Gujarat based Gourmetious Delicacy plans to expand product range

In a world where culinary experiences transcend borders and the craving for exotic flavors knows no bounds, Indian cuisine has emerged as a global sensation. The melting pot of tastes, colors, and aromas that define Indian cooking have conquered palates worldwide. And behind this culinary conquest stands a legion of Indian brands that have meticulously woven a global market for Indian flavors. Their journey, marked by innovation, quality assurance, and cultural promotion, offers a delectable glimpse into the convergence of tradition and modernity in the realm of gastronomy.

Savoring the Mosaic of Indian Flavors

Indian cuisine is not a monolithic entity; it's a symphony of diverse flavors harmonizing within the borders of a vast nation. From the fiery spices of the south to the fragrant biryanis of the north, India's culinary heritage is as multifaceted as its people. And Indian brands have seen an immense opportunity within this wealth of flavors. As a result, no matter which corner of the world you go to, you can find Indian food. From spicy curries to aromatic herbs, you will find something that takes you on a journey across the world of Indian flavors, no matter where you are on the planet. 

Indian brands have a huge role to play in this. They can be likened to culinary alchemists who meld tradition with modernity. They've devised fusion foods, ready-to-eat delights, and spice blends that beckon the global palate. With these innovations, the world can now savor Indian flavors without the intricacies of traditional Indian cooking. These brands have made "Indian food" synonymous with "convenience."

Building a global network of flavor

The cornerstone of this global culinary exploration, of course, is trust. Indian brands have understood this implicitly and have left no stone unturned in ensuring the authenticity and quality of their products. They've garnered certifications and adhered to rigorous quality control standards, placating international regulations and establishing themselves as purveyors of excellence. And then they have harnessed the power of social media to create content around their products, showcasing their quality and their use through tantalizing recipe tutorials, and mouthwatering cooking demonstrations. This has led to the digital space becoming a canvas for their culinary artistry and generating a whirlwind of interest around Indian flavors

The world is now a spice bazaar, thanks to the strategic marketing and distribution networks of Indian brands. Supermarkets, specialty stores, and online marketplaces have all embraced these products, making Indian flavors as accessible as any other global cuisine. In addition to this, collaborations with international chefs, restaurants, and food manufacturers have also opened new horizons for Indian brands.

Catering to diverse palettes 

They haven’t remained behind on the wellness and sustainability front either. Indian brands have created organic, gluten-free, low-sodium products, as well as individual customizations for the international customers, aligning their offerings with the evolving health consciousness worldwide. In doing so, they've broadened their reach to health-conscious consumers. In addition they have set up production processes that are increasingly sustainable and reflect the brands’ values around ethical and sustainable practices. And of course this also resonates with a growing number of environmentally conscious consumers worldwide. 

But beyond just being gustatory experiences, Indian brands have also been storytellers. They narrate the history, traditions, and rich cultural tapestry that underpin the flavors. This narrative weaves an emotional connection, transcending the mere act of eating and enhancing the appeal of Indian products.

In the grand tapestry of global gastronomy, Indian flavors have earned a hallowed place. They are not just about spices and aromas; they're about a journey into the heart of a diverse nation, where tradition dances with modernity on the plate. Indian brands, with their relentless pursuit of excellence and authenticity, have been the conduits of this extraordinary voyage. In their embrace of innovation and a commitment to quality, they have not just created a market but a feast of Indian flavors that transcends borders and tantalizes palates worldwide.
 

In the fast-paced world of the HORECA (Hotel, Restaurant, and Catering) industry, ensuring food safety and maintaining exceptional taste and convenience are crucial for success. Ready-to-cook solutions have emerged as a game-changer in meeting these demands. By implementing rigorous quality control measures at every step of the process, ready-to-cook products offer a reliable solution that enhances food safety without compromising taste or convenience.

The Importance of Food Safety in HORECA:

Food safety is of utmost importance in the HORECA industry. Establishments must prioritize maintaining customer trust and loyalty by ensuring that the food they serve is safe and free from contamination. The consequences of foodborne illnesses can be severe, leading to negative impacts on business reputation and potential legal consequences.

The Rise of Ready-to-Cook Solutions:

Ready-to-cook products have gained popularity among HORECA establishments due to their numerous benefits. These products are pre-prepared with high-quality ingredients, requiring minimal effort and time for chefs and kitchen staff. Some key advantages include time and labor savings, consistent taste and quality, reduced food waste, and improved inventory management.

Quality Assurance at Every Step:

To ensure food safety and maintain the highest standards, ready-to-cook solutions, implement strict quality control measures at every stage of the process. The manufacturing facilities are HACCP certified, and these brands follow all Good Manufacturing Practises (GMP) to ensure the products meet strict quality standards, reducing the pressure on the procurement, storage, and consumption stages of the HORECA system.

1. Sourcing of Ingredients: These brands employ stringent selection criteria for suppliers, ensuring the highest quality ingredients are used. Regular quality checks and adherence to safety standards guarantee that only the best and safe ingredients make their way into the products.

2. Manufacturing Process: State-of-the-art facilities and technology are utilized to prepare ready-to-cook products. Adherence to standardized recipes and processes ensures consistency in taste, texture, and safety. Regular inspections and audits as prescribed by HACP managed system are conducted to ensure compliance with stringent quality control protocols.

3. Packaging and Storage: Secure and tamper-proof packaging and retort processing technology are employed to maintain the freshness and integrity of the products through regular analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement, and handling during the manufacturing and distribution of the finished products. Proper labelling and batch traceability provide transparency and allow for effective tracking. Appropriate storage conditions are maintained to preserve the quality and safety of the products.

4. Handling and Distribution:Brands pay special attention to the handling and distribution of their ready-to-cook products. Robust distribution of chain management is implemented to maintain product freshness and integrity. Timely delivery to HORECA establishments is ensured, accompanied by comprehensive guidelines and training for proper handling and storage.

Compliance with Food Safety Regulations:These brands strictly adheres to local and international food safety regulations. The company obtains necessary certifications and licenses to ensure compliance. Regular inspections and audits are conducted to maintain the highest standards of food safety.

Customer Satisfaction and Trust: By offering ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat solutions, these brands deliver consistent taste and quality to customers. Transparent communication about food safety practices builds trust with customers. The company values customer feedback and promptly addresses any concerns, further enhancing customer satisfaction and trust.
 

Known for its snacking habit, India stood at the top when it comes to consuming Indian snack as compared to the western snacks. According to a recent study titled ‘STTEM – Safety, Technology, Taste, Ease & Mood Uplifter’ - The India Snacking Report (Volume I) by Godrej Yummiez, East region prefer Indian snacks more with an average of 65%. This is followed by Southern region where 63% citizens prefer Indian homegrown snacks over western snacking categories.

However, 59% in Northern region of India and 58% in Western region specified their preference in favour of Indian snacks.

When asked about India’s preference towards Indian snacks (likes of aloo tikki, samosa, pakodas, namkeen, etc) vs Western snacks (likes of nacho, chips, sandwich, biscuits, etc) the Indian snacking version received majority 61% votes nationally.

Godrej Yummiez, undertook a consumer study with the objective to understand the (changing) attitudes & perceptions of Indian consumers when it comes to snacks & snacking.

The study was conducted across North, South, West and East regions and covered 10 cities like Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.

“As the foremost player in the ready-to-cook category, Godrej Yummiez aimed at understanding the dynamic patterns when it comes to snacking amongst people in the country. While consumers are more willing to try and adopt western categories, what comes out clearly through this research is that consumers have a close affinity for Indian snacks,” shared Abhay Parnerkar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Godrej Tyson Foods Limited.

In metros such as Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad, the average stood much higher at 67%, indicating that citizens here would pick up Indian options over western. Amongst all cities covered under the study, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad prefer Indian snacks the most indicating that locals of these cities are skewed towards homegrown traditional snack options.

Besides, the average for Ahmedabad stood at 61%, equivalent to the national average, followed by Delhi and Jaipur at 60 % each. The average for Pune residents opting for Indian snacks over their Western counterparts stood at 59%, followed by Lucknow at 57%. The average for Mumbai stood at 56%, while Bangalore stood last at 55%.

From opening the popular restaurant ‘Goila Butter Chicken’ in various cities, writing the food travelogue - India on my Platter, launching metaverse and blockchain to leaving everyone in awe of interesting food videos on social media accounts, Saransh Goila has partnered with India’s leading creator-led live entertainment commerce platform Roposo to launch a co-created cookware brand ‘Delishaas’. With a product line of trendy, quirky, and high-quality cookware essentials, Delishaas celebrates the love of cooking. Millions of consumers will discover Delishaas live on Roposo, and on the Glance Lock Screen platform. “I believe we live in a world where anything that you do has the potential to become a brand, and I am really excited. I never thought Delishaas would turn into a brand, it just started as a quote or a ‘takiya-kalam’ of mine, but people have caught on to it and I think it is a word that people could associate with as it reminds them of food and fun,” shared Goila who is very happy to launch his cookware brand. Excerpts from the interview:

So, like we know, and you just mentioned that Delishaas is your go to word. So, what is Delishaas to you and how do you relate with it?

I am a fun cook; I am somebody who loves to cook in the kitchen, but it is not just about recipes. It is about having fun, sometimes you’ll find me dancing while cooking and listening to great music. Food is a lot more to me – it is about relationships, interacting with my audience, it is about social media where I spend so much time educating people about my recipes and cooking delicious meals at home. I feel that is where Delishaas is born from, it was wordplay of delicious, and that is how it came to life. I thought if I had to give it a life and make it a brand, considering it is all about cooking at home and making cooking at home more fun…a cookware brand is where it fits the best and it is a great start. However, I do believe that Delishaas is not just a cookware brand, it is going to be about the fun, the interaction, and the fact that we are going to enjoy while cooking.

Tell us about your association with Roposo. And why did you choose Roposo to launch Delishaas?

I saw Roposo doing a lot of exciting stuff with other creators, they started KRA with BeYouNick. They worked with celebrities like Rana Daggubati as well as Ekta Kapoor who started their respective brands through Roposo and the Glance Collective that they have formed. All the chefs at one point have the thought if they should have a cookware range of their own and I think it’s like a check box. I have been meddling with this idea for years, but I was looking for a right partner because to create a successful brand you need the right kind of team to work with.

In today’s day and age, somebody who understands digital platforms and live commerce industry is the right partner to look for, which is how I connected with Roposo. The fact that Roposo co-creates differentiated brands and their belief in the identity of a creator, is something I particularly like about them. They have given me an open hand to design this differently, it is not just a cookware range but more like and experience.

The products will be available on our website Delishaas, as well as on Roposo and Glance lock screen. Eventually, it will be available across markets and other platforms.

What are the range of products that you have in the Delishaas cookware?

So, there are currently 5 products in the range – two of them are from the Tri-ply stainless steel category while the other three are Aluminium non-stick pots and pans with the Greblon technology. They are both APEO and PFOA free. We are doing both ranges as we believe that there are two types of customers – some who only like to cook in stainless steel equipment, while there are some delicate dishes like eggs and fish that you need to cook in Greblon. The Greblon range will be available in yellow and blue colours, with an exterior of a classic Indian kadhai.

Any plan catering to the HoReCa segment? Also, to showcase a product that is used in the kitchen, I’d say hotels and restaurants will be the right target, so any plans to extend there?

I think it will be a natural extension, eventually. Currently, we would like to target our immediate consumer through my platform and Roposo. Later, we will target the HoReCa segment as well, because even restaurants and fine dine places are looking for a good cookware range too. However, we are still very new in this segment, and it might take us a couple of months to get there.

How do you plan to differentiate from the other available brands in the market that are being promoted by other top chefs?

Yes, there is a surge of cookware brands in the market, but I do believe there is a lot of scope in this segment, particularly from a design perspective. I do feel like the millennial consumer, people who are in the ages of 18-40 are looking for products that make their kitchen more fun. We want people to have a cooking experience which is easier, mess-free with products that are durable and trustworthy. When you spend Rs.2000 or 2500 on a product, you want it to last long. We want to create a niche and I want the products to stand out. The products and even the packaging will feel very fresh, I feel very confident to say that you’ll not see this design tonality on any other cookware range in India.

What is the price range of the Delishaas products?

The price point for the cookware range is between 2-3k depending on the range that you go for. There are two ranges – first is a tri-ply stainless steel and the second is Greblon aluminium non-stick range. You can choose from either, and the price will also be dependent on the size of pots or pans that you choose. They are all easy to clean, durable, scratch resistant and we’ve made sure that there is not a lot of spillages.

You are setting the culinary footprints in the country with one initiative at a time. How would you describe your journey so far?

It feels like a lot, I am lucky to have this opportunity. I think partnerships and collaborations are a key method to work around opportunities. I have fabulous partners, even for GBC I have the right partners. For Delishaas, I have Roposo which is helping me grow. I feel the more you share and partner with people, the sooner you can bring your ideas to life. I am not hesitant to share my ideas or thought or even my recipes. For instance, my Butter Chicken recipe is out there on the internet.

What is your expansion plan with Goila Butter Chicken?

I think for that we are fairly positioned to grow Pan – India and currently we are at about 25 stores between Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. We are going at a steady pace with about 4-5 stores every month.

A number of co-created brands have been launched by Roposo over the last year through Glance Collective - a joint venture between Roposo’s parent company - Glance, and talent management firm, Collective Artists Network. These brands include ‘EK’ with Ektaa Kapoor in the home, wellness & ethnic-wear category, a limited-edition streetwear brand ‘KRA’ with BeYouNick (aka Nikunj Lotia), and DCRAF with Rana Daggubati in the men’s grooming market. Know what Mansi Jain, Senior VP & GM, Roposo has to share:

Why did Roposo choose Saransh Goila? 

Our co-created original labels and products are carefully curated to reflect the ethos and identity of the celebrity or creator and become an extension of who they are, and Saransh is one of the most popular contemporary chefs, who is followed by many for his fun-loving personality as well as his cooking style. We feel Delishaas resonates with his personality, and we are happy partnering with a talented, popular, and fun-loving person like him who fits with our brand’s philosophy i.e., entertainment-first. 

How is Roposo planning to market the brand and help enhance the distribution? 

Saransh has always had a fun, playful style to his cooking, and his content resonates with consumers because he makes it about the joy in the process of cooking, more than anything else. Delishaas embodies this side of his personality and elevates cooking from something that’s just a functional necessity to an experience by itself. Our products and the brands messaging are consistent with this idea. Everything about Delishaas, from their designs to their pop colours, is curated to transform cookware essentials into a modern, fun and healthy companion in the kitchen. These products will be distributed through Roposo and Glance. Besides this, it will be available on www.delishaas.com, and on various other marketplaces in the near future. The launch SKUs include 5 products. The Non-stick Aluminum range made from Greblon technology has a Fry Pan, Kadhai and a Dutch Oven and is available in two colours – blue and yellow, while the tri-ply range has a Fry Pan and a Kadhai in stainless steel. 

Coffee as a segment has grown in last 2-3 years and we have seen too many players local and international entering the ever growing market in not just café segment but also the product segment. Simple Brew Coffee is one of those brand that came into existence to give people an access to the instant coffee. “The idea behind starting TSB was to make sure everyone can have access to the taste and experience of tasty, brewed coffee, but with the convenience of instant coffee,” shared Apoorv Agarwal, Founder by adding that the lockdown led to a lot of people struggling to figure out which coffee they wanted to buy, what roast, what grind, what equipment to use, etc. The idea behind TSB to uncomplicate it. Further, there wasn’t any one stop solution for people who were looking for a coffee-based product that could help make everything from basics hot and cold coffee to coffee-based cocktails and desserts, and a whole lot more. He invested about 3.5-4L towards equipment, basic furniture, branding (design + print), trademarks, website, etc to get the brand going. Excerpts from the interview:

From being a lawyer to an entrepreneur. What was the inspiration?

