?Britannia, Amul, Dabur and Parle to either raise prices or to cut quantities

The proposal by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to introduce health star ratings on the front of food packaging has faced opposition due to a lack of agreement among food companies, health organizations, consumer advocates, and the regulatory body.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) officials believe that health star ratings will not effectively reduce the consumption of unhealthy foods, and instead advocate for direct warning labels.

In contrast, packaged food companies prefer the use of star ratings. Currently, Indian food companies are only required to display basic nutrient information on the back of the packaging, while front-pack labeling has been proven effective in reducing the consumption of unhealthy foods globally.

Last year in September, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which operates under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, published a draft regulation that proposed a labelling system based on star ratings. This was the largest labelling reform for packaged foods in India.

The FSSAI had requested feedback on the proposed star rating-based labelling system until November, and it was expected that the final guidelines would be released within two months after the comment period ended.

“The health star ratings misinform consumers and do not compel industry to make their food products healthier whereas a warning label provides instant recognition of unhealthy foods.” said Ashim Sanyal, chief executive of activist body Consumer Voice and former member of the Central Advisory Committee of FSSAI.

The star rating system is a type of symbol-based labelling that does not provide upfront information on the exact amount of salt, sugar, or fat content in written text.

The rating is determined based on the levels of healthy and unhealthy nutrients present, while direct warning labels will only indicate excessive levels of salt, sugar, or fats.

Yu, an omni-channel consumer foods brand that provides Instant Meals that are 100% Natural with ZERO Preservatives, has secured its Series A funding vide a mix of equity and venture debt.

The round was led by Ashish Kacholia – renowned public market investor and saw participation from existing investors – Asian Paints Promoter Group (Manish Choksi and Varun Vakil).

With Rs 20 crores under its belt, Yu is all set to double its capacity in addition to ramping up its existing offline / online distribution in India, while continuing to expand its global footprint across markets like Africa, Middle East and the US.

“It has been truly heartening and motivating to receive a tangible vote of confidence from a diverse and highly eminent set of investors within 1 year of the launch of our business. Their pedigree and experience will allow Yu to increase its production capacity to over 8 million meal bowls per annum while expanding our offline / online distribution in India. The next 12 months will also see us aggressively expanding our presence in global markets like the US, Africa and Middle East,” shared Founders Bharat Bhalla and Varun Kapur.

Founded by Bharat Bhalla and Varun Kapur, Yu has developed a wide range 15 unique products across noodles, pastas, oats, halwa categories that can be prepared in 4-5 minutes by simply adding hot water.

The current round of funding also saw participation from DPIITs Start Up India Seed Fund scheme which approved Yu under its Rs 945 crores program that funds tech-enabled start-ups.

Homegrown consumer foods brand Yu has crafted a range of delicious instant meal bowls that contain ZERO preservatives, additives, artificial flavourings or colours.

Developed using advanced lyophilization technology, chef-curated artisan recipes and natural ingredients, Yu’s meal bowls retain their original taste and aroma while offeringa non-refrigerated shelf life of 12 months.

“We are delighted to transform our vision to reality, especially in the difficult backdrop of the pandemic. We fully recognize the current sentiment of consumers being conscious about their health, dietary intake and nutrition in the foods they consume. Our aim is to bring Yu – our consumer, healthy packaged foods that are wholesome, delicious, full of nutrition, preservative-free and made using recognizable, natural ingredients only,” said Bharat Bhalla and VarunKapur, Co-Founders at Yu who are aiming a large cross-section of consumers by introducing a wide range of meal bowl options appealing to the palette and needs of one and all.

Yu provides all day meal options including breakfast, lunch/ dinner and dessert bowls.

Yu’s products can be enjoyed guilt-free with zero cooking and hassle free preparation by simply adding hot water and allowing the product to rest for 3-4 minutes thereafter. The use of innovative and advanced culinary processes has enabled the brand to launch its products at an attractive price range of INR 75 to 95 per bowl. The ‘clean-label’ consumer foods brand is also adopting sustainable practices by using eco-friendly paper packaging for all its products.

