the demands of the Indian market."

India, he said, had a huge database on traditional foods. “Develop this in a hygienic and convenient way. At the same time sustainability and affordability should be kept in mind. Primary processing with an integrated approach was the key to success. Look at the dairy sector, the diversity of products. It started with the grandmother. It's amazing."

Basic nutrition is needed for a healthy living. Combining nutrition for health benefits is very important. Food safety system must have four key concepts -- prevention of diseases, accountability, integration in the food chain and risk assessment and management. Science plays an important role in innovations and development of new products. Hygiene, cooking food in natural; way, and implementing quality standards compliant to HACCP, ISO and Codex regulations would help in a big way in the domestic market as well as the international market.

The industry is focused on the rich and the well-to-do. "About 30% of our children under 5 years die for want of food and malnutrition. On one side we have 7.9% GDP growth, on the other we have this problem of poverty and malnutrition. Who will help them? If the corporates do not help, then who'll do it," he asks.

On a sad note, he concluded, "There are millions of children who get one meal in three days, but we eat three times a day. Perhaps that may trigger, I hope, some action within some of us."

Saugata Gupta, CEO, Marico, who inaugurated the conference, talked on "Health through foods: Challenges in India." Food processing industry was facing typical challenges though it was poised for a huge growth. He said it was a tough journey to change the food habits and lifestyles. Food itself was not a panacea for good health, it depended on the lifestyle, how and what one eats. "Prosperity brings ill-health and leads to obesity -- unhealthy dietary habits, consumption of fast food, lack of activity or exercises were taking a heavy toll. Consumers have a wrong concept about the food they consume. India, he says, is a victim of lifestyle diseases like diabetes and cardiac attacks. How to provide quality health care, that is the biggest challenge.

Today people look at labels, they are conscious about nutrition and other health aspects. Tell the consumer about the benefits and nutritional value of the product. But the claim has to be efficacious for the Indian population, the product should be scientifically tested on Indians. What works in Africa, Latin America or Europe may not work on Indians.

In his welcome address, Dr G M Tiwari, chairman, PFNDAI, said globalisation had posed many challenges on the consumer, industrial and regulatory fronts. Consumers the world over are changing and that applies to India as well. They aspire for innovative products with sugar substitutes, fat substitutes and functional ingredients.

Weight management is one of the growth areas and, therefore, every food business group should aim at newer innovations and development to cater to this ever growing and faster consumer aspirations.

With increasing income, affordability is not a major concern now. Instead, convenience, shell life, quality/safety, delicious flavours and taste are more important. The food and beverage industry need to continuously explore and be cautious about the quality and claims made on new product formulations. Traceability and international quality standards are essential for success in the foreign markets.

Regulatory issues
The Food Safety & Standards Act 2006, while unifying multiple laws into a single law and abolishing a dozen regulatory agencies to form a single Authority, seeks to provide greater consumer protection and consumer health hitherto not addressed by the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act 1955. In fact, the word safety does not even appear in the PFA Act, according to Dr Joseph I Lewis, head, Kaya Health, Marico & chairman, Regulatory Affairs Committee, PFNDAI. He was talking on “Will New Food Laws Enable Industry to Produce Foods of Global?” at the First Technical Session of the Conference. While the focus in the PFA Act was “Adulteration”, it shifts to “Safety” in the new Act. The most important provision in the Act is the need for scientific evidence and risk assessment. To do this task, several scientific panels and a monitoring scientific committee have been constituted. Earlier, the members of the panel were nominated from the government agencies and the industry. Now the members are selected on their expertise. The members are selected from scientific institutions, government agencies, industry and consumer representatives. The scientific panels are expected to deliver scientific advice of the highest possible quality, espousing the principle of excellence put to use for consumer safety and health.

Dr Lewis said consumers now would also require transparency. The scientific panels would, therefore, hold public hearings to which observers would be invited. Risk assessment is done on an objective and transparent manner. For any regulation to be adopted, consensus is most important. Regulation is about balancing food diversity and safety. To ensure safety, labelling plays an important role. Food manufacturers are required to print product information, nutritional value, ingredients, expiry date etc. on the label.

