Food & Beverage News

Chennai to unveil tech. innovations @ Foodpro2011
India's food processing industry is one of the largest sectors in terms of production, consumption, export and growth prospects. It is estimated to be worth over $200 billion and is likely to touch $310 billion by 2015. The industry is anticipated to grow at 16% during the 11th Five-Year Plan period.

Technology advancement is vital for growth of processing
In the past 10 years, India has left no stone unturned to ensure the growth of the food processing Industry in the country. It has been primarily due to the significance the industry holds as it employs around 19 per cent of the total population with its vital linkages in the key sectors which are agriculture and manufacturing.

India has immense scope in fruit processing sector
India is the second-largest producer of fruit and vegetables in the world, contributing a total of 150 million tonnes of the produce to the global production annually. Ironically, however, only 2.2% of the fruit and vegetable production is processed here as compared to countries like USA (65%), Philippines (78%) and China (23%). Hence, this presents immense opportunity for companies looking at inv

Assocham plan on new industrial clusters in WB soon
ASSOCHAM will soon unveil a strategy to set up industrial clusters in West Bengal for small and medium enterprises involved in food processing, handicrafts, renewable energy and information technology to generate three lakh direct and indirect jobs over the next three years and help in inclusive growth.

New processing tech. essential for value addition: Dr Dhillon
Development of new processing technologies was essential for ensuring value addition, according to Dr B S Dhillon, vice-chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University. He further lamented that decreasing landholdings had made agriculture less profitable for majority of farmers and their children were forced to look for other avenues of employment.

Ice cream industry – Waiting to take a leap!
The Indian ice cream industry today is worth about `2,500 crore registering a growth of 15-20% annually. The per capita consumption of ice cream in India is just about 300 ml or one scoop, which is much less in comparison to the 700 ml in Pakistan, 3 litres in China and 22 litres in countries such as USA, Japan and Germany.

Surveillance tools that help in delivering best
True to what its director Pradeep Chona believes, “quantity is long forgotten but quality is not,” Havmor, a leading ice cream manufacturer from western India, is known for making ice cream using milk and milk fats. Not only that, since its inception in 1944, the company has believed in tempting people to literally Have More or Havmor.

Grading, packing centres, CA stores for apple-growers in HP
The Horticulture Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC), a Government of Himachal Pradesh undertaking, will be setting up grading and packing centres and controlled atmosphere (CA) stores in the state, in a bid to ensure better prospects for apple-growers in the state.

India, the milk bowl of the world
Dairy industry plays an important role in the socio-economic development of India generating huge rural employment and providing cheap nutritional food to a vast population. The Indian dairy industry is growing rapidly, trying to keep pace with the galloping progress around the world.

Food laboratories: Present scenario, future challenges
India is world’s second-largest producer of food next to China, and has the potential of being the biggest as far as the food and agriculture sector is concerned. The food processing industry is one of the largest industries in India - it is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth. In fact, the food industry is on a high as India continues to have a feast fuell

Nutraceuticals & Functional Foods: Trends & Prospects
With advances in food science & technology, our choice of food need not be limited to food as it is grown or conveniently processed. Food can be viewed in terms of its components, viz., the nutrients which fulfil the primary purpose of food, as also the other ingredients that influence the acceptability of food.

New barcode scanning tech. for logistics operations
The continually increasing volume from online retailing and multitude of product choices that retailers carry for consumers makes automated scanning at logistics centres more important than ever.

By bringing to a boil… Are you killing the nutrition in milk?
Boiling milk kills disease-causing germs but it also destroys the nutrients in it. Is there a way out? Read on to find out…

FP industry facing labour shortage, shows FICCI survey
Despite having a favourable demographic profile, labour and skill shortage continues to be one of the key concerns for the Indian industry. This problem has been compounded by the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). It seems that MGNREGA has made a perceptible difference to the ‘choice of work’ of the casual labour in rural and semi-urban areas.

Traditional, innovative ingredients dominate Fi meet
The Food Ingredients India (Fi India) conference series, 2011, kicked off on Monday, along with the Fi India expo, which is being held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, in Mumbai, currently.

Bakery, health, wellness topped 2nd day agenda at Fi
The second day of the Conference Series, 2011, a part of the two-day Fi India 2011 event held in Mumbai recently, was bifurcated into two themes. The first-half focussed on innovations in bakery and the second session was dedicated to health and wellness innovations.

“We have plans to invest `2,000 cr, go public in 13-14”
MPS Food Products Ltd, part of the Kolkata-based MPS Group, has slated a growth plan which encompasses not just food processing but consolidation of presence in retail space with a dedicated range of outlets. P N Manna, CMD, MPS Food Products, shares the plans with Nandita Vijay. Excerpts:

Manjushree’s innovative packaging concepts
Bangalore-based packaging solutions company Manjushree Technopack has introduced three innovative packaging concepts for the food and beverage sector - pet bottle for beer, 1881 PCO neck for beverages and PPISBM bottles for flavoured milk.

Buhler opens unique coffee centre
Buhler India has inaugurates state-of-the-art Coffee Centre at its its manufacturing facility located at Attibele near Bengaluru. The Centre was inaugurated on August 30, 2011, by Dipak Mane, president – South Asia, Buhler India and Stefan Scheiber, president of food processing division, Buhler AG, Switzerland.

“Tectura has over 500 clients in F&B sector”
New Delhi-based Tectura India has been providing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions for the last 10 years. However, for the last four years, it has been addressing the F&B industry as a focus vertical. Chetan Pathak, country manager, Tectura India, interacts with Nandita Vijay in an email interview. Excerpts:

Parle Global Tech machinery range for F&B sector
In the last decade, Indian economy, as also the pharmaceutical and food & beverages industries have been growing at a faster rate and they were looking for hi-tech products to meet the ever- increasing demands of the world market.

With rising trade, world vulnerable to food safety issues: WHO
The world has become more vulnerable to outbreaks of disease caused by contaminated food because of growing global trade, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.

Thermal processing of fishery products for extended storage
Heating is the oldest and most reliable method of preservation for food products. Thermal processing makes foods more digestible and palatable and ensures microbiological safety. Chemical changes that take place during heating include denaturation of proteins influencing texture, oxidation of lipids, and generation of compounds that are responsible for the characteristic flavour.