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IndiaNews

FOOD & FOOD INGREDIENTS REVIEW

December 2009/January 2010 CONTENTS

p.2 Editorial

Food Industry Overview

p.3 GoI striving to improve food standards

India‘s food inflation accelerates

p.4 Improvement in export of food products

Packaged food industry in India - A bright

road ahead

p.5 Economy to grow 7.7% this fiscal, but

food inflation still a worry: FM

Aquaculture/Fishery

p.6 Declining demand for high-priced sea

foods

Shrimp exports to EU under threat

Fish catch certificates must for exports

Aquaculture/Fishery, Meat & Poultry

p.7 Winter pushes poultry prices northwards

Poultry units feel the heat of Telangana

bandhs

Dairy

p.8 India calls for Indian probiotic studies and

strains

India set to retain top spot in milk

production

p.9 Ban on imports of milk products from

China extended

Despite low supplies, Milkfed sales rise

by 17%

Australia looks at India for the exports of

dairy products

Milk sector calls for aid unanswered

p.10 The government considering ban on

casein exports

Hatsun‘s Palacode plant on track

Cadbury Dairy Milk gets a brand new

look

p.11 Danone to enter health products market

High on health

GSK launches Horlicks Pro Height

Alcoholic Beverages

p.12 Wine consumption expected to grow

Vinsura Wineries launches Brut

UB Group plans big push to wine business

p.13 Heineken partners with UB, brings in

APB India

Deccan Plateau unveils new line of wines

p.14 Four Seasons‘ festive launch - Barrique

Reserve wines

p.15 Bacardi launches Bacardi O, to focus on

smaller cities

The Maharashtra government allows use

of maize for liquor

Savoring mahuda in Leh might soon

become a reality

p.16 Grain-based alcohol on a high as molasses

price soars

Non-Alcoholic Beverages

p.17 Coca-Cola launches energy drink Burn

Tangy flavor to Cola wars: Coke launches

Nimbu Fresh

PepsiCo gets CCEA nod to invest

USD 200 mio in India

p.18 Now, packaged sugarcane juice

Godrej Hershey likely to sell its two

brands to Emami

Jain Agro to launch bottled coconut water

p.19 Bisleri challenges HC order on Maaza

Bisleri launches Vedica

Bisleri gets ready to take on Tata

Tea

p.20 Mcleod Russel buys Uganda tea

plantations

McLeod Russel tastes profit on high

volumes

Jay Shree Tea forms JV with Rwanda firm

Tea/Coffee

p.21 Tea firms see fall in output, export

Tata Coffee‘s net profit at INR 13.9 crores

in Q3

Global coffee exports dip 7.8%; India‘s up

20% (Contents continued on next page)