FSSAI places primary responsibility for safe food with producers and suppliers through HACCP, hygiene /good manufacturing practices backed by regulatory control.

Dr Rhona, VP, chief scientific & regulatory officer, Coca-Cola, USA, talking on “What are the Global Safety Concerns?” dwelt upon the current situation, what are the expectations and what’s on the horizon. Public confidence was the main concern following the recent food scare headlines. Manufacturing companies should be responsible for ensuring health and safety of their products, she said.

To achieve food safety, she suggested an efficient supply chain from farm to table, government regulatory agencies doing their work based on science and transparency, cooperative approach by all stakeholders – the government, industry, NGOs, academia and consumer organisations etc. To sell in the international market, quality and safety were most important and the products should be HACCP, Codex and GMP compliant. She said there was need for a strong commitment to international harmonisation of science-based regulations. Different safety standards were not acceptable.

Shankara Shetty, president, Concept Management Co., USA, says packaging is the face of a product. Talking on “Export Packaging: Problems & Solutions,” he said the functions of an export package include product protection, easy handling & storage, shipping effectiveness, ease of identification, customer needs and environment responsibility. Packaging should extend shelf life, maintain quality & safety, ensure protection from chemical, biological and physical damage, and retain the beneficial effects of processing like taste and flavour of the product.

Innovations and trends in food & beverage sector
Speaking at the afternoon session on “Innovation in developing new healthy products,” Dr Prakash Virkar, divisional manager – Beverages Innovations, Hindustan Unilever, said, “The world of health & wellness market is poised to be around $500 billion with rosy pictures in the Indian market. The current global innovations in health & wellness food products are enhancing daily health and future health, meeting families’ nutrition requirement, physical and mental well-being and use of less additives and artificial ingredients.”

According to Dr Virkar, the key challenges in the developing countries, including the Indian processed foods market, are regulatory issues, supply chain, lack of consumer communication, building trust and credibility. People from developed countries like the UK, the US and Germany rely on processed food for freshness and well-being, whereas developing markets like India, China, Mexico and Brazil still rely on fresh produce for freshness and nutrition which is a setback to value addition.

Speaking on “Innovative products for emerging markets,” B Prashanth, head – R&D Foods, Dabur, said there were four major drivers for food & beverage innovations in India – rising consumer needs and preferences, cost of production and final product, technology capability and material availability.

“The Indian food industry is quite different from elsewhere. Here each region has a different taste and preferences like for breakfast – tea with milk, black tea, black coffee, juices, rice-based meal, wheat-based meal and other non-veg. items. Internationally, soya and cereal based food products are highly acceptable, however Middle East prefers sweeter products,” Prashanth said.

Another important topic of the conference was “Enrichment in processed foods,” in which Dr Rajeev Kumar Thakur, technical manager, Roquette India, presented a paper with detailed statistics on the Indian dietary habits and the role of manufacturers to provide healthier food.

According to WHO and FAO report, our daily intake should contain 55-60 per cent of carbohydrates, 15-30 per cent of fats and 10-15 per cent protein while sugar should not go beyond 60 grams.

Wheat, pulses, meat, milk and eggs are the best sources of protein. The daily protein requirement for the body is about 1.3gm for per kg of weight. He also urged all leading food processors of the country to increase the use of sugar alternatives.

Eminent speakers like Bhupinder Singh, CEO of Vista Foods, Pranesh Misra, chairman and MD of Brandscapes Worldwide and Rashmi Uppal, technical marketing manager – Foods, DSM Nutritional Products presented paper on various imperative subjects. Supply chain concenrs food industry, What Indian consumers are looking for in healthy food products, healthy & fortified new bakery and snack products, and Use of lipids satiety and improving bioavailbility of B-vitamins in health foods were some of the topics discussed in the conference.

“I am happy with the number of participation from the industry this year. With this conference we always seek to provide a platform for industrial experts to talk and share vital information, which can help boost the sector. The sessions were very qualitative and hope delegates will take the points in a positive way,” Dr J S Pai, executive director of Pfndai, told F&B News on the sidelines of the conference.