Food & Beverage News

Cold chains need a big push & investment
The year 2010 was important for India’s cold chain industry with a few crucial developments taking place and also the universal realisation of the fact that there existed some lacuna in the functioning of the industry hampering the overall cold-chain business in India.

Cold-shoulder for cold chains
A cold chain is a system which provides a series of facilities for maintaining ideal storage conditions for perishables from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Currently, India is the largest producer of fruits and the second largest producer of vegetables in the world, with total production of 63.5 million tonnes of fruits and 125.89 million tonnes of vegetables.

Public-private model can help cold chains in a big way
Inaugurating the Cold Chain Summit 2010, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Ministry of Agriculture, KV Thomas, minister of state for agriculture, said that the Central Government was committed to facilitate the establishment of necessary infrastructure facilities by providing an ideal environment with fiscal incentives in the cold chain sector.

Switzerland-based Kuehne+Nagel acquires Delhi’s cold chain firm
Kuehne+Nagel (K+N), a Switzerland-based logistics major with significant operations in India, has acquired the business and assets of RR Enterprises, a New Delhi-based cold chain logistics business.

Industry yet to attract FDI
At a time when vegetable prices are overheated, the cold chain industry, voicing its frustration at Budget 2011 promises not being met, pointed out how the sector could help curb rising food inflation.

Pawanexh Kohli is “Cold Chain Personality of the Year”
Pawanexh Kohli, chief cold chain solutions officer of Gati Ltd, was awarded “Cold Chain Personality of the Year” by KPMG-Supply Chain Leadership Council at the Food, Logistics & Packaging Awards held at Mumbai.

iButton – an economical tech. for cold chain industry
Temperature and Humidity affect many areas in the food and pharma industry and hence it is very vital to maintain them at every step in supply chain. India’s share in Global Fruit production is 15% and in global vegetable production is 11%.

GCCA group promotes new cold chain initiatives, technologies
Last month, a high-level delegation from the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) visited India to help advance new programmes and technology to improve cold chain operations in what has become a leading food-producing nation.

Food security without private players is impossible
Addressing the Roundtable on "Enhanced Engagement of Private Sector to Meet India's Food Challenges," organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Subhash C Garg, joint secretary - ministry of agriculture, said the private sector was the service provider for the agriculture sector and it has been around in this sector except production, extension and part of seeds.

Himachal apple growers look for low chilling plants
In the face of changing climatic patterns in north western Himalayas, apple orchard owners of Himachal Pradesh are on the lookout for low chilling variety plants so as to combat the general warming of the climate in the fruit producing belts.