Coffee was something I was always into. I remember a friend took me to a coffee shop in Mumbai back in 2016, and I was introduced to the concept of ‘specialty coffee’. In the years following, I had bought myself some basic brewing equipment, and tried my hand on brewing my coffee. Fast forward to the pandemic. While the world outside was falling apart, it gave me more free time to play around with and learn more about coffee. It was something I never looked at as a career option. I was simply brewing coffee at home for myself. While I had always been brewing hot coffee, I decided to give making cold brew at home a shot. I had picked up a 1 litre cold brew jug from one of my visits abroad a couple of years back, and that’s where I decided to start.

How do you see the business for such kind of concepts as we see that coffee as a segment has grown in last 2-3 years?

Necessity has been and will always be the mother of invention. People are always looking to make their life and experiences more and more convenient. Over the past 2-3 years more and more brands are recognizing the competition and introducing an array of products and increasing their offerings. Speciality coffee, for one, has gained a loyal fanbase in the country. Another example is brands introducing Nespresso compatible capsules and canned coffee pre-mixes. There’s been a noticeable shift and growth from the conventional definition of coffee and cafes. Constant evolution is more evident.

From did you source the coffee beans for the perfect brew?

We make our own in-house blend of 4 different beans sourced from 3 different roasters. The roasters source their beans from plantations based in the Araku Valley, Chikmagalur and Darjeeling. As we are not a roastery, we don’t buy green beans directly from plantations.

What’s the shelf life of the brews and how have you priced it?

After we’re done brewing the concentrate, we transfer it to a keg, which is purged with food grade nitrogen to push all the oxygen out and seal the freshness of the brew. This helps us in increasing the shelf life of the concentrate to about 30 days from the date of brewing, and 15 days from the day the bottles are opened by the customer. We don’t use any preservatives in our coffees.

Our concentrates are available in 500 ml and 1L bottles, with the Single Brew available for Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 and the Double Brew available for Rs. 750 and Rs. 1,500 for the 500 ml and 1L bottles respectively.

Who are you trying to target with this kind of product range?

The ideal TG for us are the coffee drinkers who are either spending a lot of money buying coffee from upmarket cafes and restaurants, or people who just want a simple, tasty and easy to make coffee at home.

Do you also see any competitor in the segment?

There will always be competition in some form and manner. There are a few players in the market, most of them as new to this as we are. Most businesses have coffee concentrates as one of their SKUs, while they continue to sell other products such as beans and instant coffee as well. In India, almost all coffee concentrates that preceded the current players were in the space of making south Indian filter coffee decoctions, which have their own advantages and limitations. While we weren’t the first entrants in this space, we did develop a few methods that worked to our advantage. We pride ourselves on two primary USPs – the versatility of our products, and the lack of bitterness and acidity that’s associated with almost all concentrates and decoctions out there.

What’s your expansion plans?

We’re definitely in the market to begin our funding journey before the end of the year. The business is entirely bootstrapped and self-funded at this stage, and funding is something that’s on the table. We should be available on most food ordering and e-commerce platforms within the coming quarter. As mentioned, we’re also in talks with a few offices and cafes to begin entering the B2B space. Once we successfully close in on these priority items, we’ll be looking at product portfolio expansion, vis-à-vis cold brew bags and hot brew bags, packaging our blend, and coming out with pre-mixes and possible starting a cloud kitchen in the future.

India’s F&B space is brimming with young entrepreneurs. From new food products that tackle sustainability to those longing for authenticity, to those catering to the health conscious market, the market is full of innovative ideas and visions of how India can eat and drink better and healthier. And in the first season of Shark Tank India, F&B entrepreneurs created a wave bagging most of the investments from the sharks of the season.

Infusing jet fuel into the country’s start-up culture, the show connects entrepreneurs with angel investors or sharks. The founders pitch their business and growth plans to the sharks, in the hope of raising funds. The Shark Tank India judges include Aman Gupta, the co-founder and CMO of Boat; Vineeta Singh, CEO & co-founder of Sugar Cosmetics; Anupam Mittal, founder and CEO of People Group, that owns companies like Shaadi.com and Makaan.com; BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover, Ghazal Alagh CEO and founder of the skincare brand MamaEarth; Peyush Bansal, the founder and CEO of Lens Kart and Namita Thapar, CEO of pharma company Emcure Pharma. While there are many food and drink companies that drew the attention of the audience, here are a few which was appreciated by the sharks, got the best deals and gave fantastic business ideas to the budding F&B entrepreneurs.

Bluepine foods

The Delhi-based food company founded in 2016 specialises in frozen momos with traditional Himalayan ingredients. The company also runs Yangkiez, a line of momo QSRs based out of Delhi. When founder Aditi Madan moved to the capital years ago, she deeply missed the flavours of the Himalayas and her home. This prompted her to launch her own company that tapped into India’s love for momos. Bluepine bowled over the Shark Tank India judges Aman Gupta Vineeta Singh and Ashneer Grover to secure funding of INR 75 lakh for 16 percent equity of her business. But for Madan, this was not her first instinct in the television industry. Madan was seen in Masterchef India where she was highly appreciated by Chef Vikas Khanna.

The company started with four products (like momos and spring rolls) from local resources but are now making around 35+ variants. In the last five years, they have made around 80 lakhs momos and have been providing it to multiple hotels, restaurants and cafes across India. 

Sharing more on the same, Madan commented, “It’s been five years since I started my business. However it’s the first time, I’ve got the chance to present my start-up in front of such experienced businessmen who also started from scratch. Being on Shark Tank India is, truly, once in a lifetime experience for me! Not only is it opening doors for my business but is also helping us to reach one step closer to our mission of creating a sustainable future when it comes to food.  I am really excited to see the kind of traction my business will get after the show. More than that, I am really grateful to the sharks for giving their time and believing in our venture.” 

Skippii Ice Pops

The first business idea to clinch investments from all sharks on the show. Skippii Ice Pops was presented by a Hyderabad-based husband-wife duo. Flooring all the judges on the show with the taste and packaging, the ice pops are available in a range of flavours in RO water and have absolutely no preservatives, flavours or colours. Anuja and Ravi Kabra managed to get INR 1 crore for 15 percent of the equity

Banjara Hills-based Skippi Premium Ice Pops claims to be India’s first ice pops brand. Ravi Kabra, co-founder and CEO; and Anuja Kabra co-founder and COO; share that to produce high-quality products that are clean, green and healthy, they worked towards bringing down the intake of artificial flavours and colours to zero. 

Kabra said that they feel like mini-celebrities now. “Whenever we walk into a restaurant, are at any public place or even at our office, people walk up to us and want to click pictures with us. We have achieved something phenomenal, I’d like to believe so.” They have the vision to present their brand on IPL t-shirts for promotion

CoCoFit

CoCoFit made the most humble impression on the show. Seeking an investment of only INR five from each shark, its founders left no stone unturned to make their time on the show worthwhile. Shashi Kanth, the founder, commented while introducing his business, “Simply put, coconut meets fitness here. We make and sell close to 135 products that are made of coconut and its by-products. From coolers and slushes to shakes and ice creams, we have them all.” 

On how they landed on the show, he shared, “When we came across a notification of Shark Tank India, we applied for it and got to know that we were selected during the initial screening. We then got through phase two and finally the audition. We were already doing brisk business, and now, Shark Tank has helped us get more investors. Rather than getting into negotiations, we decided to give it away for free. It was like us buying three sharks. Based on the traction we received, we had close to 2,800 franchise requests, that’s huge!” 

Nomad Food Project

Nomad Food Project is a jam brand specialising in bacon thecha. The founders of this jam brand, Aditya Rai and Advaith Inamke, have asked for INR 40 lakhs in exchange for 10 percent equity of their company in Shark Tank India.

The global jams and preserves market is expected to reach 8.46 billion dollars in 2021 and its rate is growing significantly, by 2026 it may reach 9.87 billion dollars. Many brands are already present in this domain such as Kissan Jam, Bhuira Apricot Jam, La Vieja Fabrica Apricot Mermelada, etc but Nomad Food Project have been able to keep its identity distinctive 

“ We are disrupting the jams market as no one has done savoury jams before us, especially not anything with meat and it's really amazing to see people try it for the first time and go nuts! That feeling can only be felt when the products themselves set you apart more than anything else. However, with our thechas we have managed to hit the condiment market out there too. Our thechas are mean alternatives to the same old pork pickles that we've all tried at some point or the other,” Advaith Inamke, co-founder commented.

Interestingly, Rai and Inamke started Nomad Food Project as a research topic while graduating from IHM Mumbai, doing their bachelor's in hotel management. “We’ve always been attracted towards trends that are out of the box and hold the capacity to change consumer trends,” Rai commented 

Wakao Foods

Wakao Foods, a jackfruit-based vegan food brand has become India’s first startup to be backed by all three female sharks on Shark Tank India. The brand received funding of INR 75 lakh for 21 percent equity from SUGAR Cosmetics, MamaEarth, and Emcure Pharmaceuticals in the 1st edition of Shark Tank India.

Founded by Sairaj Dhond, Wakao Foods is a sustainable brand that aims at bringing plant-based ‘Ready to Cook’ and ‘Ready to Eat’ products to the Indian market. Wakao’s current offering of jackfruit meat is ethically sourced and hand-picked from farms and hygienically manufactured. The jackfruit has been an obvious choice of product for its versatility, meat-like texture, and nutritive value (high in fiber, low in calories and fats). All Wakao products have no preservatives with a shelf life of one year and require no refrigeration.

Sairaj Dhond, founder of Wakao Foods commented, “As someone who grew up watching Shark Tank, coming on this globally acclaimed platform and getting funded has been a great milestone for me and my team. This further solidifies our belief and efforts to introduce innovative and disruptive F&B product categories that will change how consumers perceive plant-based meat. We are looking forward to aggressively expanding our footprint in the next few months and acquiring a bigger clientele in the industry.”

For Wakao Foods, the sharks that have come along on this journey with them to create the perfect amalgamation, bringing in key expertise that will drive and expand the business multi-folds. Emcure Pharmaceuticals, currently present in 70 countries will open doors for the brand to export its products across the world. 

In a Can

One beverage company that attracted too many eyeballs was In a Can cocktails. Entrepreneurs and hotel management graduates Sameer Mirajkar and Viraj Sawant dreamed up their company in the middle of the pandemic. The canned cocktail company offers low-calorie cocktails that are ready-to-go and easy to consume, with flavours that include rum latte, whisky collins, gin and tonic and more. The partners asked for INR 50 lakh rupees for two percent equity in the company but ended up getting a deal of INR one crore for 10 percent equity from sharks Ashneer Grover, Aman Gupta, Namita Thapar and Anupam Mittal.

“The idea of In A Can came one evening at a house party when Viraj and I realised that people were bored of the same fizzy mixers, beers and juices. They wanted to have cocktails but either did not have the ingredients or the know-how and equipment,” said Mirajkar. “Immediately we knew there was a need in the market for some quality cocktails and a new drinking experience.”

It ticks off other boxes for weight-watching millennials these premixed cocktails use natural ingredients with very little sugar and no preservatives or artificial sweeteners. As a result, each can has less than 100 calories.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman will be presenting the union budget 2022-23 on 1st February. The individuals and the businesses are eagerly awaiting the reforms for this financial year. Last year’s budget focused on healthcare, the stimulus package and rural infrastructure development. This year with the spread of Omicron and reimposition of limited lockdown, the budget expectations revolve around economic recovery, easy compliance, and some relief for the common man.

The hospitality industry, which contributes 9% to the GDP, employs 4.5 crore individuals and provides direct and indirect livelihood to 16 crores people, is one of the hardest-hit industries due to the pandemic. The industry expects special schemes from the budget like interest-free loans, subsidies and tax reliefs to get back on its feet.

Hospitality Industry relief package requests

The demand for special relief packages has received backing from many Hospitality Industry heavyweights. Managing Directors of Clark Hotels and Resorts has recently quoted. The government supported us, but more needs to be done in terms of offering interest-free loans, subsidies, reduction in tax structure, which will help in the recovery and covering up the previous losses”. Also bringing corporate booking and MICE travel under IGST. This step will allow corporates to avail GST inputs, encouraging travel within India rather than opting for cheap Southeast Asia destinations.

The Co-Founder of Brij Hotels, Anant Kumar said that the non-uniform structure of GST should also be considered as it creates massive confusion among the Hospitality and Food Industries. This measure can reduce the complexity and enable MSMEs to focus on core business areas.

Tax relief, better infrastructure and incentives.

The Federation of Hotel and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI), a hospitality body,has asked the government  to add the F & B sector to the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP). This move could help pandemic-stricken business, other measures include loans at lower interest rates and longer time for repayment.Other significant demands from the FHRAI include availing Service Export from India Scheme (SEIS) status, grant export status, grant infrastructure status to the hospitality industry and provision of special tax incentive industry to the domestic travel.

The food industry also has expectations from the Union Budget for the growth of food processing industries. The AIFPA gave suggestions that the production can be boosted if the government increases the plant and equipment Depreciation Rate and assures the procedure of simple tax. The request also includes schemes for ‘Pending VAT Refunds’ and ‘GST Input Credits’ so that the industry can get the liquidity it needs. For lower investment, a Production Linked Investment Scheme should be set up. AIFPA also demanded a lower tax of around 5% on Snacks, Ready-to-eat foods, Instant Food Mixes, and traditional foods.

The right steps of the government will help the industry to grow and fill the gap caused by the pandemic in the last two years. The suggestions provided by the industry will encourage the people and investors to invest and will help to have a quick revival of the industry and domestic operations.

In the beginning, pandemic brought images of vast trenches of rotting onions, piles of abandoned produce, and lakes of wasted milk, dumped by farmers who no longer had restaurants to buy their products. Now, restaurants are filling up again, and the surrounding streets and stores feel busier than they did a year ago. But even as life inches closer to ‘normal’ for some diners, the inner workings of packed restaurants remain anything but ‘normal’.

Supply chains during these times have faltered: an outbreak at a meat-processing plant or on a large farm; not enough drivers to make regular deliveries to restaurants; holdups at ports where materials or ingredients are offloaded.

Shortages and sourcing issues are becoming the new normal for restaurant operators. Diners might not notice these shortages as many restaurants make it their mission to operate in a way that obscures any difficulties in the kitchen, but if looked closely, menus are slimmer, because ingredients erratically come and go from suppliers’ lists. Sometimes, items that appear on menus may not actually be available, the ingredients left out of the delivery that day.

“The shipping shortage globally did challenge us initially, as raw materials imports were on pause because of the pandemic. We've been able to create direct channels of import, so that has sorted out issues for us,” informed Keenan Tham, Director, Pebble Street Hospitality.

New restaurants, even from the most seasoned operators, have pushed their opening dates back further and further, as they wait for lumber and other raw materials that are now in short supply. This is, for now at least, as close to normal as it gets for restaurants navigating the pandemic.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly placed unprecedented stress on us, from coping to opening our place to tackle the major issue of storage and shortage crisis because of the strict government regulations. But as it’s said every cloud has a silver lining, with the same spirit and more research on how to stock our products back, we found local substitutes of good quality that could be at par and do justice,” shared Udit Bagga, Co-owner at Out of the Box who is trying to make sure that the guests have a similar or better experience, from stocking products to changing and revamping their menu.

