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AIFPA organises national seminar on opportunities of FDI in food retail
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Saturday, 10 December, 2016, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Harcha Bhaskar, Mumbai
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The All India Food Processors’ Association(AIFPA) organised a day-long national seminar on opportunities and challenges of foreign direct investment(FDI) in food retail India at the Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga.
It gave an overview of the entire gamut of 100 per cent FDI in food retail, outlining the key challenges and opportunities for the food processing and agriculture sectors.
The event, supported by the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India) [AFST(I)] and the ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI), highlighted the investment in retail of processed foods produced, benefiting the sourcing mechanism, and the improvement in the entire supply chain system, which will help farmers.
In his welcome address, Sagar Kurade, president, AIFPA, “FDI in food retail is welcome move and can be a win-win situation to the governnment, multi-national corporations (MNCs) and domestic entrepreneurs.”
“The scheme can be possible if we overcome the challenges in cold chain for food storage, logistics and supply chain. These include transport, overcoming seasonability issue where crop can be throughout the year instead of twice a year,” he added.
“This will not only make all fruits and vegetables made available throughout the year, but also for food processors who procure it as raw material,” Kurade stated.
Anurag Lodha, chief operating officer, Kaleesuwari Refinery Pvt Ltd, was the guest of honour.
He said, “The government scheme is a welcome opportunity for all entrepreneurs. The government has moved from transforming into an open economy and then into a closed economy.”
“But, we have to overcome the challenges of infrastructure and logistics. Postal shipping and refrigerated containers should be used for distribution,” Lodha stated.
Giving an example, he added,“India is the largest producer of bananas. The volume is 30 million tonnes. Tamil Nadu itself produces 10 million tonnes. But the country recorded zero per cent export and 40-50 percent wastage, which is a loss to it.”
“Even 80 per cent edible oil is imported from India. So entrepreneurs should tie up with farmers to start processing, which will reduce wastage, and to an extent, stabilise price fluctuations,” Lodha said.
Bhavesh Kumar Joshi, director, AGMARK, was the chief guest. He said, “More than challenges, we haveopportunities and government support that we can leverage on. For transforming India’s food industry, the parameters required are already there.”
“We have 12 agro climatic zones, producing the world’s best grapes and pomegranates, and 700 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) where group production, marketing and selling takes place,” he added.
“Even government initiatives,like direct marketing, private marketing and contract manufacturing are made available. SoFDI in India can beneficial to farmers and entrepreneurs,” Joshi stated.
The first technical session focused on how the supplychainsystem, integration of backward and forward linkages and farmer benefited? The session was chaired by Dr SBWarrier, member, scientific panel, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
He focused on the present conditon by stating that the Indian food industry was poised to grow at $300 billion.The sector is contributing 9-10 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) through manufacturing and agriculture.
“There is also a 30-40 per cent food wastage in the sector, which counts to Rs 4,000 crore.The main reason for this wastage is as there is no linkage between farm and retail,” Warrier stated.
Uday Raj Prabhu, head, supply chain, Marico Ltd,said,“There is a huge opportunity for FDI in the Indian food industry. The FDI schemecan address the changing consumer demand for exotic food, value their time, more convenience, informed consumer and fixing demands.”
Giving an example, Prabhu said,“Saffola, a product of Marico, started farm-level integration, right from seed research to seed production, field training, post-harvestsupport and buyer benefit gurantee.”
Highlighting the success of FDI in India,Shatadru Sengupta, senior director, legal, Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt Ltd, talked about how the company started the ground work six years before the first outlet was launched.
He stated, “To bring Mc Donald’s to India, the first thing that was done was to start from farm level to develop world-class agricultural practices, strong cold chain and investment in training. Then we started our own processing of potatoes and onions.”
The other speakers included were Girish Chitale, managing director, Chitale Dairy, and Nilesh Amritkar, managing director,Envirocare Labs Pvt Ltd.
The second session was focused on how FDI can enable Make in India.
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