Instant meal bowls by Yu are available across major retailers in Delhi NCR including Reliance Smart, Modern Bazaar, Needs Supermarket, Big Basket and several other general retailers in Gurgaon and South Delhi.

Consumers from pan-India can also easily order Yu meal bowls through the brand's website (www.yufoodlabs.com) and other e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Flipkart and Cora Health.

Founded by Bharat Bhalla and VarunKapur, two serial investment professionals who share a common passion for discovering delicious, wholesome food and making it easily accessible.

Food safety and Standards Authority of India on Monday shared that there is a plan to introduce front-of-package (FoP) labeling on packaged foods to help consumer make healthier food choices.

Expressing concern over increasing consumption of junk food leading to obesity in youth and children in India, Arun Singhal, CEO, FSSAI said this.

The food safety body has also asked IIM Ahmedabad to conduct a survey on the nature of FoP labels in the interest of consumers, shared Singhal during 15th anniversary of formation of FSSAI.

Front of Package labels seek to provide simple nutrition information in a more accessible location instead on the back or side of packages.

Asserting that FSSAI is capable of introducing this kind of label in India, Singhal said it has become necessary as obesity along with malnutrition is also a big problem in the country especially in youth and children.

"There is a rise in demand for packaged food. There is a need to provide information in a simple way about the impact of packaged food on health so that consumers can make choices," he added.

He also pointed that countries that uses FoP labels saw reduction in consumption of junk food.

"The technical issues have been settled, but only one issue is left, that is, the nature of the FoP label. For this, IIM Ahmedabad has been asked to conduct a survey," added Singhal.

FMCG brand Bikano has launched two variants of multigrain chips for health conscious food lovers and patrons.

Bikano has positioned the multigrain products, named Chatak Masala and Tangy Tomato, as a healthier alternative to the conventional potato chips.

Bringing together the goodness of an assortment of grains including rice, wheat, corn and pulses, the brand aims to give the food lovers the sheer joy of savouring the crispiness and crunchiness in terms of taste of regular potato chips while also taking care of their nutritional requirements.

Both the product variants have been launched at a convenient price point of Rs. 5 only.

“With more and more people increasingly becoming health conscious and wanting to opt for healthy and nutritious snacks, there has been a latent demand for healthy snack products which could be similar in taste and texture to the widely popular potato chips. We wanted to meet that demand by coming up with these two multigrain chips products. While Chatak Masala is a classic spicy savoury in a healthy form, Tangy Tomato again offers a nutritious alternative to traditional potato chips,” shared Manish Agarwal, Director Bikano.      

The two products are available through Bikano’s wide network of retail and modern trade outlets both within the country and outside. 

With the festive season kicking in, FMCG brand Bikano has announced a plethora of attractive gift packs for its consumers.

The 17 different gift packages, which are carefully curated keeping in mind all the tastes and choices, contain all the premium products of the brand including sweets, namkeens, bhujias, dry fruits and plenty others exclusively for this season.

Keeping in mind the popularity of Diwali, the festival of lights, among Indians across the world, the gifting options are a way of sharing the bond of good health with loved ones.

“During festivities more and more people would want to come out and visit their relatives and loved ones, colleagues, business partners and even acquaintances and celebrate these festivals with one another. Naturally, sharing gifts and goodies in this all-round joyous and cheerful atmosphere would be inevitable. With our large number of 17 assorted offerings, we wanted to be a part of that collective celebration and not miss all the fun,” said Manish Aggarwal, Director, Bikano Group.

In a quality-driven conscious consumer environment, the post lockdown trend has seen consumers moving to packaged snacks as these are more hygienic and safer.

“Quality has always been a non-negotiable proposition for Bikano. We fully understand people’s concerns on health and hygiene particularly post-Covid-19. As such, our manufacturing and processing plants have maintained hundred percent fail-proof production processes with our workers observing most stringent manufacturing, processing and packaging practices,” he added.

Importantly, being a socially-responsible brand, the company has decided to contribute ₹ 1 to PM CARES Fund for every gift hamper sold this season.   

