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"We are focussed on a robust exports business model"
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Monday, 25 August, 2014, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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fiogf49gjkf0d Del Monte, a processed food and beverage brand with legacy of over 100 years, has been brought to India by FieldFresh Foods Pvt. Ltd, an equal JV between Bharti Enterprises and Del Monte Asia Pacific.
Apart from importing some of the products, the company has set up a modern state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Hosur aiming to create new benchmarks in the Indian processed food and beverage industry. Yogesh Bellani, CEO, FieldFresh Foods Pvt. Ltd, in an email interaction with Ashwani Maindola shared details on the manufacturing facility, the company’s India business and future strategy. Excerpts:
How is the food and beverage industry doing at the moment, your take? India is one of the world’s largest producers as well as consumers of food products, with the sector contributing significantly to the development of the economy. The Indian food processing industry is currently growing at more than 10 per cent per annum and is expected to touch US$194 billion by 2015 as per Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Rise in disposable incomes, change in food and lifestyle habits, increase in the number of working women, exposure to world cuisines and higher 'out of home' consumption in urban areas are fuelling demand for processed foods in India. These factors have transformed the once-traditional, small-scale industry into a modern large-scale one. Government’s announcement of supportive policies including National Mission on Food Processing have given the much-needed impetus to the processed foods sector.
India’s packaged juice market has charted a high growth trajectory, thanks to its easy availability, anytime-anywhere consumption and convenience. The fruit-based beverages category is one of the fastest growing categories, and has grown at a CAGR of over 30 per cent over the past decade. As of March 2013, the Indian packaged juices market was valued at Rs 1,100 crore (~USD 200 million) and projected to grow at a CAGR of ~15 percent over the next three years.
Tell us about your products and the response to them. How is your company diversifying to maintain lead over the competitors? Del Monte has a wide array of packaged food offerings including ketchup & sauces, pasta & pasta sauces, olive oil, dips & spreads, fruit drinks and packaged & dried fruits to suit the varied needs of Indian consumers and B2B partners.
Del Monte offers a wide range of unique fruit juice flavours including Four Seasons, Pineapple with Bits, and Green Apple. Recently launched Peach Coolada is gaining immense popularity amongst youngsters for its taste specifically in the regions of J&K where this flavour is quite popular. We have also launched 100% Apple juice and will be looking at increasing the 100% portfolio in cans with mixed fruit being launched soon.
Additionally, our range of Italian and Chinese foods offers the widest range of pasta shapes, sauces, olive oils, olives and vinegars to help restaurateurs and home-makers replicate authentic Italian and Chinese dishes in their kitchens conveniently. Del Monte dips & spreads are a convenient way of providing the homemaker easy solutions for making a quick snack. Our endeavour is to bring high quality products to enable consumer to experience international cuisines at home.
Our range of packaged fruits consisting of pineapple slices and tidbits, peach halves, fruit cocktail and apricot halves are sourced from the best locations across the world and are extensively used by consumers and bakeries for desserts.
Catering to the emerging need of consumers for health snacking we have recently added dried cranberries to the dried fruits portfolio in addition to prunes, which facilitates healthy snacking on the go. Describe your production facilities in India and investment. The facility, situated in Hosur (Tamil Nadu), set up with an initial investment of over Rs 115 crore is spread across 21.4 acre. It aims to create new benchmarks in the Indian processed food and beverage industry. This manufacturing facility produces fruit drinks as well as culinary products like ketchups, sauces and mayonnaise across formats thus making it the first of its kind in India. Additionally, it processes fruit drinks at the rate of 300 cans per minute. The facility will also have packaging capabilities in sachet, squeezy, glass and flexible pack options for all culinary products.
The plant equipment are fully integrated and highly automated resulting in production of consistently high quality products. The state-of-the-art facility is supported by best in class plant infrastructure for power generation and redistribution, effluent treatment, cold storage, pasteurisation and packaging. The products remain untouched by human hand during a large part of the production process.
Taking the brand promise of taste like never before forward, this facility houses an R&D facility, online lab and automated monitoring systems focussing on developing innovative products catering to consumer requirements. The automated monitoring systems and online lab will allow consistent output with great recipes being transformed into great tasting products.
Apart from producing innovative consumer products, the facility is designed to give brand Del Monte greater flexibility and responsiveness in meeting ever evolving needs of B2B customers like hotels, restaurants and catering clients, airlines and modern retail. What practices you adopt for production at the facilities? The Hosur plant equipments are fully integrated and highly automated resulting in production of consistently high quality products. The state-of-the-art facility is supported by best in class plant infrastructure for power generation and redistribution, effluent treatment, cold storage, pasteurisation and packaging. The products remain untouched by human hand during a large part of the production process. This facility has been designed as a fully integrated unit, with capabilities ranging from product research to processing and from packaging to warehousing. Due to the high quality standards this facility provides, Del Monte gets the opportunity to create world class offerings that suit the Indian palate. The production site has an R&D facility, online lab and automated monitoring systems which ensure consistent output. Apart from producing innovative consumer products, the facility is designed to give brand Del Monte greater flexibility and responsiveness in meeting ever evolving needs of B2B customers like hotels, restaurants and modern retail. Tell us about exports. FieldFresh Foods is focussed on building a robust exports business model in processed foods and beverages. We are currently supplying culinary products to some of the leading QSRs (Quick Service Restaurants) in the Asia- Pacific region.
Tell us about your future plans for expansion in production facilities and product profile. We are committed to invest in line with market demand and evolution of our brand. As a leading food and beverage brand, Del Monte would continue to build its brand portfolio to bring savoury, quality food products and beverages to its customers. We recently introduced two new flavours namely Peach Coolada and Green Apple in our fruit juice category. Del Monte has constantly endeavoured to support our consumers in their efforts towards leading a healthy lifestyle by offering them quality food ingredients enabling them to replicate the taste of international cuisines at home.
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