FNB News - "Key issue is that FSSA is way behind Codex Alimentarius"

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INTERVIEW

"Key issue is that FSSA is way behind Codex Alimentarius"

Monday, 27 July, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

Griffith Laboratories is a leading player in speciality food ingredients space and is known for its scientific approach, ingredients knowledge and processing excellence to develop dry mixes, seasonings, marinates, sauce mixes, flour mixes and food bases. In India, the company is now establishing an advanced manufacturing facility at Doddaballapur Industrial Area in the outskirts of Bengaluru. The new generation production plant is designed to meet standards of British Retail Consortium (BRC) and FM Global standards which are the highest level of standards for production of food ingredients. Further, the facility will apply for Leed Gold certification. Sujesh Govindan, director, R&D, projects & process engineering, Griffith Laboratories, in an interaction with Nandita Vijay talks about the challenges faced by speciality food ingredients market in India and the issues faced by his company. Excerpts:

Being part of a leading food ingredients player, globally, and in India, how do you view the current growth prospects in this sector?
The scene for food ingredients is positive primarily because India regulations through the Food Safety & Standards Act (FSSA) are coming of age. As a company initiative, Griffith is engaging food inspectors and the industry to comprehend each other’s issues during compliance. We are keen to focus on the problems of street food vendors and ensure that they are able to comply with the required quality standards.

There are extremely encouraging signs of growth. The venture capitalists and private equity players are optimistic about the growth prospects this sector has to offer and are keen to invest. There is considerable scope to increase manufacturing in the areas of product variations for starch, food gum and texture ingredients going by the huge wheat and corn cultivation in the country, similar on the lines of spice processing sector. India has an impressive food manufacturing base but the market opportunity needs to be tapped like that in the Western world. Food ingredient players need to capitalise this opportunity at a faster pace.

What are the perceptible trends in the food ingredients industry?
The current trend in the food ingredients space is demand for natural ingredients used in flavours and additives. There is also need for backing every ingredient used with scientific information on the labels. This will increase job opportunities for food scientists to serve in quality assurance and quality control departments.

What are the issues that are likely to stall the growth of the sector?
The key hassles are poor awareness about the need for quality. Although there are several steps initiated in this direction by the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) where we see industry bodies like the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce(FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) working to provide an understanding of the Food Safety & Standards Act among the small and medium industries. Another issue is that FSSA is way behind the Codex Alimentarius and a lot needs to be done on this front as India exporters look at increasing presence in the global market. There is a serious shortage of advanced food test labs across the country. Tardiness prevails when it comes to new projects taking off.

This food industry is indispensable and needs a takeoff like information technology and IT enabled Services (ITeS) sectors. There is a lacuna of sorts. For instance, in oranges cultivation, India is ranked third after Brazil and the US, which accounts for 5 per cent wastage. In India hardly 5 per cent reaches the market. There exists sloppy clearances at check posts and sea and airports for food items which are perishables.

What have been the key developments at Griffith Laboratories in India?
Griffith Laboratories is now establishing an advanced manufacturing facility at Doddaballapur Industrial Area in the outskirts of Bengaluru. The facility is expected to be commissioned in a couple of weeks. The unit which spans on five acres has a builtup area of 40,000 sq ft. It will manufacture a range of dry mixes, seasonings, marinates, sauce mixes, flour mixes and food bases.

Of the 15 categories of food ingredients of our parent company in the US, India manufactures five. The company now views India as a key growth component for the future. This led it to plan for strategic investments in this location because of access to qualified manpower and development of the food processing industry here.

The new generation production plant is designed to meet standards of British Retail Consortium (BRC) and FM Global standards which are the highest level of standards for production of food ingredients. Further, the facility will apply for Leed Gold certification. The advanced manufacturing technology will take care of the Griffith food ingredients production capability for the next 10 years. All these stringent norms will enable us to manufacture for customers across India and the global regulated and non-regulated region. It gives Indian operations much-needed importance based on highest quality and delivery times, timelines.

Give us details on your qualified teams in India. How easy is it to get the workforce for your operations?
We have been able to attract good talent in India. The Indian employee strength is pegged at 50 and our human resources policy has ensured high retention. Going forward, we would hire another 20 for our new manufacturing facility which is equipped with quality control and quality assurance departments. There is an innovation team comprising food scientists and culinary experts who work on new ideas from all over the world. These are tweaked to suit the Indian palate. There is also a sensory team which profiles and maps the trends in food ingredients in the global markets.

Further, Griffith has devised a sustainability programme. It has put in place an effective integrated pest management programme for chilli cultivation which are grown in the areas spanning across Khammam and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. Only natural pesticides which are safe for plants and the environment are used. We have also put in place good farm practices protocol for herb growers in the Mediterranean region which is certified by the Rain Forest Alliance.

Tell us more about sustainable initiatives.
We have partnered with farmers in India and globally to manage and supervise the cultivation. In addition, we have initiated strong community development programme to uplift the farmer and his family for a better life. In the last few years, agricultural families are moving away from this livelihood primarily because the future is seen to be hazy and unclear. This led us to set up processing units near farmlands, removed supply chain hindrances and encouraged fair trade practices encouraging farming families to continue the profession.