In a bid to fuel coffee consumption and push one of its mainstay brands Nescafe, packaged foods maker Nestle has forayed in the consumer-facing small appliances category.

The company is in the process to roll out app-based coffee machines. These machines will also be sold through non-FMCG distribution channels.

Suresh Narayanan, Chairman of Nestle, said, "We are seeing a surge of speciality coffee outlets, and coffee consumption is growing specially among millennial consumers." 

Last year, Nestle had crossed the Rs 10,000 crore sales threshold. The company said that India is among its first few markets to begin retailing the smartphone-connected machines.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has constituted an expert panel to look into the draft of Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2018. The panel will be headed by B. Sesikeran, former director of the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), and will also comprise NIN’s current director Hemalatha and Dr Nikhil Tandon.

The food safety regulator had come out with the draft in April 2018. The regulations have proposed making red colour-coded labels mandatory on packaged food products which are high in fat, sugar and salt contents.

Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO of FSSAI, said, “Our pre-draft was ready and sent to the Health Ministry. Since there were concerns expressed by some stakeholders, we have kept it on hold for time being and a group of experts from health and nutrition background has been set up to look into the issue of labelling once again”.

“It is difficult to ask consumers to change their eating habits as some eat mindlessly, while some cannot differentiate between healthy and unhealthy food products”, Agarwal said while pitching for bringing in strong labelling norms at the earliest.

Kolkata-based conglomerate ITC plans will explore every possible consumer category and launch 30-40 new products each year in its effort to become the country's biggest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, a company executive said.

“To achieve our revenue target of Rs 1 lakh crore by 2030 from the new FMCG businesses, we are strengthening our existing categories and venturing into newer ones,” B Sumant, president of the FMCG business, told ET in an interview at ITC’s Virginia House headquarters in Kolkata. “A lot of resources are being invested in product development with a strong R&D team.”

ITC’s FMCG business includes cigarettes, packaged food, personal care, stationery, safety matches and agarbattis. The company will launch more products in the packaged food space since it’s the largest FMCG business for ITC. Last fiscal, it launched 30 products, next only to the rapidly expanding Patanjali Ayurved.

The maker of Sunfeast biscuit, Aashirvaad atta and Engage deodorant is also actively scouting for acquisitions to plug portfolio gaps. However, ITC will only acquire brands that can be scaled up using its own distribution network as it would be easier to break even.

Hence there’s unlikely to be any big-ticket deal, said Sumant. ITC in the past few years have acquired brands such as B Natural, Savlon, Shower to Shower and, Charmis. Last month, it ventured into the herbal floor cleaner space by acquiring Nimyle. Sumant said the company has already grown brands such as B Natural and Savlon exponentially.

The company recently ventured into the premium skincare market with the Dermafique range of products, centre-filled snacks under Mad Angles, Bounce Mini biscuit, Dark Fantasy Jelifills cake and chicken instant noodles under Yippee. While Sumant refused to divulge details on categories ITC would enter in the future, analysts said it’s likely to expand in food besides beauty and homecare, having acquired the Nimyle brand.

To be sure, ITC has some way to go before it can dislodge Hindustan Unilever from its longtime perch as India’s biggest consumer goods company. In FY18, ITC's non-cigarette FMCG business clocked sales of Rs 11,328.60 crore driven by the packaged food business at Rs 8,668.72 crore. In contrast, HUL's consolidated total income was over three times more than that of ITC at Rs 36,622 crore in FY18. On the other hand, Patanjali Ayurved is fast gaining ground despite a late start.

“Going by ITC's track record, it should expand its play in food since it is either number one or two in almost all categories,” said Edelweiss Securities senior VP Abneesh Roy. “It has strong sourcing capabilities and understands local taste which several MNCs have failed to crack. In personal care and home, it will have to face a lot more competition from strong MNCs and hence things would be tough. Which is why it is yet to gain a sizeable share in soaps and shampoos.”