According to reports, as operators raced to meet constantly changing guidelines, materials that were once in abundance, like reflective tape, and once cheap, like plywood, were not only hard to find, it was sometimes still impossible to have them delivered. Same happened with the equipment transport from states like Gujarat for those who were planning new openings.

 “Also, the way that the vendors have started treating small businesses has been overwhelming and crazy. They’ve cut their delivery dates and times pretty dramatically. They’ve raised prices, and their minimum is now higher than it used to be. So for a small business like us, being forced to spend more making us difficult to make profit,” a small cafe owner situated in Amar Colony Delhi commented on condition of anonymity.

He said that his friends and colleagues who own restaurants nearby are facing similar issues, but the ones who own bigger spaces and place larger orders have more leverage with delivery companies; when orders are bungled and the chefs threaten to close their accounts, they sometimes see service improve.

Many suggest that the smooth operations would take one to two years to resume. However, many owners strongly opine that even while dealing with shortages, food quality or portion sizes will never be sacrificed. As the demand goes down after the upcoming holidays, many hopes that the shortages will get better.

Being no. 1 street food in India, Momo is estimated to be close to a $2.7 billion market. While 97% of this market is unorganized, we are seeing a shift post the COVID outbreak, thanks to a greater focus on health and hygiene. The Indian consumer is coming of age very quickly, and will soon demand higher quality products made available to them at affordable price points. And, there’s no denying that gone are the days when a simple instant solution would suffice. And, to tap on this fast growing market, brands are expanding themselves into a newer segment. From QSR brands like Wow! Momo and Momo King launching frozen momo to old age delicatessen brand like Prasuma entering into the business and enticing customers with the freshest, juiciest momo delivered at the comfort of home. Read what Lisa Suwal, CGO at Prasuma Momos has to share on this exciting journey:

The idea

While I was at boarding school, I spent the best moments snacking with my friends. And while my family has been in the food business for over 3 decades, all my friends were big fans of our homemade momos. In fact, we wanted to launch Prasuma Momos all of 10 years ago, and have been working towards this ever since. Two distinct factors led to the inception of Prasuma Momos. Coming from a Himalayan family, momos were always central to our family nights and all occasions. Then, about a decade ago, my father came across amazing frozen stuffed Ravioli while he was in Italy. These tasted as good as fresh ravioli even after cooking and this sowed the seeds for frozen momos. Seeing how dumplings, in different renditions, are popular across the globe, I never understood why brands have not tapped into its vast potential as a ready-to-eat snack in India. And so, we innovated our much-loved family recipe, and Prasuma Momos were born in 2019.

Also Read: QSR Chain WOW! Momo enters RTE segment, to tap WFH customers

Do you see any competition from brands like Wow! Momo that has entered into the frozen momo segment?

Sure, there’s loads of competition that has entered the market after we launched frozen momos in November 2019, many local players and some (potentially) national players like Wow Momo!. We look at this as a great sign that these brands together will help us establish a Frozen Momo category. We are happy to welcome them to this segment. It means the Indian consumer is willing to open their minds to frozen foods to realize that if done well, frozen foods can be better if not just as good as fresh food. Also, food is a category where the consumer will always appreciate having choices, ultimately they will choose the option which gives them the tastiest Momo, with the best quality ingredients and the best experience at an affordable price.

Selling on variety

Our customers love our momos with fresh, juicy fillings and the thinnest possible wrappers. Our product portfolio consists of Original Chicken, Spicy Chicken, Pork, Original Prawn, and Veg Momos. Given the burgeoning demand, we recently launched Classic Mutton and Desi Chicken Momos. Going further, we are planning to introduce more Veg momos, adding to our list of momos that are bursting with flavor. Our pricing is higher than your street momo vendor and lower than brands/restaurants that home deliver momos. 

Also, is there any halal certification?

While we are not Halal certified our chicken and mutton vendors are Halal certified. 

What’s your expansion plan catering to the HORECA segment?

Our HORECA business has picked up completely organically, we have not reached out to anyone. We have restaurateurs and resort owners around the country reaching out to us for our momos and we are more than happy to supply them.

Catering to the well groomed audience

We cater to India’s well-traveled, exposed, and educated new-age consumers who have access to information about nutrition, and focus greatly on freshness and quality standards of food products. We never take customers for granted and understand the importance of quality when it comes to frozen food for the entire family. 

May Interest: Tantalising Profit 'The Momo Way'

What’s the shelf life of your momos?

Our momos can be used till 9 months from the date of packaging when stored at or below -18 Degree C.

What’s your expansion plan?

Prasuma products are currently available across 70 cities, with major traction coming from the top 12 metro cities. However, we are also seeing incremental demand arising from Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. We are gearing up to expand our presence to 140 cities by March 2022 and then to 200 cities by the end of next year. We have also partnered with several DTC platforms including Meatigo.com, Nature’s Basket, Walmart, and Bigbasket to name a few to reach our target audience across key geographies.

Megha Poddar's journey as an astute businesswoman started after she was married into the prestigious business family - the Siyaram Poddar Group. Apart from the fact business ran in her blood, she had the privilege of learning all the nitty-gritty of business from her Father-in-law Shri Pawan Poddar and his brother Shri Ramesh Poddar. She worked closely with them and under their guidance for 8 years in Siyaram Silk Mills Limited where she headed the Retail segment of the company. Her passion and drive to create something of her own led her to start Purple Wok in 2017. Purple Wok was India's first Nationalised Oriental Wok catering to tier 2 and tier 3 cities. In its 2 years run Purple Wok had 35 outlets pan India. Later, she founded White Light Food in June 2019. Boasting of a state-of-the-art central kitchen in the heart of Mumbai and a top-of-the-line range of the widest variety of Asian and Oriental products, White Light Food aims at catering to the ever-growing Asian cuisine segment pan India. “My family business gave me a vast unmatchable experience of 7 years in areas which were highly systematised and corporate while retaining my business genes and roots to be able to take that leap of faith when the time demands it,” shared Poddar who after her maternity break felt that she was ready to test her own journey, following her passion of building up something from scratch and learn through the journey.

The prime idea was to focus on the ever growing but yet under tapped READY TO COOK SEGMENT in India. Most brands are focusing on ready to eat, however with growing awareness about health, aversion to larger shelf life products, availability of healthier options, need for fresher food but reduced time in busy schedules for cooking- all constituted to arriving at a product which solves most of the above. Acceptability of different cuisines, accessible information and exposure, and the increase in the youth percentage across the country had made horeca the fastest growing without having to tweak your product statewise or even season wise. Standardisation, low investment initially, willingness to try newer foods, and need for consistent products in the fnb sector was the key reasons to get into this industry. Since its inception in 2018 we have invested 2 crores into this. Lockdown washed out all that we had done as we were earlier aiming at only providing this product to our own range of QSRs and Horeca. But the sudden lockdown and a reinvention in June 2020 has led us to change our model and grow into a full fledged consumer brand.

Also Read: Singapore Searches Beer The Most as compared to other Asian markets, iPrice Report

We see that Asian cuisine as a concept is growing in India. Why so?

Asian cuisine has always been around for the longest time in India. Traditionally also in an old style multicuisine India restaurant we always only saw ‘Chinese’ added as a cuisine alongside a north Indian and South Indian spread. Geographical proximity always has an impact into surrounding regions when it comes to food along with similar taste palettes. Being a part of the Asian subcontinent, similar availability of natural ingredients and acceptability to spice levels is what Asian cuisine similar and popular amongst Indians. Even though earlier on Chinese was more widespreadly accepted when it was made in an indo-Chinese manner, however with the access to more information, global trends, and people inching more towards authenticity, this favourite foreign and most easily available cuisine of Indians is naturally the first one to get an uplifted makeover and move from being called CHINESE to ASIAN.

What’s the future of RTE segment?

It’s every growing all over the world. However growing awareness of health trends has got a lot of negative limelight to the RTE segment. Most foods in this category contain high salt and sodium contents, preservatives and artificial flavours. Having said that products which are more organic in nature, free of too many enhances, true to their taste and closest to their fresh version will see a huge jump and leap. Ready to eat will tilt more towards ready to cook as per me.

Cooking sauces/pastes/gravies - 6 months in ambient temperature
Dimsums/Baos and other frozen products - 1 month in frozen state (we are under lab testing phase and have been given a go ahead for increasing the shelf life of the Dimsums to 6 months using only organic ingredients and not artificial preservatives)

How have you priced the same?

Sauces/gravies/pastes are available in 250gm bottles and packs. Price range is between Rs. 200 to Rs. 275 depending on the variety. We have 15 varieties - the highest range of offering in the Asian segment as opposed to any other brand currently.

What’s your market presence? Are you also catering to HORECA segment?

We are present in D2C, GT, Horeca and e-commerce segments. Our D2C clientele is catered to via our own online ordering portal and our supposed team of on ground home marketers. We don’t believe in being on third party delivery aggregators such as Zomato or Swiggy. GT we are present across A plus category physical stores across Mumbai. Horeca is a huge client base for us. Our clientele includes long standing restaurants such as a gallops and a status, larger chains such as tibbs, new age Multi restaurant cafes such as grandmama’s and even resorts such as Marriotts. We are also on Amazon.

We are targeting the niche segment of the audience that believes in authentic flavours. India is the only country in the world that has a live kicthen in every single home and hence the cooking segment products work maximum in India as opposed to the rest of the world. Ages 25 plus are our target. The working professional who has no time to whip up a meal, the health conscious foodies who wants fresher ingredients and a restaurant style dish at home, a 60 year old mother trying to cook a more authentic Asian meal while putting her signature mommy love and recipes into the food for her family, or a couple hosting some friends at home and wanting to not spend a lot on catering food from outside. This product fits into everyone’s lives.

Do you see any competition in this segment?

There are a lot of brands doing fusion desserts. However fusion cuisines apart from desserts are still being done by very few and that too mostly by dine in friendly restaurants - mostly molecular gastronomy or plating up is confused with fusion. However combining base ingredients and flavours as per me does justice to this upcoming trend. In this regards, very few brands doing it with full research backed menus.

May Interest: QSR Chain WOW! Momo enters RTE segment, to tap WFH customers

What’s your expansion plan?

We are focusing on our core IP of the ready to cook sauces, gravies and pastes and plan to make them more available pan India via the online route and on ground selective general/modern trade route. Exports is on the cards too, directly it more towards the NRI audience. Also we will be the front runners to introduce frozen Dimsums into the retail space and we aiming to do that by November.

The entirety of the global foodservice industry has been turned on its head by the most disruptive force to ever hit it in the coronavirus pandemic. But times of dramatic change can also create opportunities for tremendous upside if one knows where to look and have the wherewithal to build and execute on a bold and decisive strategy. Restaurant industry suppliers are one segment experiencing such opportunity now equivalent to the sellers of picks and shovels during the ‘Gold Rush’.

Also Read: 8 Key Changes Supply Chain Sector would adopt post Covid

When the pandemic first struck, much of the attention on foodservice centred around the restaurants. But as the weeks of quarantine ticked by with no real end in sight, supply chain disruption also entered the public discourse. Meat and animal proteins were in an especially precarious position with grocery stores and even major chains struggling to meet demand.

Although these early shortages have leveled off to a degree, all stakeholders along the supply chain (manufacturers, distributors, and restaurants) have had to learn how to push products in an uncertain environment. On the restaurant end, operators are finding creative solutions to ride out the supply chain rollercoaster.

Talking numbers

The global foodservice supply chain represents more than $1 trillion in annual sales. The foodservice equipment market is about $37 billion, and the foodservice technology space is currently close to $500 million. “The times are tough but the effort is definitely rewarding. This is the time to retool and realign. Technology has taken the front seat in the industry and the landscape will change drastically once it has matured. So, now is the time that people plan on shifting from manpower industry to the tech-powered industry,” Kushang, Co-founder and CEO of SupplyNote commented.

The rapid response of food supply chains has underscored the importance of an open and predictable international trading environment, which allows firms to tap into new sources of supply when existing sources are compromised. Policymakers have also so far mostly avoided the mistakes made during the food price crisis of 2007-8, and have also taken a range of other steps which have helped ensure the continued functioning of food supply chains.

Food processing shortage

Covid-19 has led to disruptions in food processing industries, which have been affected by rules on social distancing, labour shortages due to sickness, and lockdown measures to contain the spread of the virus. In confined spaces such as packing plants for fruits and vegetables or meat processing facilities, necessary social distancing measures may reduce the efficiency of operations and there is a need to ensure adequate protection for employees. Many firms have also reported high rates of worker absences; for example, staff availability was reduced by up to 30 percent in the country.

Modes of transport have been affected

Bottlenecks in transport and logistics have disrupted the movement of products along supply chains. Broadly speaking, agricultural and food products are transported using three main modes of transport: bulk (ships and barges); containers (by boat, rail or truck) and other road transport; and air freight.

The impact of Covid-19 on these transport modes varies considerably. Bulk shipments have not seen any major disruptions, and prices for bulk freight are actually near multi-year lows. However, air freight has been severely disrupted. Global air cargo capacity was 26 percent lower than during the same period last year.

“Transport and logistics problems have thus been most pronounced for perishable high-value products, such as fruits and vegetables. The fruits and vegetable sector is also affected by quarantine measures and delays in border inspections (including as the number of import/export inspectors has fallen),” a spokesperson from Jyoti International Foods commented who have some of the prominent clients in the country including Chili’s, Yogen Früz, Auntie Anne's, Cinnabon, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks etc.

Time to invest more in R&D

The biggest areas of concern (and opportunity) include food safety, logistics, restaurant efficiency, and tech-enabled productivity enhancements. Around 20 percent of the foodservice equipment industry corresponds to quick-service restaurants, and this is the fastest-growing end-user category. Food distributors sales were down between 10 to 20 percent in 2020 due to Covid-19, presenting an opportunity for further consolidation. After a hurricane, many people sell their (damaged) property, and others come in to buy on the cheap and build bigger, stronger houses. That scenario leads to good business for contractors.

“It's true that Covid has changed the dynamics of the hospitality industry but if you take a deeper glance, there is a good analogy in the aftermath post-pandemic. The pandemic has led us to reframe our tools to strengthen the supply chain. A few possible steps to do the same is to broaden our reach and invest more in R&D, product, channel development and tech adoption. As the point now is how fast and effortlessly the product reaches our consumers, we need to be very smart in building and strengthening our supply chain,”  Aditi Handa, Head Baker and Co-Founder of The Baker's Dozen commented.

A great example to look at this is the US and its quick-service and fast-casual chains with drive-throughs, which have witnessed a good 50 to 70 percent of sales during this time.
There are a number of incumbents across the foodservice supply chain that have been entrenched in their place. However, the opportunity for disruption is growing significantly.

Investments will be pouring in from foodservice operators, investors, suppliers and technology companies. In the next few years, there will be massive market share shifts and new equipment categories (and other tech) that weren’t at trade shows five years ago, but operators will be beating down doors just to find.

The food equipment market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5% from 2019 to 2027, becoming worth 80 bn $, as per insights by Transparency Market Research.The accelerated growth of the market is driven by the availability of processing equipment in different designs, sizes, configurations; evolving demands of ever increasing population; increasing health consciousness among people; increasing consumption of processed and ready to eat food etc.

