INDIAN FOOD INDUSTRY-SOME PROJECTIONS!

Report making seems to be a big business for consultants touting high market and management credentials. To imagine that the whole food industry in India as well as the GOI depended heavily on the "famous" McKinsey Report prepared in nineteen nineties may seem ridiculous but it is a fact as GOI never had any reliable data base on the country's food sector. At best the figures were guesstimates churned out in the corridors of various ministries and the Planning Commission by the firmly entrenched, chair bound bureaucrats. How far the reports from the private consultants could be more reliable is a matter of conjecture. In absence of any other alternatives, most projections in the country are based on these "fancy" reports either financed by the government or published as part of a business investment.

"As per our new research report "Indian Food and Drinks Market: Emerging Opportunities", despite the economic turmoil, the Indian food and beverage market is expanding rapidly. As per our estimations, the market is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 9% during 2009-2013. Moreover, the market is witnessing entry of large number of super markets, hyper markets, shopping malls and fast food chains. Though most of the products of Indian food and beverage market are observing positive growth, alcoholic drinks have emerged as the largest and fastest growing product category. As per our findings, the Indian alcoholic market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 12% during 2010-2013. Apart from this, there has also been a substantial growth in the consumption of fruits and juices".

To project a growth of 9% for the food sector or 12% for alcoholic beverages does not need much expertise as these figures are relatively on the safer side and any major deviations can always be explained away by invoking monsoon or drought! Imprecise language using words like "our estimations", "projected to grow", "large number of supermarkets", "most of the products" , "positive growth", "largest and fastest growing", "expected to grow", "around 12%", "substantial growth" does not instill any confidence on the quality and reliability of such reports. As long as there is no "quality check" on the survey methodology and extent of field coverage, it is difficult to either believe or distrust the figures generated by private agencies. The new breed of consultants, many of them NRIs with practically no experience with food processing, having right "connections" at right "quarters", engage retired food technologists or young management graduates in India paying them a fraction of the fancy fees they charge their clients to produce fancy looking documents. The "Reports" they produce look impressive though contents-wise they may not be worth the paper written on them.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

INDIAN FOOD INDUSTRY IN 2010-THE ANCIENT "HMV RECORD" REPLAYED

The perennial issue of low trajectory growth of food processing sector in India has not gone beyond problem diagnosis with no worth while action coming through to face and over come the constraints aired from different forums. That same constraints identified more than 4 decades ago continue to be the subject matter of discussion to day speaks volume about the commitment of the governments at the State and Central levels. Here is the latest "revelation" from a premier industry body regarding what "ails" food industry in the country.

"However, the logistics cost was huge. It formed 13% of the GDP (gross domestic produce). The government should work on bringing down the logistics cost. Second problem for India was the fragmentation of land that prevented production of larger volumes. India needed to encourage corporate farming and contract farming as private participation could revolutionalise the agriculture sector. There was a huge escalation between producer to consumer price. If the farm gate price was 10, price to the consumer was 18, thus 80% increase in the price".

If date line is ignored, these "truths" would be same as those uttered years ago by the industry at that time. The only difference is that speakers are different to day and exposure to media is much more extensive. Granted India is a huge country and it takes time for any thing positive to happen under the over bearing bureaucratic environment, the concern amongst the present generation food professionals is whether they would be able to see any perceptible but positive development in this sector during their life time. Deep pessimism may not be out of place looking at the recent budget, which has nothing for the food industry except some pious declarations!.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

NEED A JOB IN FOOD INDUSTRY?-ACCESS JUST-FOOD.COM

Unlike the IT industry, food technology graduates rarely have a chance to see a campus recruiter while doing their course and have to spend considerable time in job hunting. It is rarely that food industry go for advertisements, especially in a country like India and that makes the task of job hunting more back breaking. The new initiative by an organization to launch an "on-line" web based employment site, there fore is very timely and relevant.

"Drawing upon expert industry knowledge and a wealth of technical experience, just-food has specifically aimed the new jobs board at food professionals and industry recruiters around the world. With hundreds of food jobs online, candidates are able to search via keyword, country, sector and salary range. Users can create a profile to ensure they are notified when new positions that match their criteria are posted. Candidate shortlists and applications are manageable via account areas to keep track of all positions of interest"

While the on-line site may be more relevant to job seekers at senior level, out side India, a similar effort can be thought of by the Indian food industry as a collective venture to meet the needs of the industry, Universities, research institutions and government agencies. This can be done by organizations like AFST(I)-Mysore, AIFPA-New Delhi, CIFTI-New Delhi or similar non-profit group with a genuine agenda to help recruiters as well as the food technology professionals. If need be, MFPI can pitch in with some financial grants for setting up a centralized facility for job facilitation in the food sector.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com