The cigarette-FMCG hospitality giant will indeed have 60-65% of the new launches in the packaged food segment which contributes over 22% to its net revenue, next only to the cigarette business, which contributes 46%.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed to introduce GMO labeling for the first time revealing the presence of genetically modified (GM) ingredients clearly state it on their labels.

The country’s food regulator also suggests mandatory declaration by packaged food manufacturers about nutritional information such as calories, total fat, trans fat, sugar and salt per serve on the front of the pack. Since the country has no provision for GM labeling in its regulatory mechanism currently, consumers are clueless whether packaged food items they buy have genetically engineered (GE) ingredients.

The FSSAI had last month released a 42-page draft notice — Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2018 — making it mandatory to label such foodstuffs as “contains GMO/Ingredients derived from GMO” if such items contain 5% or more GE ingredients.

Pitching for a colour code, the draft proposes that the high fat, sugar, and salt will be colored ‘red’ in case the value of energy from total sugar is more than 10% of the total energy provided by the 100 gram or 100 ml of the product. It has similar provisions for trans-fat and sodium content.

Draft says that the nutritional information may additionally be provided in the form of a barcode. The color coding will make it easier for consumers to know about the nutritional value of food products.

The issue of labeling of food products having GM ingredients has, however, drawn flak from certain quarters.

Sridhar Radhakrishnan, co-convener of the Coalition for a GM-Free India, who sent the group’s objections on the draft to the FSSAI told TOI that the labelling move will, in fact, allow the GM foods to enter food supply chain when it is anyway illegal to sell GM foods in India currently. “We need preventive action at this juncture rather than regulatory action”, he said.

India’s leading impact investor Aavishkaar led by Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group, is set to invest Rs 35 crore into packaged foods startup Kottaram Agro Foods that sells products under the brand ‘Soulfull’.

The investment will be made through its $200 mn Aavishkaar Bharat Fund with the fund having completed its first close at $95 mn late last year.

The round marks Soulfull’s first institutional fund raising exercise. The Bangalore-based firm brings traditional grains such as millets back to the consumer in modern avatars processing grains like Ragi into healthy breakfast and snack options such as flakes, Ragi bites, muesli and ready-to-cook oat-millet meals.

“There are immense opportunities in the packaged foods industry in India which is growing rapidly at 20-25%. The partnership with Aavishkaar will help Soulfull strengthen its product portfolio, accelerate marketing and expand its distribution reach to over 50,000 retail outlets in the next 3 years,” said Prashant Parameswaran, MD & CEO of Kottaram Agro Foods.

This fund raise will also mark the brand’s foray into the beverages category as the company looks forward to launch ‘Smoothix’, its high protein, health drink made out of 12 natural grains.

The Aavishkaar Bharat Fund is targeting early-to-mid stage investment opportunities in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, clean technology, education and financial inclusion.

Pristine Organic, a pioneering company in manufacturing organic and nutritional products using a wide variety of broad diverse crops, introduces their wide range of organic millets based products.

Millet is one of the ancient and oldest foods known to mankind. This super crop being reclaimed its importance in the current scenario of global warming, food security and recommended by renowned nutritionists and chefs across the world for its rich dietary fiber and nutritionally superior grain. Pristine range houses a variety of certified millet based organic food products right from cereals, biscuits, porridge, flour to baby food and nutritional supplements.

Pristine’s Breakfast cereals is all-in-one healthy breakfast cereal, a traditional Indian twist to conventional breakfast cereals with no added sugar and is minimally processed. Pristine’s millet cereals houses 3 varieties Mixed Millet Flakes and Ragi Flakes along with Corn Flakes (as corn is not millet). The brand also houses, Mixed Millet Porridge.

Pristine’s Millet biscuits are made with a combination of 5 different millets. Rich in Fiber, MUFA & PUFA, Low in Glycemic Index and is Trans-fat Free. Pristine Mixed Millet biscuits, Oven Organica are known for higher fibre content (15g) in comparison to any well-known fibre rich biscuit in the market today (9g).