Further, the bakery processing equipment market, a significant part of the food equipment market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5% during 2020-2025, reaching the value of approximately USD 11.4 billion by 2025, as per a research report published by MarketsandMarkets. The significant growth is a result of the increasing consumption of bakery products across the globe. The report also predicted that the sheeters & moulders segment will probably grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

Challenges Facing Food Equipment Manufacturing Industry

With increasing consumer awareness about healthy food products, there has been an increase in demand for nutritive food items. Today, people are more concerned than ever about their food intake, which is a major challenge for food equipment manufacturers as well as food producers. Furthermore, preference for low carb diet which is good for metabolic health is another emerging trend among consumers.

In India, various government measures like 100% FDI under automatic route, food parks, government subsidies, tax breaks, modern retail structure, and strengthening supply-chain infrastructure have given a thrust to the industry's growth. However, irrespective of the growing demand for food equipment and other favourable measures, there are some stumbling blocks in the industry. Few of these challenges include transportation issues, storage constraints, lack of technologically updated equipment, and traditional production processes. The industry is also facing the challenge of increasing the production of or automating ethnic Indian snack items for a consistent, hygienic and high volume production without compromising the taste of the product.

Food Processing Equipment Industry in India

The Indian food processing equipment market is growing at a steady rate. For example, the Indian snacks market alone is expected to be worth more than INR 1 billion by the end of 2024, according to the Research and Markets report (2018-24).

The market is driven by the growing need to achieve food safety and fulfil the demand of its ever increasing population. According to Technova's quarterly update about the performance of food processing equipment industry, the food processing industry is growing consistently and is expected to grow further on account of increasing acceptance of processed food in the Indian market. The gross value of plant and machinery deployed in the food processing sector will likely reach USD 51.19 bn by 2024-25.

Measures for the Growth of the Food Equipment Industry

Currently, the food machinery segment is not covered within the ambit of MOFPI (Ministry of Food Processing Industry) and thus, there is no recognition accorded to this segment. Consequentially, it cannot avail the benefits of various policies of the government for food processing industry and without this the industry won’t be able to grow. Hence, it’s imperative that the government makes food processing an integral part of MOFPI for its due growth.

Moreover, the government must actively facilitate the Indian machinery industry comprising the food machinery in the global market. Efforts are also required for making technical collaborations and joint ventures for developed countries to enhance the availability of proven technology in India which is locally made, thus rendering the Capex more friendly. Additionally, an accelerated Depreciation Policy should be announced for food processors and equipment manufacturers which will in turn give a major boost to local food machinery industry. Also, the Indian food machinery industry must be heavily incentivised to help it grow and expand.

Summing Up!

Globalization of the food industry, evolving eating patterns and lifestyle changes have been the main reasons behind the increased production and distribution of food products globally. With the bourgeoning urban as well as young population, demand for ready to eat, processed food and convenience foods are set to increase in the coming years. Therefore, the food equipment manufacturers need to gear up by investing in the necessary infrastructure.

From free-range chicken to eating ethically is becoming more and more of a head-scratcher. Even for vegans, there are the questions of how sustainably agave was sourced, or whether environment-damaging pesticides were used to grow kale. For a slaughter-free spaghetti bolognese to a chicken burger where no chicken was harmed, food technology is turning science fiction into science facts, one innovation at a time.

Meat alternatives are not new. But a quiet revolution is also taking place in labs, where scientists are working to cultivate meat and seafood grown from cells, with the potential to reduce demand for industrial animal agriculture even further. Cultured meat involves directly culturing the same (or very similar) animal cells that make up conventional meat. Therefore, it is theoretically possible to create meat products completely indistinguishable from conventional meat, and without the need for slaughter.

Since the first cultured meat was produced back in 2013, it recently was seen all over the news when in December 2020, the industry received a major boost when Singapore became the first region in the world to grant regulatory approval for commercial sale of a cultured meat products by Eat Just. Many in the industry are hoping this will be the first of many approvals over the next few years, helping cultured meat transition from the prototype stage to consumer products.

Growing market trajectory

IDTechEx has recently released ‘Cultured Meat 2021-2041: Technologies, Markets, Forecasts’, a market research report exploring the technical and market factors that are shaping the emerging industry around cultured meat. The cultured meat industry has grown rapidly over the last five years. In 2016, there were only four companies in the industry, only one of which had developed anything close to a prototype. Now there are more than 40 companies across the world working to develop cultured meat, with dozens of prototype products having been demonstrated and tasted.

The growth of the industry has been reflected by a growth in investment, with the industry having raised close to a billion dollars in private funding since 2015. 2020 was a bumper year for the industry, with companies raising over $300 million.

In India, lab-grown meat may soon make its way to the plates. The Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), along with the National Research Centre on Meat (NCRM) are partnering to produce ‘ahimsa meat’ or slaughter-free meat – mutton and chicken that has been grown from stem cells, without animal rearing. It’s a significant move because India is one of the few countries in the world where the government is funding projects to develop lab meat.

India is tapping the market too

Ashwin Bhadri, CEO of Equinox Labs which is India's food, water and air testing lab, feels that right now, India is at a budding stage in the Alt meat market in terms of market size but there’s definitely potential there. “Positive positive impact on the environment, reduced animal cruelty and increased sustainability, will make cultured meat more popular in the coming years. The products will have to be according to the taste and texture of Indian consumers who prefer spicier, masala-based dishes. So it will certainly take some time to reach that potential,” he further commented. 

In 2050, the world’s population is going to be 10 billion and feeding this population with the current food system is impossible. Bill Gates in his book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster advocates for innovation in food technology and speaks of cultivated and plant-based meat.The technologies have the potential to make boneless slaughter free meat products like kheema or a chicken breast and even a fish fillet keeping in mind the Indian tastebuds. 

Challenges that can come as a hurdle

However, despite this optimism, the industry still faces some major challenges. It is very expensive to produce cultured meat and no company has yet been able to produce it on a commercial scale.

Rinku Madan, Food Stylist and Independent F&B Consultant commented that lab-grown meat may, in fact, worsen climate change. “Although it is expected to produce more CO2 than the more potent methane, CO2 takes much longer to dissipate,” she stated. 

Madan also feels that there won’t be an acceptance for genetically modified or cultured meat coming any time soon in India. “While cultured meat is trying to give consumers everything they love about meat in a more humane way, at the end of the day it is a genetically modified product. India has never shown an inclination to GMO staples like corn, brinjal, papaya etc. Most Millenials though might be a little more accepting considering the benefits cultured meat might have on the environment which would be a huge plus if its true,” she said. 

At a summit on the future of protein in 2018, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi had advised the CCMB to produce ahimsa meat on a commercial scale within the next 5 years. CCMB director Rakesh Mishra said the institute will develop technology to take the production process from lab-based to industrial levels – so it may reach consumers in India sooner than thought. 

Can India produce clean meat for masses?

But does India have enough infrastructure in terms of labs to curate its own cultured meat if demand arise? Answering the same, Bhadri commented, “The way things stand, India’s cold chain infra is splintered with 40 to 50 percent of food wastage. Only 33 percent of Indians own a refrigerator at home. Therefore, higher shelf life will be a necessity to expand the adoption and we must work towards extending the shelf life of alt meat products.” 

Moreover, as mentioned above, price remains a major hurdle to mass consumption at present according to Bhadri. The cost of lab-grown chicken is 3 to 4x more than that of an actual chicken. Innovation will be needed to bring the cost of lab-grown meat, on parity with actual meat rates.

Will we see clean meat in restaurant menus?

Restaurants in India till now have not tapped into this segment while many have already pushing mock meats into their menus. Bhadri anticipates that with India taking its baby steps in the space, agreeable Govt. regulations, increased interest of research and corporate bodies in product development, and willingness of the investors to encourage radical transformation will be critical to shape the ecosystem.

“Restaurants will need to invest heavily in tech and marketing. Taste, convenience and price will be the three pillars for widespread industry adoption and establishing a viable model to be built on these pillars will take time,” he commented. 

According to Madan, the Indian restaurant industry, just like the current mindset across the world, has similar sets of reservations about using lab-grown meat. “While cultured meat is deemed safe for human consumption, some questions remain about this type of meat. For instance, some people may have a perception that lab-grown meat is not natural, which may be similar to people’s concerns about genetically modified (GM) foods. Also, the lack of bone and fat in lab-grown meat may compromise the taste of the dish to the consumers,” she said.

Many well-known restaurateurs like the James Beard awardee Dan Barber, say that they don’t see themselves serving ‘lab-grown meat’. According to them, they don’t see the appeal in serving cultured meat.  It also ignores the correspondence between gastronomy and agriculture. 

In India there may also be cultural and social factors that will need to be addressed for this to be socially acceptable. But considering the global wave about cultured or clean meat, it is time India begins this dialogue.

One of the fastest growing economies in the world and a sourcing hub for agricultural products, India has the advantage of a huge domestic market and raw material. There has been a phenomenal growth in the size of the food processing market due to reasons of change in consumption patterns, increasing urbanization, alterations in the gender composition of the workforce, and rising consumption rates. In addition, over two-thirds of the country’s population is young with rising incomes which has in turn created a large market for food products.

There has been a significant development of the production, manufacturing, processing, distribution and marketing of food products. On top of this, diets and taste changes because of reasons such as prices, size of disposable income, individual preferences, globalization etc. This has fuelled the growth and acceptance of packaged/processed foods by Indian consumers.

Also Read: Healthy Snacking is changing the face of snacking in India

Market Insights

A well-known fact is that many of the domestic and multinational companies are anticipating profits from the upwards trajectory of the confectionery industry in India. The Food and Beverage (F&B) services industry has been a thriving business sector with an exponential growth in the recent past and is poised to develop even more in the times to come. The food automation market is likely to hit $12.50 billion by 2027, a rise at the rate of 7.10 percent.

The Indian food processing segment is also undergoing a significant growth cycle with multinational companies cementing their position and presence within the Indian market. The robust macro-economic indicators and strong policies have led to an incredible increase in foreign investments and collaborations in the past few years. In the period between April 2000 and June 2017, the food processing industry in India received FDI to the tune of $7.81 billion, rendering it the 13th largest sector receiving FDI in the country.

The industry is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5% up to financial year 2023 to touch a value of Rs. 15,971.9 billion. Rising foreign investments and collaborations in the food processing segment of India signal an increase in the food and confectionery items that are being offered by global MNCs as well as domestic companies. The anticipated growth rate demonstrates that the segment has a massive growth potential and will go on to add to the development of the Indian economy.

Key Growth Drivers and Deterrents of the Industry

India is witnessing a rise in the population coupled with increasing urbanisation that has given a huge boost to the food industry. The fast-paced lifestyle and back-breaking schedules have made it difficult to maintain an adequate work-life balance for the consumer. As lifestyle diseases like hypertension, diabetes and heart ailments rise due to the sedentary lifestyle, people have started making the switch to healthy foods. Now consumers are steered towards demanding products that are highly nutritious and keep illnesses at bay, and they want these to be convenient to procure.

May Interest: Cross Border Kitchens Launches All-Day Snack Menu under its brand Chutney India

In light of these changing consumer patterns, responsible and ethical food processing is the need of the hour. Hence, packaged products like ready-to-eat foods, intermediary food items and frozen food items are fast gaining popularity. People working from home are especially raising the demand for confectionery items such as chocolates, raw pastes, and various such products. Due to the global health concerns surrounding COVID-19, the consumption of snacks has increased dramatically.

Since every household earns a two-fold income, there is a larger share of disposable income which people are spending on quick snacks. The new found mall culture and metropolitan lifestyles are further pushing higher-customer spending. In addition, the practice of farm to table is hitting the trending list. Millet cereal's meal recipes are now making their way into imaginative cuisine. The largest development in the food industry is bulk food. Since they are known to be really good for health and cut down on carbohydrates removing gluten, their significance is increasing.

However, the industry does face certain hindrances to its growth. It suffers from low availability of raw materials as certain crops are seasonal and cause delay in the whole process. Farmers require the capital for equipment and fertilizers to improve the quality of their produce. In many cases, there is a lack of storage infrastructure, which results in food wastage and loss. There is poor connectivity of certain rural areas with locations where food processing units are situated. As a result, the produce takes a lot of time to reach these units, again leading to a lot of wastage. Lastly, there is a dire need to adopt technology as much of the produce is inspected manually, and farmers lag behind in the competition with the global market.

From Engineers to marketing professionals and now an entrepreneur. What was the whole idea behind Happy Nature?

Our educational background has had a very big impact on who we are and how we function. At a micro level we might not seem to be using a lot of the subject knowledge however at a macro level we have been highly influenced with the aspects of efficient resource utilisation, people management, operational efficiency and consumer behaviour, all of which have been part of whatever we have learnt.

Post our education, we started working as management consultants. We were based out of different parts of the world when we conceptualized Happy Nature. Our work taught us to be more research oriented and extensive in our background study and we did exactly that. We spent almost a year discussing various ideas and finally figured that 60% milk produced in India is not up to the acceptable standards and is definitely something we should address and went ahead with our initial idea of starting Happy Moo which was a premium milk delivery service. As we grew we realised the potential of our service in terms of other products that can be added onto the portfolio and we started moving towards the concept of a Breakfast Basket and changed the branding to Happy Nature.

Happy Nature stands to serve daily consumable products which are healthy and nutritious in a cheat-free manner.  

We see that there is a sudden rise in farm-fresh-milk and people are ready to spend few extra pennies on it. Why such growth?

For almost all services / products in the country, there are several buying options available ranging from budget friendly to premium. However, milk was a product where there was no differentiation and almost everyone was using one (or one kind of) milk. This gap is being plugged in by the premium milk brand players who are offering a superior milk product with several USPs that make the product stand apart from the commercial brands.

Who are your regular customers?

Our regular customers are health & family conscious individuals who care about what they consume on a daily basis and are concerned for their family’s health and well-being.

What is the range of your products?

Our portfolio consists of products ranging from dairy (cow’s milk, paneer, cheese, ghee & curd) to bakery (fresh breads, kulchas, loaves) to premium eggs, natural honey and hydroponic salad leaves

Are you also supplying to hotels and restaurants.

We feel there is a huge potential in the hotels and restaurants industry for our products given the premium quality of our products and in turn the impact it will have on the final product being served. We are keen to explore this option and look forward to working on it in the next quarter. We want to target the gourmet cloud based kitchens to begin with who pride themselves on the quality of ingredients and we will see from there how this model is working for us. 

Who do you see as your competitor in the market?

We feel the premium milk market is too nascent right now to identify competitors. There is a lot of potential for growth as the milk market is massive. We look at our peers as collaborators rather than competitors.

With Covid-19 pandemic, everyone is looking at more healthier and hygiene way of lifestyle. What are some of the measures you have adopted to stay true to it?

Fortunately for us, our practices were such that we were always extensively focused on hygiene and health at every stage of the supply chain. So for us, there has not been a major shift in terms of practices since are readiness quotient was very high to begin with, however some additional checks are being conducted at both the manufacturing and delivery level which ensure that what the customer receives is pure, healthy, safe & hygienic.

How are you working on the supply side as you have eliminated the middlemen?

We look at strong partner tie-ups. Extensive quality control parameters are built into our partnerships and most importantly we look at not just the products / processes but also the vision of our partners. For us the vision of our partners needs to be aligned with our goal of being honest with our brand and products. 

What is your expansion plan?

We are looking to cover the entirety of Delhi-NCR by the end of 2020. We are on the lookout for partnerships and also marketing opportunities for organic growth. There are also talks of moving into regions outside Delhi- NCR and eventually lead up to become a national brand.

Tell us about the journey of Borges in India?