The company also sells a variety of certified baby food such as 1st Bites with different stages as per the age group & Poushtik nutritional supplements for family like Balance Active, Balance PL (for preganant and lactating mothers) & Balance HP under their wide range of millet product category.

There is no plan to introduce packaged food in mid-day meals served in schools, the government informed the Rajya Sabha today. "The government is not planning to replace the present freshly cooked food with packed food for students under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme," Minister of State for HRD Upendra Kushwaha said in a written response. The quality of mid-day meals served in schools has been a matter of concern for the government. Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar had announced in May that the government would organise two-day training camps for cooks engaged in providing mid-day meals. 

Kerala-based food products company, Namboothiris Agro Foods Ltd hopes to touch the 100-crore turnover mark by the end of this financial year. The company will launch a range of fifty products in its food products segment including jams, curry powders, pickles, starting this Onam.

Rajeev. G. Kaimal, Director and Neelakantan Nambeesan, MD, Namboothiris Foods, said, "By the beginning of the Onam season, the company will have a range of more than 50 products in its food product segment."

Nambeesan added, "The most attractive innovation will be pickles packed in ceramic jars, a first in the industry. We have roped in actor Suresh Gopi as our brand ambassador."

The first company to launch packed pickles in the state fifty years ago, Namboothiris was recently acquired by Nambeesans Group, which has interests in restaurant and catering and real estate.

The company will expand its product range to seventy and move into other states next year.

The company has entered into an agreement with Chennai-based PayAgri Innovation, an Agro Fin Tech company, for the procurement of pesticide-free products directly from more than 60000 farmers in Tamil Nadu, directly by eliminating middlemen..

To beat competition, the company has come out with innovative products and packages.

Kaimal said, "We are introducing pickles packed in traditional ceramic jar for the first time in the industry. We have avoided plastic pouches and are using glass bottles and tins for packing products. Puttu podi (rice flour used for making Kerala dish puttu) in a cylindrical tin jar is another innovation." Passion fruit and Alphonso mango jam, Ramanad chilli powder are some innovative products.

The company is aiming at a turnover of Rs 500 crore in two years by scaling up its business pan-India.

The company plans to enter ayurvedic cosmetics and traditional handloom sector soon. The company has roped in Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi as its brand ambassador. The manufacturing facilities are located in Thodupuzha and Kattapana in Kerala and Muraleedharana Namboothiri who was the MD of Namboothiris earlier will be in charge of production.

Pune-based Mother’s Recipe, packaged food brand from Desai Brothers, has introduced a range of street-styled authentic chutneys manufactured in its state-of-the-art plant in Pune under strict hygienic conditions.

These chutneys are available in different variants such as Delhi Chutney, Bhelpuri Chutney, Red Chilli Garlic Chutney, Samosa Chutney and Tamarind Date Chutney.

Sanaja Desai, Head of Business Development, Desai Brothers Ltd. (Food Division – Mother’s Recipe), said, "Mother’s Recipe is committed to deliver products, which satisfy palates and are appropriate for the Indian consumer. Our home style range of chutneys are result of extensive research and consumer insight which are made from the fresh ingredients to deliver authentic taste of home cooked food."

The products are available in all hypermarkets, exclusive Mother’s Recipe outlets and local retail stores across Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Noida, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Punjab and on bigbasket.com.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is in the process to come up with new food labelling regulations related to packaged food products, based on the recommendations made by the expert group, said Pawan Agarwal, the chief executive officer of FSSAI. 

The regulator will also define 'junk food' before imposing further taxes on packaged food products with high fat, salt and sugar content, the executive said.

"We are making big changes in labelling," said Agarwal.

An expert panel set up by FSSAI has recommended additional tax on highly processed food items and sugar-laced beverages as well as a ban on advertising of junk foods on children channels or during kids shows on TV.

Agarwal said that FSSAI is also looking to bring in regulation which will require every food business operator to have at least one trained and qualified food safety supervisor at its premise.

Agarwal added, "Going forward we will amend the regulations where over a period of time every food business operator will require to have one trained and qualified food handler at their disposal."