Borges India was set up as a 100 per cent subsidiary under the Borges International Group headquartered in Spain which today has a turnover of about Billion USD. Borges Group operates in over 100 countries spread across 5 continents. Started by the Pont family in 1896 the group enjoys a strong brand lineage. As the largest exporter of branded Olive Oil from Spain, it has distribution centers in US, France, Russia, Brazil and Australia among others. Borges India came into inception in the year 2009 and commenced commercial operation is 2010. In the six years of operation, Borges India has crossed 10 million Euros turnover and has turned profitable. Borges started with the launch of olive oil and today, has a portfolio of products ranging from olive oils to pastas, Pasta Sauces to Seed oils, Table olives to California Range of nuts.

As you believe in providing health and nutrition to Indians. How do you see the market for it?

Health and nutrition is a fast growing category in India today. With a sedentary lifestyle and the growth of lifestyle related ailments like diabetes, hyper tension, heart disorders, urban Indians have become cautious about their daily intake. Not only are they monitoring their daily intake but also, are on the lookout for healthier replacements. This trend can be seen across categories from beverages, snacks, grains to edible oils. Green Tea, mueslis, whole wheat grains, soya snacks and oats are some of the examples of the healthy products which have caught the attention of many. We realized that the Indian consumer was on a look out for olive oil which was not only healthy but also matched the taste & style of Indian cooking. That is when we launched our Extra Light Olive Oil, an olive oil which involved no chemical extraction and was ideal for all kinds of Indian cooking. Since then we have been known to be the pioneers of olive oil in India and till today command 80% share in the Extra Light category.

What are some of the products you are offering?

As a Mediterranean food specialist the company’s range of successful products spans across product categories which include Olive Oils, Pastas, Table Olives, Seed Oils California Range of Nuts, Pasta Sauces & Popcorns. We have recently launched California Pistachios, Almonds and in shell walnuts within our California nuts category and also, new variants in the stuffed olives category including the likes of Jalapeno, Lemon and Pepper stuffed Green Olives. With the same intent of introducing more healthy offerings, we plan to launch new products in multiple categories.

What is your view on the food policies and safety in India?

Under the Ministry of health & family welfare, the Food Safety and Standards authority of India (FSSAI) monitors the quality and safety of food products and over the years there have been many developments whether it has been with respect to introducing new rules for importing products, addressing the concerns of sub-standard items and simplifying the process by setting shelf-life norms and relaxing labelling guidelines. Going forward the adoption of international standards like Codex in multiple product categories will help bringing uniformity with the quality standards being adhered across the world.

Who is your target audience?

Since, we operate in multiple product categories, our target consumer differ from category to category. For pasta & pop corn it might be kids & young adults looking for snacking opportunities while for olive oil and nuts, it might be families or singles on the outlook for healthy products and replacements. But since all our products are imported, our target audience essentially is the SEC A & A+, male & female in the age-group of 24-60, educated and well-travelled, willing to try out new products.

What is your market presence (cities, retail tie-ups and networks)?

Currently, we are present in about 52 towns and cities across India. Our major chunk of business comes from modern trade approx. 65 per cent and rest of it from traditional trade, HORECA, CSD and online E-commerce platforms like Amazon, Snapdeal etc. We have our own sales force of about 150 odd people across India and distribution and logistics partners across all these towns and cities.

Going forward what is your expansion plan?

In the coming 4–5 years, Borges India plans to triple its turnover from 10 mn Euros to about 30 mn Euros. With many new categories being launched like California Range of Nuts- Almonds, Pistachios and walnuts and many others under the planning process, we are sure to bring out many new healthy offerings for our consumers. 

What made you leave behind your glamorous career and enter your fathers’ food business?

I wanted to be an Entrepreneur even before I could pronounce the word. As a child I’ve always wanted to make Zorabian Chicken the largest in India. I went to the US to do my MBA so that I could work on making my dream come true. Acting was a co incidence. I loved performing and being on stage ever since I was eight years old. However, I never thought of it as a career choice. After giving birth to my second child, I decided to build on my Father’s legacy of being Mumbai’s most premium quality chicken producer with passion and commitment. However, that doesn’t mean I’ve decided to entirely leave my acting career behind. In fact I just did a play - Dinner with Friends which is a Pulitzer Award Winning Play - directed by Feroz Khan. It all depends on the script and the amount of hours I need to put in because besides being an entrepreneur, I’m also a mother of two gorgeous kids who also need my attention.

You were the one who made Zorabian Chicken available at top retail outlets. What were the challenges faced?

With Zorabian being such a respected brand in the wholesale space in Mumbai, to start a retail brand and watch the brand go from Mumbai to Pan India has been a dream for both my father and me. Even though my father is respected in the poultry industry, the journey has been challenging and intense. I handled the distribution and all the infrastructural and marketing changes that came with going retail, like expanding delivery services.

Meanwhile it has been very challenging to grow a brand without compromising on the quality of the products as we maintain very high standards when it comes to quality but, what’s amazing is that we’ve managed to grow a brand pan India and also excelled at it. Standardisation of protocols was extremely challenging, but it made the process of expansion easier.

How is the company growing? What new can we see from your end in coming years?

The company is growing rapidly in the retail space. Our Vision and ability is helping us grow and be number one in quality and convenience as well. We want to be the most trusted brand when it comes to Health and Food Safety. We definitely have plans to expand our Ready to cook range. Since, we have a pan India presence, our next step will be to take our products International.

I also have plans to set up a chain of Zorabian QSRs that not only sell our products, but also create various recipes with our products to maximise on our culinary experience.

Setting up a processed food business is challenging in India. How are you managing the supply chain process?

We have our own distribution in Mumbai so everything is in our hands. We had to develop a partner network Pan India and work with them.

Your brand is known for its quality. What are some of the ways you always adhere to while coming up with best products?

At Zorabian - We pride ourselves on having highest quality and safety Standards. Our products enjoy a reputation of being safe and healthy owing to the fact that we do not use preservatives and antibiotics.Our objective is to provide quality chicken that is safe for customers. We have our own farm, which means we have complete control of our products, right from breeding to packaging. We also practice contract farming which keeps a check on the production process ensuring everything is as per our standards. We believe in an All Natural Diet because we do NOT use heavy Antibiotics and other preventives in our feed.

Talking about your retail presence. How does it look like (distribution channel, cities, stores present)?

We have a Pan India Footprint with a strong presence in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Goa, Gujarat, Bhopal and Chandigarh. Our retail products are available at all leading modern retail trade Institutions like Natures Basket, Food Hall, Gourmet West, Hypercity, Star Bazaar, Big Bazaar, Aditya More and Spars. We also take great pride in associating with prestigious and quality conscious and committed Institutions like Degustibus, Allied Catering, The obroma, InterContenintal, and HyperCity amongst a host of others.

These days there are many brands under the category you are operating. How do you overcome the growing competition?

Zorabians retail brand has been created on three strong pillars - Quality, Convenience and Reliability. We have our own farms which allow us to keep a check on the entire production process. We do not mix weight gainers in our feed, which also ensures zero contamination and it means that our chicken in less fatty. We are educating our customers on what sets us apart and what it is that we do differently and that has really helped us create a solid loyal following of customers.

How about entering e-Commerce space?

We are available on various leading platforms like Natures Basket, Big Basket, Frozone, Grofers to name a few. It offers consumers convenience of having products delivered at their doorstep and it has been working very well for us.

How have you priced your products taking in mind the target audience?

We provide high quality products at affordable prices. Why should good quality be unaffordable?

When did you start Choudhery cheese Bazar?

Choudhery Cheese Bazar was started by our Chairman, Mr. Sushil Choudhery, during 1986.

What are the product categories?

We are serving a wide variety of cheese, cottage cheese and other cheese products.

How do you decide on pricing?

Pricing is decided depending upon the climate and availability of milk & other ingredients etc.

From where did you source the raw material?

We source the raw materials partly from Haryana and U.P.

Are you also supplying to Restaurants and Hotels? Name some?

Yes. We have been supplying to many Hotels and Restaurants like The Surya, The Taj Group of Hotels, Sky Chef etc.

What about your retail presence?

Yes, we are starting retail presence in Delhi at about 800 Retail Outlets. We have also tied up with Spencer’s Retails Limited at 5 locations and 180 Retail Outlets of Easyday.

Where do you sit in terms of Revenue?

We do not disclose Revenue generation as a company policy.

What is the expansion plan?

We have an ambitious expansion plan as presently we are making only Cheese but are now focusing on Futuristic products and are going to introduce Butter, Ghee, Paneer, Permeate Powder, Dahi Paneer and Whey Protein Powders etc.

How many cities you are present? Are you also exporting to other countries?

We are present in major cities all over India and are planning to go more interior in small stations. Our export branch is opening up in next six months.

What is the growing challenge in the business?

Milk scarcity and increasing trend of raw material prices are the growing challenge & threat.

How is your cheese different from others?

We use very premium quality of cow/buffalo milk. We have dedicated team to source rich quality of milk and, therefore, our cheese is different from others. We have ISO HACCP Certified Plant and all ingredients we use in our cheese products are very rich in nature. We don’t compromise on quality as our company’s motto is offering quality and not quantity.

What was the idea behind starting Nature’s Hut?

I started Nature’s Hut in 2008. We are making our products from fresh ingredients and we don’t preserve the raw materials. We use chemical free raw materials. We supply the raw materials from Kandi forest area, the unit we have in Himachal belt.

What is the product range?

We have some exclusive products like fruit barfi. The concept is that the traditional sweet has khoya, sugar, ghee and oil and it all have adulteration and we are making sweets without all these ingredients. And, our barfi is made up of fruit pulp, almonds and brown sugar which have a shelf life of four months. Apart from that we have some natural anti-oxidants, unique teas from amla, crushes. We are organic certified. We have apple cidar vinegar, jamun cidar which is different from other cidar because we are making it from fruit juices and not extracts.

What is your market presence?

We are not commercial; instead we are selling products through our retail outlets. We have 25 outlets, 14 in Himachal, 4 in Uttrakhand and 6 in Rajasthan.

Who are your target customers?

We are targeting upper middle class crowd. We are not focusing on masses because our product is a high end product. We give small quantity with high quality. For ex: we make sweet lime pickle and if you taste that pickle you will find that it has many herbs and it solves every digestive problems. So, with people we are selling the finest products and that’s why the rates are not competitive. Our client is happy with the product and the reputation is very good.

Which are the places we can find you?

We are selling at tourist places only. We are not selling at plane areas. We will cover entire India tourist places. By 2020 we will open 250 outlets at these locations.

What is your expansion plan?

We are working on a strategy to cover tourist places first and we will cross 250 stores by the end of 2020 that time we will approach Hyper city, Big Bazaar and more in metro cities to provide us a space to open our brand. The rental is very high at these markets and that way it’s not possible to cover the ROI that we get presently.

We are also working on some good products. Gluten free products and good quality wine.

What is the average footfall at your outlets?

Foodtfall depends on area to area and season to season. This is a tourist season so we are getting around 80-100 footfall at a single outlet daily.

Do you have any franchise outlet? What is the average cost for a franchise outlet?

We are company owned outlets. It costs around Rs 15-20 lakh on an average to own our outlets.

Where is the manufacturing unit located? Which is the top selling product?

We are having two manufacturing unit- Talwara and Patiala. Barfi is the highest selling product. 

Tell us something about your company? When did you planned to venture into eggless bakery business?

We started with the bakery showroom in June 2014 in Jalandhar with complete range of 100 % eggless bakery products such as cakes, cookies, dry cakes and Biscuits. We have received overwhelming response because of our focus on everything EGGLESS. Sensing the Gap in eggless cookies market on pan India level we launched our cookies packed in attractive boxes. Our cookies come in 11 different flavors in the pack size of 75 grams, 200 grams and 400 grams.

How do you decide pricing for the Indian market?

We believe that the customers are willing to pay for high quality product, which is also made hygienically. Our products are manufactured using premium quality raw ingredients in our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. Our pricing also reflectsthe competitive landscapeand prices of other large FMCG companies in India.

Since the products are very innovative, we feel there is less or no competition for our products as we are seeingtremendous growth in our sales month on month.

From where do you source the products?

Our cookies are manufactured 100% in house. Majority of our raw material and packaging material is sourced locally. However we also use best available imported ingredients in our recipe.

What is the supply chain process at your end?

Our process is to appoint super stockiest in a state and together develop distribution network across the state. At present our super stockist are managing a network of 11 distributors across North India and our distributors supply to over 600 premium retailers across 5 states.

Are you also supplying your products to other restaurants and hotels?

We are currently supplying to Radisson Windsor in Jalandhar and Country Inn hotel in Jalandhar & Amritsar. They use our cookies in mini bars and as part of welcome kit in hotel rooms. In addition our premium cookies are served with hot beverages.

What are your branding, marketing and expansion activities?

Our vision is to set up a pan India distribution network for our 100% eggless bakery products specially packaged cookies. We plan to aggressively add more distributors in North India and plan to launch our products in west and south India by end of this year. We currently advertise in PVR, Print advisement, Radio, food magazines, social media, in store promotion material such danglers, posters and much more.

We are currently selling our products at Super market chains such as WH Smith store, Spenser’s store, Hyper city and Big basket. We are in discussion with super market chains to launch our cookies across India. We do plan to get into export of our cookies later this year. We are also looking to give out franchisee for our retail format of Bakery showrooms in North India.

Talking about innovation of the products. How often do you innovate them?

We have carefully researched Indian as well as international recipes for bakery products and innovated recipe for making handmade cookies. In addition we firmly believe that quality of the packaging has to be as good as the product itself. So, we focus on developing world-class packaging using contemporary Indian design aesthetics. I usually travel internationally for work and observe what’s happening around the world and try to innovate the product keeping in mind Indian palate 

Tell us about your business in FMCG?

We are 100 per cent exporters poised to give quality. We have over 2000 FMCG products. We are trying to give the same quality in India that we are exporting to the international market. Our focus is on food because people today are more conscious about their health. What they are eating is adulterated or not. So, they know the quality, they know the pricing. We are trying to give value for money products.

What made you enter into the FMCG business?

There are lots of issues arriving in last few years. Some of the MNCs are having problems in quality products and we saw something negative in the quality. So, to cater to the quality we entered into the business. We work on the principle of quality.

What is the supply chain process?

We are basically running on three formats, general distribution- we have launched 100 plus products, for retail stores Marya Day is opening its own retail stores. Meanwhile, we also supply to restaurants and hotels into institutional sale.

How many outlets you are planning?

The first outlet is opening on 5^th of June. We are opening three stores in Bareilly, one each in Moradabad and Aligarh. So, we are opening first five on the same date. And, we are already targeting 100 outlets by end of 2016.

What is the contribution of food in your overall business?

We are getting around 72 per cent of business from food only.

What is your focused food category?

We are selling mustard oil- pure kacchi ghani, salt, iodine salt, noodles, snacks, spices amongst others and that will be our focus for this year.

Where is manufacturing unit located?

We have different plants around India- we are having plants at Bareilly wherein we are manufacturing bakery, confectionery, atta, snacks, and spices plant is in Noida. We have two metric tonne of spices production daily, we produce around 6000 litres juices per day, and we have around 150 litres of mustard oil and 300 kg of noodles production daily.

What is your view on FSSAI law?

FSSAI law is very apt. If government has set some standard manufacturers should follow it in order to deliver quality products.

How about your market presence? What is expansion plan going forward?

We are present in 19 states in India. We are exporting to Middle East, Africa, America and other global markets. We are targeting rest part of India, Africa.

Fieldfresh Foods, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Del Monte Pacific, has enhanced maternity benefits from twelve to 22 weeks.

As per the new policy, maternity leave for women employees has been increased from 12 weeks to 22 weeks. Fieldfresh office at Gurgaon will also provide day care facility for small children to ensure smooth transition to full working hours and convenience for new mothers, a company statement said.

"As an organisation, we care for people and the enhanced maternity and paternity leave is only a natural progression to being a great place to work for. With very matured and women focused HR policies, we aim to bring in a lot of commitment to promoting gender diversity across all levels of the organisation," shared Dolly Grover, CHRO, FieldFresh Foods.

To provide fair assessment, the rating of the employee for the year will based on the employee's performance and contribution during the period she was working, the statement said, adding that male employees would now get 5 working days as paternity leave instead of 3 working days.

In case of adoption, if the adopted child's age is less than 2 years, women employees can avail 12-week leave and if the child is above 2 years then it can go up to 6 weeks, it added.

The 31st edition of Aahar International Food & Hospitality Fair, showcases the foray of all new products by Cremica Food Industries for retail and food service.

Cremica Food Industries has always been at the forefront of innovation including launching India’s first Vegetarian Mayonnaise, as well as Opera crisps which was India’s first cottage style potato crisps.

“We are delighted to be a part of Aahar as it helps us grow as a brand and reach out to our target group. We also look forward to welcoming Industry professionals to showcase game changing innovations that will shape the future of Food Services in India,” shared Akshay Bector, CMD, Cremica Food Industries Ltd.

Over the years, Cremica has created a name for its wide range of products in sauces, mayonnaise, chutneys, dessert toppings and ready-to-eat segments and is all set to launch new range of Premium Condiments at the fair.

Cremica will showcase its products starting with Desi Express in the ready to cook segment which brings the benefit of standardized quality, consistent tastes and flavours to its hospitality partners, with the added advantage of saving time in the kitchen as well.

The product range includes flavours such as Makhani Masala, Rozana Masala, Chana Masala, Rajma Masala, Subz Masala and Roganjosh Masala and the best quality of its ingredients to ensure flavours that are natural and closely replicate the taste is what makes the brand stand out in its industry.

The classic French fries have been one of the staple foods, and a perfect snack for quick bites. With uniformly cut potato fingers, and a packet of ketchup-y goodness to accompany, Cremica French Fries brings you one of the most satisfying snack experiences. Their epic flavour assures that each bite is as good as your favourite fast food treat.

The brand will also showcase their assortment of Opera Chips in the light snack section. These crisps offer a gourmet chomp with their distinct thinness, perfect taste of inimitable flavours and added crunchiness. The four distinct flavours include - Peri Peri, Cheese Jalapeno, Italian Herbs and Salt & Black Pepper which are the perfect amalgam of classic preparation, select ingredients, and utmost quality. What sets these crisps apart from the usual is that they are hand-made and prepared with personalized attention and a unique cooking style that retains their complex taste and texture.

Cremica’s Great Serve range which includes mayonnaise, cheese & black pepper sandwich mayonnaise, honey mustard sauce & dip will also be a part of the product range at the fair for the food service sector. The B2B customers can also avail exciting offers on bulk purchases, apart from special discounts to visitors who buy products at the fair.

With growing food processing as the major sector in Indian economy, Swedish companies which are into manufacturing are bullish on India and see the country as a major investment destination as well as an important hub for exports.

According to the business climate survey conducted by Swedish Chamber of Commerce India, about 70 per cent of the Swedish companies see India as a major exports hub, reported PTI.

"This is against only 30 per cent of the companies expressing such sentiment last year," it said.

Swedish companies have been present in India for decades and have helped generate 1.60 lakh direct jobs in the country.

Companies like ABB, Atlas Copco, Camfil, Ericsson, IKEA, SAAB, Sandvik, Scania, SKF, Tetra Pak, Volvo have substantial presence in the country.

"The companies also feel that for India to truly take its place in the global value chain, there are key reforms that need to materialise," it added.

The survey is based on the experience of 141 Swedish companies doing business in India from sectors like engineering products, IT/telecom, fashion and lifestyle, healthcare, automotive, services and defence.

As per the survey, the National Capital Region (NCR), Maharashtra and Karnataka form the major hub for Swedish companies.

"About 90 per cent indicate that they will focus their investments in states they are already present in while 30 per cent are looking to expand into 3 new states - Tamil Nadu (10 companies), Rajasthan (8) and Gujarat (6)," it added.

"Last year, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and AP/Telangana were the top states," the survey said.

Maharashtra continued to be a very important hub for Swedish businesses, with one out of 3 companies having their head office in the state, while most manufacturing companies have some presence.

Companies have chosen Maharashtra mainly because of the strategic location for imports and exports and proximity to strategic business partners, it reasoned.

"Swedish companies in India have a positive business sentiment in doing business here despite a slightly lower figure compared to last year. They continue to invest and expand their manufacturing and operations," Fredrika Ornbrant, Consul General of Sweden, Mumbai, said.

The survey has been conducted by Swedish Chamber of Commerce India, in partnership with the Embassy of Sweden, Consulate General in Mumbai, and Business Sweden.

What inspired you launch Fortune Vivo?

Observing that India is diabetes capital in the world we thought that the people of the country should be availed with diabetes-care oil which will help them to control blood sugar levels.  Also, our success with rice brand in the last couple of years gave us the confidence that in India we could actually promote oils on the health platforms.

What are the health benefits of India’s first diabetes-care edible oil?

The oil has been developed through rigorous R&D and is clinically proven to regulate blood sugar levels. It’s the right blend with right amount of anti oxidants for controlling diabetes. It has the goodness of rice brand oil and the goodness of sesame oil combined in the right proportion and our research has shown that it helps patient in keeping diabetes in check. Also this oil will be in the HORECA.

What investment has been done to bring this product in market?

It is difficult for me to put the numbers but wherever we feel there is a space available we try and plug it. We have not earmarked fund for further spending but we will not shy away from spending because the product will be the winner for long haul.

How will you market and promote the brand?

The product will be supplied across our pan India retailers, hotels and restaurants across the country through our own channels.  It will also be promoted through chefs.

There will be one liter pouches and five liter packs. If the market forces demand then certainly we would react with launching smaller packs too. Our reaction will be based on the feedback which we will get from the market. Presently our production capacity is of 50,000 tons of oil per annum. In edible oil our volume and turnover both is huge so AMP keeps changing.

What is the shift that you are looking in edible oil segment?

While branded edible oil segment is growing well, it is going through loose to pack conversion happening by 30 to 40 percent per annum and the growth is definitely there.

What is the contribution of branded edible oil to the overall growth?

Branded oil is contributing around 60 percent growth to the category. Since last year the category has grown by 30 to 40 percent. In rural part the aspiration level for branded oil is much higher than the urban area.

Which are some of the other opportunities you are looking at in non-oil segment?

After basmati rice we are looking at our footprint in staple side because we feel there is lot of space available in that space. There is no pan India company operating in staple space and we feel we have a winner in brand Fortune. The Indian consumers trust the brand because we have been consistent in terms of quality, our practices and we feel we can have brand expansion and can actually enlarge our presence in the household kitchen, the housewives trust us. Not everyone knows that we are in besan and basmati rice, so there is a huge space available to expand those businesses with Indian consumer is becoming more and more discerning and quality conscious.

Brief us about your product?

Vini’s sauces is a brand that caters fresh sauces market segment. We make fresh pizza, pasta and other sauces without using any preservatives.

Currently, we have 14 kinds of sauces in our product line. We started with four flavours in 2013 and today we have expanded to 14. Our products include six types of red and white pasta sauce, basil pine nut pesto, salsa and mango salsa, hummus and periperi hummus and Greek dips.

From where do you source the products?

All our products are self-made, under my supervision.

What is the major challenge you faced in retailing?

Distribution is the biggest challenge for today. As a product is made fresh and there is no added preservative, it has a shorter shelf life. Distribution needs to be done in a day or so, making the sauces and delivery to be under controlled temperature conditions. Currently, I have a delivery system that is made in the morning and sent out in next 24 hours.

How do you decide pricing for the Indian market?

Pricing is very subjective and has nothing to do with the cost of making the product. It is more of a perceived value. In our case, the price of ingredients are fluctuating based on season and produce in a particular season. We absorb these fluctuations and not let the customer feel the heat. While our end product is an artisan product–hand made at a smaller scale, our pricing is more for the masses. We want masses to taste global flavours at prices that are easy on the pocket and they don’t have to think twice before spending on our products.

What do you do to ensure the quality of food going out to the customer?

I am 200 per cent involved in the manufacturing process, so I ensure all is being done to maintain the quality and taste of the product. I also believe that a good product can only be made if the base ingredients are of great quality. When we started, I myself use to go and pick up the best ingredients from the market. Now, we have tie ups with vendors who provide us with the best vegetables and herbs.

You also supply to restaurants and hotels. Please name some?

There are restaurants like Hungry Lion, which uses our Pizza Sauce. A café called Tea Brew, which uses hummus. It is supplied to Big Basket also.

What is your expansion plans?

Currently, we are only looking for organic growth. Our USP is “Fresh no preservatives” product, we do not want to get into industrial scale production yet. We are still working on how to expand without losing the “Fresh“ tag on our product line. May be in next couple of years, we will look at expansion by franchising to other metros.

What’s the source of funding? Are you looking for any investment or fund raising any time soon?

At present, we are self funded and looking for more funds, once we are ready for expansion in two years.

Brief us about your product?

The product range includes idly and dosa batter of one and two kg parotas, which include Malabar and whole wheat parota and whole wheat chapati. All these are made from fresh ingredients and absolutely no chemicals or preservatives for people to enjoy healthy, traditional home-style food, just the way they make it at home.

From where do you source the products?

All ingredients, raw materials that go into making our products are of premium quality. It’s sourced from across the country and from trusted partners who have been with us for long.

What is the major challenge you faced in retailing?

Like other FMCG brands, retailing is very crucial for us. Our products are replenished on an every-day basis to retain the freshness and reach the consumer.

The major challenges we face are in making the product visible amongst the clutter and the actual available physical space at stores and chillers. To maintain our quality, it is very important for us that our products be stored in proper chillers with the right temperature. Another challenge is to ensure that fresh products reach the stores every day. The logistics and the sheer traffic on Indian roads today is one of the biggest challenges we face every day.

What do you do to ensure the quality of food going out to the customer?

iD follows good manufacturing practices and uses state of art equipment’s. All food products are prepared in ultra-hygienic factories. The products are tested by the management before it goes to the market. And as mentioned above, we replenish our stock at the retail store almost every single day.

How do you decide pricing for the Indian market?

Pricing decisions are based on the category we operate in and a balance between internal costs and what customers are willing to pay.

You also supply to restaurants and hotels. Please name some?

Yes, we do cater to restaurants and hotels. There are a large number across the country, which ranges from super premium locations to mass Darshini kind of outlets.

What is the supply chain process at your end?

We have a cohesive and seamless supply chain process. All products are made fresh and sent to the market on the same day. We start our supply in the morning around 4am and see that they reach shelves at stores latest by 12 noon to maintain freshness.

Since the products are highly perishable, our team visit’s each store every day. We work on a zero inventory model, where the products are discarded post the shelf life.

What are your expansion plans?

We are planning to diversify in many cities primarily in south and the UAE. Also, new dishes like idly rava batter, vada batter and value added dairy products would be introduced.

What’s the source of funding? Are you looking for any investment or fund raising any time soon?

Funding is needed for expansion to newer territories, marketing and investment in new plants. We are in the process of evaluating various options that’s available.

Started in 2001 in Pune, is one of the market leader in Indian Pickles industry. And, as it sits on profit today, the group has now decided to enter into food business services. Selling a varied product range of Pickles, Condiments, Blended Spices, Papads, Appalams, Curry Pastes, Curry Powders, Ready to Cook Spice Mixes, Ready to Eat meals, traditional Chutneys-Mango Chutneys, Ethnic Chutneys, Canned Vegetables and Mango Pulp, the brand is all set to hit the online presence.

Where does the brand sits today?

Sitting at an annual turnover of more than 200 crores, the brand has entered the double digit growth in only 10-12 years. They have maintain a consistency by keep on adding new products like ready to cook products, cooking paste, instant mixes, traditional chutneys in the range. In cooking paste range we have added onion paste, tomato paste to it.

Mother’s Recipe has three verticals, in modern trade outlets- “we are the market leaders in all the categories. We are strong in modern trade business and planning to expand in west, Pune, Delhi, Bombay,” shared P. Rajan Mathews, VP, Mother’s Recipe.

Strong distribution network

Sharing more on the distribution network, Matthew shares, we have 150,000 retail outlets covered by 500 distributors across the country. They cater in diverse formats ranging from Mom & Pop Stores (General Trade), Modern trade outlets, Multi-functional outlets, Cash & Carry outlets, Fruit & Vegetable stores, Defense Canteens, Police Canteens, Indian Army and to HORECA. They have 25 plus market share in all the categories. In normal retail, they have two lakh outlets, 600 distributors. This is the reach to the retail customers.

The products are made from natural ingredients- fresh ingredients. While, other brands use the dehydrated products as the dry products have larger shelf life and Mother Recipe products have gravy which remains for long time. And that is the consistency in their product and they even don’t add any preservatives.

As there is so much competition in the market but when the consumers buy the product they understand the difference. For instance, “in ginger garlic paste we use chopped one unlike other brands which contains water in it. Then they can understand better” said P. Rajan Mathews, Vice President at Mother’s Recipe.

“Many a times it is disadvantage for us but we stick to the quality of the product. But our main aim is to provide our customers with quality products made with the best quality ingredients that meet market demands. We are committed to provide customer satisfaction and believe in continuous improvement”, he added.

The main target is to reach to the correct customers on time. They also ensure the best product as the target customers are domestic households.

Major challenge

In India the cuisine has different form according to the range and region, similarly every region has its own taste for instance north Indian people want north Indian pickle, and Maharashtra people need Maharashtra pickle. Every region has different taste. Thus, the main challenge is how to give right taste to the right customer.

 “If a south Indian person living in Delhi wants south Indian pickle, it is difficult for us. The challenge is to sell in different parts of the country which we are learning. We also have two months pickle festival in which we invite customers, showcase our complete range of products. Here, national brand of pickles available across the country”, shared Mathews.

Growing trend

Today, Horeca sector wants something like readymade products as labours are at shortage, chefs are at shortage li. So products like gravy mix are coming up and this is the latest trend in the industry. Mathews says on these lines, “Now, we are supplying readymade products which do not require chefs to the restaurants. These products are present and relevant in abroad but now it is coming in India also, it has been started”.

The latest acquisition of Mother Recipe with Elamc was because Elmac is very strong in the Horeca segment and it will also add strength to them also.  Elmac has wide varieties like sauces, kent food, ketch ups etc.

Mother recipe plan is to grow in terms of organic and inorganic products. And at the same time they are expanding in sauces, mnemonics and other products in this range.

The initial investment was 25 crores in buying the brand and added five crores in upgrading the infrastructure. So, now the target is to reach 70 crores in next two years as even Elamc total turnover is 12 crore. “So, we want a growth of 25 per cent turnover”, Mathews said.

Thus, the future of the food suppliers in India is going to expand only. Today, we have so many restaurants, QSR, fine dining which are growing continuously. So the demand of food supply will also grow with the same.

Gadre was founded in 1978 by Deepak Gadre, Gadre Marine Export was originally a processing and packaging unit of frozen marine products such as shrimps, squids, cuttlefish and other fin-fish. In 1994 however an unprecedented and bold step was taken, India's first and only Surimi manufacturing plant was set up in Ratnagiri. Gadre Marine since then became the third largest Surimi manufacturer in the world.