Agarwal also added, "Obviously there will be a time lag. We will give a couple of years time before the requirement that all food businesses should have one person who is trained and certified in food safety. And before we start amending our regulations we had already created a ecosystem where such large scale training can begin to happen."

FSSAI will collaborate with corporate entities and academic institutions for Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) program, where the regulator will be launching 19 short-term courses to train food handlers. The body hopes that the trained staff will in turn educate people working alongside him thus taking the food hygiene and safety standards in the country several notches up.

The regulator also launched a interactive portal to educate consumers and help them with grievance redressal.

ITC aims to outrun Nestle and Britannia as the leader of India’s packaged-foods industry in the next two-three years, crowning the two-decade transformation of the century old tobacco giant into a diversified consumer-goods company.

Hemant Malik, Divisional Chief Executive, Food Business, said that the formula for dominance in the increasingly competitive packaged foods industry would be accelerated introduction of new products, and entry into seven-eight newer categories.

He said, "We are constantly evaluating different categories, and our R&D team is working on multiple products that would be superior and differentiated. A lot of back-end exploratory work is going on."

ITC is said to be evaluating staples and edible oil, health foods, and value-added dairy products as categories it might enter.

The maker of Sunfeast biscuits and Bingo chips is now the third-largest player in the packaged foods market, with Rs 7,097 crore sales in 2015-16.

By contrast, Nestle had Rs 8,175 crore sales in calendar 2015, and Britannia reported Rs 7,947 crore revenue in 2015-16.

ITC plans to introduce about 40 new food products in the next year – a record for ITC – and sell premium chocolates and coffee through retail chains and online stores.

Malik said the 40 new differentiated products will not only be variants, but also new products. ITC’s foods business is expected to be the majority contributor to its goal of achieving a turnover of Rs 1 lakh crore from its non-cigarette FMCG businesses by 2030. The company is expecting Rs 60,000 crore to Rs 65,000 crore will be generated from the foods business by then.

Malik said, "We can achieve our goal, given the huge opportunities that lie in every segment, and the GDP growth rate that India will be witnessing over the years. ITC has forayed into multiple categories and we are constantly expanding our portfolio of offerings."

The apex food regulator in the country, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is aiming to improve the quality of food sold through online channels, after consumers complained about expired food products being sold on ecommerce sites.

In doing so, the regulator has adopted a two-pronged approach -e-commerce entities selling packaged food will have to register with the regulator -and all e-commerce companies selling cooked food will have to take licenses.

A Foodpanda spokesperson said, "We welcome the change by FSSAI and have ourselves been diligently working on the restaurant hygiene through our Food Doctor Programme. While we constantly work towards improving and maintaining standards, we have already set the process in motion to update the licence numbers and are already halfway."

Subsequently, FSSAI announced imported food items with less than 60% of shelf life will not be allowed to enter Indian market. Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI, said, "We have held talks with Amazon and Snapdeal. We have also asked them to come up with their own solutions."

A Snapdeal spokesperson said, "We appreciate FSSAI for their progressive outlook in conducting a comprehensive stakeholder consultation on the guidelines for all ecommerce food business operators. With a view to enable compliance with food safety and quality standards, we shall take steps to ensure adherence to the guidelines and also facilitate required communication to the sellers and the consumers."

Albinder Dhindsa, Co-founder of Grofers, said, "Yes, we will be getting registered."

The FSSAI guidelines also said food products offered for sale by any ecommerce entity "shall be liable to sampling at any point in supply chain."

Rashmi Daga, founder of online kitchen FreshMenu, which runs kitchens in many cities across the country, said her company has all necessary licenses in place.

Rashmi said, "The new guidelines will have implications for companies that list restaurants on their sites and deliver food."

Hari Menon, Co-founder and chief executive of Bigbasket said, "We already have FSSAI licenses for all our warehouses, for our last mile delivery unit, the license numbers are prominently displayed on all our private label products. We also ensure that we sell food products of companies only if they have an FSSAI license. It is a mandatory requirement for listing products on BigBasket."