In 2004 the company under the leadership of its Managing Director, Arjun Gadre set up a Surimi value added products plant with a wide product line encompassing surimi value added products, marinated ready to cook fish and cut n cleaned raw fish. Gadre challenges the very roots of Indian culture where fish is always served fresh; their authentic frozen seafood touches the very essence of modern Indians looking for a simpler, healthier and tastier alternative.

What is your view on the changing taste of Indian customers’?

Indian consumer has a very unique, so we have to bring something different for the Indian palate which comes with the flavours. I myself is very fond of Indian food and introduced mackgrill in the market. People of today’s generation like seafood food but can’t prepare it at home. So the only way is to go to the restaurants to have it. Therefore I tried to make it easy for the young people as they can prepare with the masala and enjoy at home only.  The idea is to bring out something new for the Indian consumers.

Are you listed with HORECA?

Yes, we are a very active HORECA player. And are products are widely spread across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka 

What is the amount of suremi produced at Gadre Marine? In how many cities the supply is spread?

We do 34000 tonnes sea food products at present. We are supplying in around 40 cities in India today.

How is the growth look like?

We have seen a 20 per cent increase in no of selling which is double the volume in India. And our turnover is Rs 650cr turnover.

How about entering the restaurants?

We are supplying and try to push in restaurants by making aware about using its simple recipes in breakfast, main dishes and in garnishing. The product is very healthy.

Can you name some of the restaurants who use your products?

Barbeque Nation, Eros in Mumbai, China and all other Japanese restaurant or sea food restaurants have our products.

What is your reach at present?

Presently, we are serving Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Pune, Goa, Cochin, Chennai, Kolkata, Guwati, Hyderabad etc. Our main focus is metro and tier I cities.

What has made a sudden change in demand of sea food?

India has very limited choices of non veg foods; seafood is eaten by coastal plains only. But now there is a demand of seafood because of migration of people from coastal region to other parts. Moreover, people are also becoming health conscious- so moving towards sea food is the latest trend.

What is your share in the segment?

We are less than 10 per cent of the market as it is highly dominated by unorganised players.

How about global expansion?

Exporting to USA, Italy, England, Spain, Japan, Hongkong, Singapore, Holland, china everywhere

Why Vikas Khanna as brand ambassador?

Vikas is internationally known and acclaimed face in the food industry. And, as we are also an international product association of someone outside and he is also advertising many products on television.

How was Zappfresh started?

Whenever I went to a meat shop, I observed that majority of the customers in these butcher shops are men whereas in Indian households larger part of meals are cooked by women. Bridging this gap and empowering the person cooking the meats became important. So, now majority of our customers being women stands as a befitting testimony that we are on the right path.

You have raised two crore in angel round of funding from investors. Where do you plan to use them?

Technology is core to our business and we plan to build our technical competencies with due diligence to operational robustness. We are a customer centric business entity and we plan to harness the funding to reach out to a wider customer base pan India through clever strategic marketing. Experiential marketing will form a major chunk of the spending in our marketing exercises. Also, we are aggressively eyeing four major metros in next six months, and we expect to expand our product range as well to cater to all possible consumer tastes.   

Tell us something about your business model?

In our case we have automated the entire supply chain through tech. The customer can order through website, whatsapp and call and soon we will be launching an app also.  We function on an inventory based model where we maintain daily “fresh stock” straight from Govt. approved firms only and we are stringent about zero tolerance to old stock and discard it without a second thought. We currently fulfil our orders through two hubs based out of Delhi and Gurgaon to cover these two hungry cities.

What is the range of items? What makes you different from your competitors?

We have fresh meats, fish, pork, chicken sea food and ready to eats. Currently we have 60 SKU’s on the list and we are looking to stretch it to 100 in next six months with sheer focus on innovative high quality products.  We are prime movers in the Hyperlocal cold chain technology in meat space delivery; first in India. Currently, in the territories we function, we do not have any competition.

What are the barriers you face during online order and delivery services?

At present we haven’t faced any; rather our customers are quite comfortable ordering online as well as through call/whatsapp. Our user friendly website offers a comforting experience to the user and online payment and wallets integration has only made the deal sweeter for them. Since, we are in a temperature sensitive product line; we do not compromise with cold chain logistics. In fact, it is our forte being immense pride to us. Our mobile app is also in the offing to bring our products to one touch experience for our 10,000 happy customers.  

What all is require to maintain fresh high quality meat?

360 degree cold chain logistics and stringent quality norms are paramount to the industry we function in. Temperature abuse is primarily the only component that can alter the quality of a good produce

What is current revenue and targeted revenue?

We are currently doing 10,000 orders a month (on an average per month revenue to the tune of 2.1 million INR) and we want to take it to 30,000 a month and raise the average ticket size to INR 1000. 

What is your expansion plan?

We are aggressively eyeing four major metros in next six months as well as we are looking to expand our product range to cater all possible consumer tastes. Our ultimate aim is to be a preferred “one stop meat player” offering high quality fresh produce for everyday requirements of Indian consumers by promising hassle free delivery, highest standards of hygiene, ease of buying and timely delivery with technology integration.

What’s the idea behind this start-up?

The genesis of this business idea was simply the glaring supply chain gaps in the fresh food categories (especially fruits and vegetables). We knew that retail prices of fresh products have a 100 per cent mark-up on wholesale cost and probably 150-200 per cent mark-up on production cost, still it is not a case of super-normal profits for either the wholesaler or the retailer. Majority of this margin got eroded within the supply chain due to the perishable nature of the products. Hence, we saw an opportunity to plug the gaps in the supply chain by getting products from farm to kitchen in 12 hours, avoiding wastage and pilferage which would allow us to make decent margins while offering a fair price to the end consumer.

What’s the initial investment made to launch the venture? Where did you spend the money?

Together with friends and family we initially raised over US$ 10,000, which was spent primarily on building a robust technology platform including the Android and iOS Apps. After launching the business we received seed funding from known contacts for another US$ 100,000 before we raised our Series A funding in July’15.

You are following the similar idea as floated before. How is it different from other similar platforms?

What makes iOrderFresh unique and a safe option is that we do not believe in night inventories and have only two delivery slots a day to ensure the freshest produce is being sent to consumers day after day.

How big this segment is? How many players are working out there?

It is one of the biggest consumer segments in the country currently valued at US$ 330 billion with expected market size of US$ 1 trillion by 2020. It’s difficult to know that how many players are in the market right now but the important thing to remember here is that there will always be room for more players in this market.

What’s the revenue model of your platform?

All sellers on our platform pay us a listing fee, which is a per cent of their gross revenue.

What’s the annual turnover? What's the growth of your venture?

We serviced over 1000 orders a day in Sept 2015 and are looking at a quarterly growth of 20-25 per cent for the next 12 months. 

In this segment, many online players have recently raised huge amount of funding. Are you looking forward to raise any funding for your venture?

We are focusing on unit economics and making the business self-sustainable. However, further capital will be required and we are looking to raise another round of funding in Q1 2016.

What’s the growth prospect of your venture?

We have over 100k customer registrations and repeat customers account for over 55 per cent of our daily orders. We hope to cross 250k customer registrations by March 2016 in Delhi NCR only. There are no plans to expand to another city for the next 12 months. We want to consolidate our base in NCR and become the biggest player in our segment.

What lies on the product roadmap?

Currently, iOrderFresh offers an array of fresh products like fruits, vegetables, fresh organic cow milk, fresh meats, fresh poultry, fresh bakery and confectionary etc. We also want to offer iconic brands/products to our customers by forging exclusive partnerships on the same lines as Natural Ice Cream. We want to be the vendor of choice for premium quality and hard to find food and grocery items online.

Tell us something about your company? How long has your company been in the business?

deliKitchen.in was started in August 2014. deliKitchen.in is collaborating with homemakers, professional chefs and restaurants on one platform to delight the taste buds of customers from every financial background. deliKitchen.in is poised to become fastest growing food tech startup in India. We are obsessed with technology and want to leverage it to get closer to our customers.

What are the exclusive offers you provide?

deliKitchen offers standard veg and non veg meals from multiple basket of home makers, tiffin service, vendors and restaurants like Preetto Kitchen, Deli Kitchen, GeetaRasoi etc. International cuisines, continental, health, diet and diabetic food is also offered by some of the vendors.

What packaging techniques do you use to preserve freshness and purity of products that you supply?

deliKictehn doesn’t use preservatives, we serve fresh food to our customers.

What are the return policies at your end?

All of our meals are backed by 100 percent customer satisfaction guarantee. If customer is not satisfied with a meal for any reason, they can contact us within one day after delivery and we will either replace the meal or credit the purchase price for that meal. However, for same day orders, customers can cancel within 30 minutes from the time of order for 100 percent refund.

How do you decide pricing for the Indian market?

deliKitchen.in is the platform to delight the taste buds of customers from every financial background and hence we have ‘complete food’ ranges from Rs 60 to Rs 2000. We keep very stringent quality control on our kitchens and we listen to our customer feedbacks.

From where do you source the products?

deliKItchen.in sources the raw materials from local market and super bazaars to cook the freshest food.

What is the supply chain process at your end?

deliKictchen.in sources the raw material, process them in kitchen under controlled environment, get the delicious food ready and then it reaches to the customers. deliKitchen.in takes the feedbacks and feeds-in into the process for possible improvements.

What is your expansion plans?

After successful completion of six months and reaching target of 200 orders daily within Delhi, we will be expanding to nearby cities and major metros.

What are your branding and marketing activities?

deliKitchen.in is focussed on getting good chefs and homemakers along with good restaurants on board. We take 15 per cent of order as commission from partners, for home kitchens, we provide delivery services too at additional cost to get customers we have many campaigns started as First order is free, it’s on us. We will delivery groceries worth your order along with second order delivery.  

Tell us something about your company? How long has your company been in the business?

BMS Enterprises was established in 1998 as the importers of Spring Roll Pastry from Tee Yih Jia Manufacturing Pte. Ltd., Singapore. Spring Roll Pastry was a unique introduction in the hospitality industry. Initially, very few Indian Chefs wanted to graduate from the conventional hand-rolled pastry to a machine made fine, thin and crisp pastry. Later on after successful test trials, Chefs recognised the quality and value of the product and introduced it in the hotels, restaurants and catering.

Today, BMS Enterprises has complete modern infrastructure for frozen food. It has cold storage facilities at all major destinations pan India, to store at minus 18 degree Celsius, which caters to complete storage solutions. The company offers complete logistics to deliver the products efficiently.

What packaging techniques do you use to preserve freshness and purity of products that you supply?

We use State of Art Packaging to preserve the freshness of the products that we distribute. In fact we have Cold Storage facilities at all the major destinations Pan India to store at minus 18 degree celsius. The company offers complete logistics to deliver the products efficiently.

How do you get your payments? What are the return policies at your end?

There is a set Payment cycle in the Food Industry and we are also part of the chain. Though most of our customers are dealing with us for a long time now but occasionally we do face problems in timely realisation of our payments.

Though we do take back the genuine returns like material which gets damaged in transportation or if there is product expiry problem but otherwise we have a very straight forward policy of providing the material in a best possible state.

How do you decide pricing for the Indian market?

The pricing depends upon various factors such as competitors, consumption etc. Also the imported products are comparatively costlier than the ones manufactured here due to duty, quality and transportation etc.

From where do you source the products?

We are importing food products from various parts of the world like Vietnam, Australia, Norway and Singapore.

What is the supply chain process at your end?

BMS has complete supply chain process with modern infra for frozen foods. The product comes in Refer Containers then transported to our cold storage facilities pan India through refer trucks and from there distributed to the customer points.

Brief us about your products and name some of your clients?

Our Top of the Line products is TYJ Spring Roll Sheets from Singapore which come in “Spring Home” Brand, “Antoniou” Fillo Pastry from Australia, Basa Fish from Vietnam, “Kings Delight” Australian Lamb from Australia, “Kings Delight” Norwegian Salmon both Smoked and Fillet from Norway, IQF Prawns from Andhra Pradesh (India), and “Kings Delight” Dimsums manufactured in India by BMS.

We are selling these products to the leading Hospitality Chains like ITC, Taj Hotels, Oberoi etc. leading Food Service Providers, Modern Trade like Food Hall & Godrej Nature’s Basket.

What are your branding, marketing and expansion activities?

Our branding activities basically comprise of making our product available at the right places which cater to the availability of quality products for the customers. For Long BMS products are synonymous with quality and our customers in the HORECA segment are well versed with our quality that comes with branding. We are constantly marketing our products through new and existing markets. We make sure that our products are visible, sold and appreciated by our customers by regular merchandising. Wherever necessary we take up with the concerned for sampling of the new and existing range of our products for customer awareness.

Satvikk is a health food store which opened its first branch in Bengaluru in Dec 2011. It has now spread its base to 8 stores in Bengaluru. The company’s vision is to be a model in the food industry for sale of all types of vegetarian packed products and a path setter in the changing paradigm of nutritional needs and health improvement of all strata of populations. How long has your company been in the business? What is the speciality of your store?

Satvikk Speciality Foods brings to you the best quality spices, dry fruits & chocolates, sourced from the finest farms and processed at state-of- the-art facilities. With over four generations of experience in the field of food business, we strive to continuously raise our benchmark to provide services of the highest quality and excellence. Satvikk guarantees fresh and high quality food products in each and every pack.

Currently, we carry over 50 varieties of Dry Fruits, 120 varieties of Dry fruit gift box, 80 varieties of Chocolates and 60 varieties of spices aimed at servicing all areas of the food service industry. Established in the year 1978, Jain India group is one of the largest importers and exporters of spices and dry fruits. We have offices across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Sakleshpur and distributors throughout India.

What are the star attractions of your store?

Satvikk has always been keen to provide its customers, an exceptional variety of its irresistible, nutritious and healthy choice of fresh food products. We have an extensive collection of almonds, cashew nuts, pistachios, raisins, figs, dry and wet dates, walnuts and also a few rare nuts like the macadamia nuts, Californian prunes, Hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, gojiberries and the pecan nuts are some of our star attractions. We take great care that they retain the same freshness when it reaches you.

We have a rare collection of herbs such as oregano, basil, thyme, parsley, mixed herbs and much more, to add that special flavour to your dishes. Our store is also hoarded with low calorie chips, potato lacha and much more. We also have oil-free papads, mixtures and diet snacks for the fitness freaks. We are always willing to listen to and understand your needs. We care about each and every customer as if you were part of our family.

How do you get your payments? Do you have online shopping available?

We have payment facilities like Cash, Cheque, Debit & Credit card, Coupon, DD, RTGS, NEFT etc.

Yes, you can shop online at www.satvikk.in and get free home delivery.

How do you decide on pricing for the Indian market?

We believe in right pricing and the right product for best quality and purity. All our products are priced at par in the market.

Where do you source your products from?

We have imported from every corner of the world including England, America, Australia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and Europe that will make your taste buds roll.

What is the supply chain process at your end?

We have an in-house cold storage facility and more than 30,000 sq. feet of space for storage, sorting, and packing the products.

Name some of your niche products and clients?

Dry Fruits, Dry fruit gift boxes, Spices, Chocolates, International & Indian Food products.  Clients are Metro Cash & Carry, Max Hyper markets, Future group, Heritage, Godrej Nature’s Basket and Bigbasket.com etc.

Do you think the import laws imposed by the government are too stringent to follow?

The laws are stringent, but at the same time, are needed to protect quality and quantity of the food products that comes into the country. The laws should be for the overall betterment of the industry and should help protect the consumer interests.

What are your current activities related to branding, marketing and expansion?

We actively participate in trade exhibitions, expos and international food festivals. We also engage with our consumers on social media, Radio ads and print ads.

What are your product ranges?

Our entire product range is of Mexican Flat Bread products like Masa Harina (Dough), Tortillas, Taco Shells, Tostada and Tortilla Chips.

Who are some of the clients in restaurant and hotel industry?

We are the largest Indian exporter for these products. We have nationwide B2B presence and have several 5- star Hotels, Cafes, Bars and Mexican Restaurants as our clients.

What are the operational challenges you face in the supply chain management?

The operational challenge that we face is, India needs to better its logistics services and we should reduce the bottlenecks in transit.

How do you decide prices for Indian market?

We make authentic, artisan products FRESH on imported production lines in India. The investment and overheads are substantial. Yet, we strive to be competitive and have much lower prices compared to imports. We offer very attractive discounts to the volume customers.

Are you listed with HORECA?

We are not aware of any listing.

How do you maintain food safety while packaging your products?

It’s our commitment at every step and with every employee. We have ISO 22,000 work in progress.

What is your future plan in terms of expansion?

We have just begun and have the global markets to cater to apart from the huge potential in India. We are in the process to start a wheat flour tortilla line that can make wheat wraps, Ready to Eat Roti, Pita Breads, Pizza base and several other products. Our international clients are asking for several new International food products and we will be coming up with some very exotic products from South America, Europe, Middle East and the US.

Are all the funding from your end or you are looking for any external boost?

Currently we are self funded. In this global scenario we are open to options for funding.

Tell us something about your company? How long has your company been in the business?

Our company got established in 1895 as a joint family venture. At that time our company was into import and export of walnuts and morels. We are situated in New Delhi. We have a widespread network of retail business in over eighteen states. We import food from all over the world mainly USA, Mexico, Chile, Europe and Thailand. In 1997 we started importing olives and fruits. We are the first company to bring pasta and olives in India and our first customers were pizza hut and dominos.

What are the payment terms and return policies?

Today, as the competition is increasing, I don’t think payments do matter here. We try to build healthy relations with our clients by providing them the best possible offers and terms.  Sometimes, if payments are delayed, so we have to put interest charges in that case.

How do you decide prices for Indian market?

This remains one of the most difficult and important aspect. We try to provide the most competitive prices in the market. There are several factors on which the prices on goods in Indian market depend. Firstly, we calculate the interest cost on our capital, landing cost, running cost, delivery cost and then our 10% margin which is our right. So it contributes around 40% hike in the prices for Indian market.

Brief us about your products and name some of your clients?

Today we import olives, different varieties of olive oil, pastas, tomatoes, Italian rice, variety of mushrooms from France, different varieties of sauces, coffee syrup, cheese, herbs & spices, Mexican popcorn, Mexican pepper, Spanish pickle, a wide range of Lebanese products, corn and Thai products. We have all major restaurant chains and retail stores as our clients. Also QSR chains like Pizza hut and Dominos are among our clients.

What is the supply chain process? Do you supply the products outside India also?

We have distributors in all areas who supply our products to the end customer. We have a very widespread network. We supply the products to every state and city of India, apart from that we also export to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and also we are getting orders from Pakistan.

Do you have online shopping available?

Yes, we have some of our products available online through Snapdeal, Flipkart and Amazon. Usually, people don’t buy food products online as there remains a doubt of authentic and fresh product, but we have several other products which are available online to them, authentic and fresh.

Do you provide discounts as per volume, early payment, and cash?

Yes, we do provide discounts to the customers. If the customer orders a particular volume or in bulk with cash payments, usually we provide 2% discount in that case, but it may vary depending upon the order.

Are all the funding from your end or you are looking for any external boost?

We don’t have any particular investors and funding agencies. We have lent money from banks in the form of loan.

What are your branding, marketing and expansion activities?

We launched 3-4 new products every year. We focus on bringing healthy food products to Indian market. We are also planning to launch olive pickle which has lots of health benefits and people can enjoy them with meals.  We have our own media company who do all the marketing and promotions for us. We advertise through banners and hoardings at public places, metro and airport, through social websites and other such activities.

How did you come up with the idea of launching Australian Mandarin fruit in India?

As Mandarin is a very juicy fruit, the brics is very high. It is very sweet in taste and can hold on shelf for 10 days and its high quality inspired us to bring Australian Mandarin to the Indian consumers. This fruit is doing well globally. Ironbark is exporting the fruit to countries like Taiwan, Indonesia, and China among others. They want to have their product in India and our company wants to make sure that this Finland fruit is available in India.

Fortunately, Australian citrus mandarin is very similar to the Nagpuri citrus mandarin.  Nagpuri citrus are available only for five months, so our goal is to give consumers a product which is as good as Nagpuri citrus for the remaining seven months. Our aim is to bring in global taste to Indian consumers. An Indian farmer just harvests one variety of citrus for five months and abroad, a farmer harvests hundreds of varieties.

Initially how are you going to promote the fruit in India?

We are promoting through wet sampling and loyalty rewards programme with our 10,000 members across the country. These members already know that this product will be available in the 28 cities which we are covering in the first stage. We have tied up with 700 outlets of Reliance which will have this fruit available. Also, we tied up with Hypercity, Icko and Bigbasket.com.

We have also tied up with all the leading hotels like Oberoi, Taj, Four Seasons and Marriott and restaurants as well to promote food which can be combined with dessert palates like Mandarin mojito and Mandarin cheese cakes.

Who's the target consumer group?

We target higher customers and middle class consumers from urban parts. In three to four years down the line, we will look at mass market wherein we will look at growing in India. We wanted the fruit to be in the price bracket of Rs 80-100 with the support of Ironbark in the next five years.

What is the quantity of mandarin you are importing?

Initially, we are importing 50 million tons of Australian mandarin. In one year we are targeting to import around 150 tons and 2,000 tons in five years.

How long can the fruit sustain in Indian atmosphere?

Citrus is very high in properties like brics. The fruit can be kept outside for 10 days and in the fridge it can stay longer for up to 75 days.

How will the fruit help the health of the Indian consumer?

The fruit is very strong in vitamin-C. One citrus will give enough vitamins to survive for the whole day. The fruit is very good for people suffering from diabetes and blood pressure.

What is the turnover you are expecting in the first year of launch?

In the first year, we are looking at Rs 3cr to Rs 4 cr and  significantly bring it up to Rs 25 cr by 2020.

After citrus, which will be the global fruit you will be launching next?

After citrus, we will have different varieties of Apple in the coming two months. And then in the next three to four months, we will be launching Persimmon from Spain.

Tell us something about Chenab Impex.

Our company is in the business of importing and distribution of food products since 2002. We import the products of more than 70 leading food manufacturers which comprises of all types of processed food distributed all over India through our wide distribution channel. We supply to all kinds of consumers ranging from hotels, restaurants, caterers and retail stores.

What are the major operational challenges you face in the supply chain management?

The major challenge is the FSSAI requirements of labeling and ingredients so the manufacturer has to first comply with that. Second is the logistics because the efficient and proper cold chain is not available so you cannot import small quantities by sea. Premium foods you cannot import in container because it is in too much quantity and when it arrives in India the time it takes for clearing, cold chain for storage and distribution within India.

From which countries do you source your product?

We source our products from the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, USA, Canada, Mexico, Thailand and our maximum import is from Italy.

Are you listed with HORECA? Would you like to name some of your clients?

Yes, we are listed with HORECA. All the luxury five star hotels across Indian are our clients. Hotel TAJ, Hotel Oberoi, Hotel Leela, Hotel Hyatt and Marriott are some of the names.

What is the market share of your product and how do you see them growing?

The market is really huge and our share is very small but they are growing quite satisfactorily. The demand is growing and Indian people like snacking so it will gradually increase with time.

How do you ensure superior packaging to maintain product quality and food safety?

We do not do any packaging from our end. We import and distribute as the products as they are packaged so we need to ensure that we are dealing with number one company in that category and that company takes care of packaging labeling and everything. We are dealing with internationally well renowned company who are award winners for their products and packaging. We are dealing in the package products so proper package is evident and if it is torn or broken then the product is to be discarded and if it is cold or temperature sensitive product we ensure that the right temperature is maintained throughout the transportation and storage so for that temperature recorder is used.

How do you look at food laws by government of India?

The food laws are essential but the present food laws are quite old and they need to be modernized. The food safety held the task of modernizing which they have not done so far because of which food safety lacking somewhere. They are concentrating more on ensuring safe food for rich people and ensuring that the imported food is safe and they are mainly consumed by wealthy people. Whereas 99 per cent of the population are consuming domestically produced food and there are very little efforts made in improving the quality and safety of the street foods, fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, fruits processed   by small cottage industry so food safety and laws should be made to really serve the entire nation.

How do you decide on pricing of your products for Indian market?

We work at the cost of the product after it arrives in the country. We do the costing first according to storage, transportation and all those things which it require and then we add our administrative cost to it and price it accordingly.

What are your marketing and expansion activities?

Since, we are dealing with restaurants and hotel sector so marketing and promoting we do directly with the chefs. We keep them informed about our new products and place samples to them for testing. Also we do advertisements and social media activities to promote our products. Now, we have started import and distribution of wine from Spain and France and we will soon launch wine from Italy and Chile in Indian market.

Tell us something about your company? How long has your company been in the business?

We started in 2012 from Delhi-NCR as the importers of BASA fish moving forward to Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh markets. Soon after that we started dealing with the Punjab market and opened our second office in Ludhiana, Punjab.  By early 2013 we covered almost 40 percent of the market in Punjab. From Ludhiana, we started catering Jammu, Himachal Pradesh and other nearby markets. We also opened our third office in Mumbai to deal with the southern and western part of the country. Last year we started operations in Calcutta, Bangalore and other corners of India. We are the second largest importers and suppliers of BASA and have 90-95 per cent of PAN India presence.

What packaging techniques do you use to preserve freshness and purity of fishes that you supply?

The packages we are using are the normal plastic package but the technique we are using is IQF (Individual Quick Freezing). As soon as the product is processed, it goes through the IQF individually and we maintain it at 18 to -20 degree centigrade which can be preserved up to two years. 

How do you get your payments? What are the return policies at your end? Do you have online shopping available?

No we are not available online. If you are maintaining at the desired temperature of the product at your end then it can be preserved up to two years so we hardly get any return from our clients. Moreover if there is any fault from our side we take them back but the chances remains none as our product go through several quality checks. We are dealing with our distributors on with a 21 days payment policy through cheque.

How do you decide pricing for the Indian market?

India is a very competitive market. We are amongst top players in this segment so the margin remains low and there is not much fluctuation in the prices and they are to be kept very competitive.

From where do you source the products?

We source BASA fish from Mekong Delta, Vietnam. And we have also tied up with some factories in the city that are producing for us.

What is the supply chain process at your end?

We supply our product through the distributors’ network that is present all over India. We have around seven distributors in Delhi who purchase products from us and store it at their end only by supplying our products to the leading hotels, restaurants and cater on our behalf.

Brief us about your products and name some of your clients?

We are the top importers suppliers of BASA fish fillet in India. Our products are BASA fish fillet, breaded BASA fish fillet, untrimmed BASA fish fillet, Squid rings, frozen prawns and chicken.  We also launched spring roll pastry last year and this year we launched Australian lamb. We are supplying to all the major hotels, five star chains, restaurant, cafes, caterers, MNCs and retail outlets. JW Marriott, Smokey’s, Smoke House Deli, Trident Hotel are our major clients.

What do you want to say about the import laws imposed by the government? Are they too stringent to follow?

They are actually quite stringent as we don’t get full information communicated to us. We are an active member of forums of Indian food importers (FIFI) which is assigned to communicate FIFI about any new law introduced by them but they are not keen to make anyone understand about the same and there is no one to communicate about the same. So it gets difficult for us to understand what the new laws are exactly about.

What are your branding, marketing and expansion activities?

We are presently working under our own brand but we are looking forward to launch international brands soon. The Indonesian confectionary brand will be with us for selling their product all over India. We are going to enter the ready to eat products which we will launch next year. We will be getting more into retail products, smaller packing and ready to eat products. Lastly, we have started our operations in Calcutta, Bangalore and other corners of India.

How do you focus on creating the best packaging options?

We are in the business of rigid plastic packaging solutions which is among the best packaging options since the last three decades. The packaging in plastic is very vital as it provides you with all the basic options a product needs; be it transparency, inert nature and unbreakable packaging. It can take all kinds of design, labels and decorations. It is of more importance than glass as it is unbreakable, so it does not need hard cartons to pack. Also, it requires less space starting for warehousing, logistics, transportation and placing in shops and stores. So, these are the reasons which have made plastic packaging to rule over 70-80 per cent of the sectors, be it FMCG, liquor or any other.

Are the innovative designs of the bottles and other packaging options decided by you or they are as per the client’s requirement?

We have a separate designing house. In the case of multinational companies, there are two types of products which they produce and sell in India. One is an international brand so the design is decided at the head office and the same is followed throughout the world. For Indian brand products like Hindustan Unilever they don’t rely on such facts. So, we also have to design as per their customer value chain.

How much do you export to other markets?

We export around 10 per cent of our total production to the markets of Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand as well as United States.

What is the capacity of your production?

Our capacity is around 80 thousand metric tons which is the largest in South Asia and we grow by 20 per cent every year.

You supply your products to various sectors. Can you tell us from which sector your revenue is maximum?

Our biggest revenue is from beverage sectors like carbonated soft drinks, mineral water and juices and that accounts for 60 per cent of the total revenue generated.

How does your packaging help in maintaining food safety?

Today, we have various options to help maintain the product safety and stop spurious material in the market. One is the effective shape which comprises of the design, labels, and closure, which includes costly moulds and new technologies, so for a spurious person, that kind of techniques are not possible. The packaging in plastic is very vital as it provides you with all the basic options a product needs like transparency, inert nature and unbreakable.  In PET bottles, it is essential to change the shape after a perfect period of time. We also work as a consultation organisation for different companies, as we did 3 years before for oil company and we suggested them a shape with an off centered neck due to which pouring is easy. We also used multi-layers to provide safety and two different colours from inside and outside the bottle. So, there are plenty of options available in PET bottles to stop duplicity and maintaining the product safety.

Tell us about the research programmes you do to maintain the quality standards?

Our research team helps us in keeping ourselves 5 years ahead of the requirement of the Indian FMCG or the multinational companies. We are the only company registered with DSIR as approved R&D centre. We have a separate design house and R&D team which continuously takes new challenges and new and innovative concepts of design. Moreover, our research and developed programmes have helped the southern Ayurvedic companies to use PET bottle packaging options for liquids and syrups.

Can you name some of your clients and which one is the most revenue generating?

Our major clients are Mondelez, Horlicks, Hindustan Unilever, Coca Cola, Del Monte, ITC and many others. Coco Cola is our maximum revenue generating client.

What is the supply chain process across your end?

We basically drive our product throughout the country and prominently in the eastern part of the country because of the logistics. We go up to Maharashtra in the west and all four states in the south, in the east up to Orissa and also to the adjacent countries like Nepal and Bhutan.

What is your annual turnover? What is you expansion plan for the future?

We closed up this year at 525 crores.

In the next five years, we would like to increase our production of PET from 80 thousand tons to 3 lakh tons and our business from 525 crores to 3,000 crores.