Kolkata -based RP - Sanjiv Goenka group, the owner of the Spencer's Retail chain, is planning to sell Indian and Western packaged snacks. Spencer's Retail chain sells private-label gourmet food or personal care products at its 120 stores across the country.

Guiltfree Industries, RPG Group’s new venture, will sell Indian and western packaged snacks, cereals, juices and beverages under the ‘Too Yumm’ brand from next month.

It plans to expand the consumer goods business with a new brand launch every quarter. Personal care and other segments will also be brought into the scope of offerings later. These products will be sold through retail chains, the web and neighbourhood stores.

According to an executive, “The target is to notch up Rs 3,000-3,500 crore in sales from the consumer goods business in the next five years.”

The company will start with selling snacks such as khakra and makhna, breakfast cereals such as corn flakes, juices and fruit beverages.

One of the executive said, “These will be positioned such that they are perceived as healthy, with offerings that include low-calorie variants and guilt-free snacking,"

Devndra Chawla, CEO, Future Consumer said, “A huge scope exists to create brands, considering that the market is under-penetrated and fast lives offering newer consumption themes to be created. Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail and e-commerce industries are all starting together in the country, and the field is wide open for anyone to build brands.”

Many consumers have alleged that sellers on e-commerce sites have been trying to clear stocks of packaged food that are on the brink of expiry and have limited shelf life at reduced prices.

LocalCircles conducted a survey of 10,000 consumers, who suggested that they ordered the food product as it was on a small discount, only to find on delivery that they now need to consume it in one month instead of the full shelf life of 12 months. Around 96% of the respondents said e-commerce sites should mandatorily disclose manufacturing and expiry dates of the packaged food products sold on their sites.

"This leads to the product not being fully utilised, resulting in wastage and loss of money for the consumer," said a spokesperson for LocalCircles, a citizen engagement platform that is backed by industrialists such as Anand Mahindra and Nadir Godrej, among others.

Albinder Dhindsa, Co-founder, Grofers, said, "We are in the process of implementing a system where the customer will see the expiry date of the product before ordering. Right now, we do store expiry of every batch on the back end and there is a check at the warehouse level where the expiry is checked before packaging an order."

While e-commerce sites currently are not governed by any policy that lays down rules on display and selling of food products, Dhindsa said, "Typically, a product will only ship to a customer if it is within reasonable window of usage. In case a customer complains about the expiry within 48 hours of delivery, we typically offer a replacement. However, expiry related complaints are less than three in 1,000 for us."

Euromonitor International which is a market research organisation on consumer products, commercial industries, demographics trends and consumer lifestyles in India, has said that the industries with low income elasticity, such as hot drinks, home care and packaged food etc are less likely to be impacted adversely due to the short-term cash crunch.

They further said irrespective of the change in the income of the consumer, the relative change to the growth in the industry will be less than when compared to industries such as beauty and personal care, alcoholic drinks and soft drinks, which require more discretionary spending.

However, there is a pain point for traditional grocery retailers as majority of them are yet to adapt to digital payment mode. As per insights shared by Euromonitor, traditional retail still account for more than 90 percent of packaged food value sales in India. Janaki Padmanabhan, Country Manager, Bengaluru division, Euromonitor, said, "Since a big part of these retailers are not well equipped with card payment machines, it is likely that sales during this period will have gone to modern/internet retailers, which offer consumers the convenience of paying by card."

Additionally, Padmanabhan said essentials with lower income elasticity such as rice, edible oils and dairy products will be impacted less when compared with products such as ready meals and processed fruits and vegetables. However, she said the impact felt will also depend on the frequency of purchase of packaged food through various retail channels.

The consumer affairs department has said to its advisory to state governments that there cannot be two different maximum retail prices (MRPs) for the same packaged item within a state.

It has advised that all packaged items, including beverages, cannot be sold at two different MRPs in shops, multiplexes or airports.

A senior official fromt he department said, "There is no dual MRP provision in the packaged commodity rules and hence state governments must ensure that no one sells packaged items at different prices within a region. In case of different MRPs, the lowest one will be treated as the actual price."

He said while there were orders from the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCD- RC) that no one could sell bottled water at different MRPs.

The department is also writing to state governments to carry out verification of net content of bread at manufacturing units. The step is being taken after the department received complaints of how the actual weight of bread was less in many cases against what the manufacturers declared.

The official also said, "As per our norms, the net weight difference can be 4.5 grams. But there were complaints that bread makers were not complying with the norms. The states are empowered to inspect, verify and take action. We expect the manufacturers to comply with the specified rules and ensure consumers get products of the right weight for which they are paying."

Government of India is planning to bring in more transparency in packaged food business. The government has been working to scout new rules that will force the manufacturers to ensure that the details on the packaged food items are more visible and readable to the customers.

As per the sources, Indian government is aiming to amend the 2011 commodities packaging rules hence, making the entire business cycle more translucent for the customers. Recently, the Consumer Affairs Ministry has been conducting several meetings and discussion rounds to bring in required changes in Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011. The ministry has taken the decision after it found that few companies are not preparing their products as per the guidelines set by it. Apart from that, few companies and people have also suggested the ministry to bring in the aforementioned move.

Elaborating further, senior Consumer Affairs Ministry official stated that rule seven specifies about the font size of the declaration but most companies do not follow strictly. In smaller packs, the font size is too small for consumers to read. So, ministry has decided to adopt the US standard on font size.

Right now, the font size of the declaration such as name, address, net commodity, date of manufacturing and retail price -- is less than 1 mm. The US follows 1.6 mm size. But government is planning to keep 1.5 mm for a pack of 200 grams/ml.

The font size for a packed food item containing more than 200 grams/ml up to 500 grams/ml would be increased from 2 mm to 4 mm and for above 500 grams/ml, the font size would be doubled to 8 mm, he said.

Apart from bringing in the changes, ministry is also planning to introduce a special marking system which will help the customers to identify that the item is manufactured in India or abroad. Besides providing the manufacturing details, the system will also help the government to put a check on fake food item sale in the company. 

In order to ramp up its packaged food offering, Sattviko has acquired a Delhi-based packaged product company FYNE Superfood. Acquisition deal’s figures were not revealed to the media but the pact wills certainly going to put Sattviko on the driving seat. The brand which currently operates in Delhi, Gurgaon and Jaipur will now amalgamate products and brand name of FYNE Superfood on its platform.

Elaborating on the deal, Prasoon Gupta, Co-Founder, Sattviko said that brand is scaling up its packaged products aggressively. This acquisition is aligned with adding some great products in Sattviko’s portfolio. FYNE's products will resonate with company’s product strategy.

As per the company’s website, Sattviko was floated in the market by graduates from IIT-Roorkee in 2014. The brand excels in offering healthy and nutritious vegetarian food to its dinners with quick service as its additional feature.

Darpan Majumdar, one of the co-founders of FYNE Superfood, will join the company and lead the intellectual property transfer for the next six to seven months, adds Gupta. 

A Parliamentary panel is slated to discuss regulation of toxic contents in packaged food on July 10 amid safety concerns over processed food products following the Maggi controversy.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food and Consumer Affairs, headed by JC Divakar Reddy, will deliberate on recent food safety issues in packed food as well as packaging and labeling regulations, among others, sources said.

Senior officials of food safety regulator FSSAI and Secretaries of both Health, and Consumer Affairs Ministries will brief the panel about the controversy and the steps taken on sale of packed sub-standard food products, they said.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), under the Health Ministry, is likely to give a presentation while the Consumer Affairs Ministry will place before the panel concerns of consumers.

Last month, FSSAI had banned Nestle's Maggi, saying it was "unsafe and hazardous" for consumption after finding excessive levels of lead and violation of labeling regulations on taste enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG). Nestle India had recalled Maggi from markets since.

With FSSAI cracking the whip further, HUL withdrew its Knorr Chinese noodles and Indo Nissin, Top Ramen noodles, pending approval from the regulator.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Affairs Ministry has decided to file a complaint with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) on the Maggi issue.