IndiaNews


December 2009/January 2010 CONTENTS

Food Service & Retailing

p.22 Gloria Jean‘s to have 41 outlets in India

by 2011

Bharti Retail to have 200 outlets by Dec

2010

Blue Foods launches Purple Rain

News Café sets shop in India

Snacks

p.23 United Biscuits set on expansion in India

PepsiCo to launch more products in two

months

How small packs pay off big

Snacks & Culinary Items

p.24 Cheetos Whoosh by Frito-Lay

Maggi introduces new variants for low-

income group

Bhat‘s Foods launches RTE chapattis

Culinary Items

p.25 Dabur to enter ready-to-cook foods

Neesa Agritech ventures into frozen food

Food Additives & Sugar

p.26 Centre of excellence for salt to be set-up

Maharashtra sugar output up by 15%

PepsiCo seeks government nod to use

sugar alternative

Oils

p.27 Edible oil imports rise by 36% in

November 2009

Oilmeal exports fall 44% in Dec

The government to impose trans-fat limits

on vanaspati

p.28 Kerala bans palm oil imports

Groundnut variety that requires less

irrigation

Oils/Spices & Flavors

p.29 ASFL launches a range of add-on

ingredients, Keya

India losing to Vietnam in pepper export

Spices & Flavors

p.30 Spices exports up 20% in November

Food Grains

p.31 Corn finds no takers

Wheat output to set new record this year

Amira Foods plans to expand pan-India

distribution

p.32 Saroj Industries to launch brown rice and

multi-grain flour

Area under Rabi pulses up

Fruits & Vegetables

p.33 Potato output may rise to 8% in 2009-10

APEDA to set-up traceability system for

horticultural products

India eyeing Gulf market for horticulture

exports

Biotech/ Major Food Companies

p.34 Heat-resistant potato developed

Grace Foods forays into India

Nestle to invest INR 250 crores in

Himachal Pradesh

Nestle gets board approval for Speciality

Foods

Major Food Companies

p.35 Vibha Seeds opens new facility

Anil Group acquires Vadodara-based

Vigo Biotech dairy

Agro Tech sales down; profit up

p.36 6 firms interested in setting up food parks

in Punjab

GSK Consumer Q4 net up by 3.3% at INR

34 crores

Bharti-Walmart opens first agricultural

co-operative centre

p.37 Tradeshows & Events

p.38 Projects

p.39 Agri Commodity Prices

Other Publications - ChinaNews

IndiaNews


CONTENTS

Glossary

k ‗000

lakh ‗00 000

mio ‗000 000

crore ‗0 000 000

bio ‗000 000 000

tio ‗000 000 000 000

t tons

kt ‗000 tons

lpd litres per day

klpd kilo litres per day

tpa tons per annum

tpd tons per day

tph tons per hour

tpm tons per month

cpd cases per day

JV Joint Venture

M&A Merger & Acquisition

pa per annum

pcc per capita consumption

Sensex Stock exchange index

Companies in this issue (Please click on links)

Amalgam Specialty Foods India

Amira Foods (India)

Anil Group

Bacardi

Bharti Retail

Bharti-Walmart

Bhat‘s Foods

Bisleri

Blue Foods

Cadbury

Coca-Cola India

Dabur India

Danone India

Four Seasons Wines Ltd (FSWL)

GlaxoSmithKline 11, 36

Gloria Jean‘s

Godrej Hershey

Hatsun Agro Product

Heineken N.V.

Jain Agro Food Products

Jay Shree Tea

Mcleod Russel India

Neesa Agritech

Nestle India 24, 34

PepsiCo 17, 24, 26

Saroj Agro Industries

Tata Coffee

United Breweries

Vibha Seeds

Vinsura Wineries

IndiaNews is published every 2 months by:

GIRACT

24 Pré Colomb, 1290 Versoix – Geneva

Switzerland

Tel +41 22 779 0500

Fax +41 22 779 0505

[email protected]

http://www.giract.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.giract.com/

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 2

Happy New Year to all our readers!!

The year 2009 was a very bad time due to economic recession. Though this had not directly impacted

India seriously, high food price/food inflation was a major concern for the government with food

inflation touching almost 20% during the first week of December 2009. Poor consumers are the worst

hit with high prices of sugar, pulses, dhal, fruits & vegetables, wheat and rice going up by 20%.

However, the year 2009 was marked by two milestones in the food processing sector of the country.

First: The Food Safety & Standards Act 2006 formally came into action in January with setting up of

the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) with P I Suvrathan, former secretary in the

food processing ministry, as its chairman.

Second: From March 19, 2009, the government made it mandatory for the food processing industry to

provide information regarding nutritional value, ingredients used, fat and sugar contents, manufacturing

and expiry dates, etc. on the label. This information is vital for consumers to ensure the quality and

reliability of the foods they eat.

Price hikes of almost all commodities such as sugar, milk and edible oils have forced F&B companies

to buy most of the raw materials from the spot markets to meet their immediate requirements. This is in

contrast to the bulk buying policies of these companies till just a year ago. Restaurant chains are also

following a similar policy. With sugar touching INR 50/kg, many firms are importing large volumes of

sugar directly, instead of buying from local mills. The government has already extended the deadline for

duty-free sugar imports to December 31, 2010.

We report in this issue about the new investments and new launches by major firms. For instance,

leading soft-drink maker, PepsiCo, has been granted approval to invest about USD 200 mio in its Indian

subsidiary, PepsiCo India Holdings. It intends to introduce more products under its Cheetos and

Kurkure brands this year in order to maintain its double digit growth. Nestle India has got approval to

set-up a INR 250 crores F&B facility in Himachal Pradesh.

Coca-Cola announced its foray into the energy drink segment, for the first time, in India with the launch

of its global brand, Burn. For this summer, which is around the corner, Coca-Cola has recently launched

its lemon-based drink, Nimbu Fresh, under its Minute Maid brand.

Acquisitions in the food industry include Ahmedabad-based food and bio-industrial conglomerate, Anil

Group which has acquired Vigo Biotech Dairy Pvt. Ltd. for about INR 20-25 crores and Nestle India

which has recently obtained approval to acquire the healthcare nutrition business of Speciality Foods.

This marks the company‘s formal entry into the health nutrition space.

Given the very rapid changes that the Indian food sector is undergoing currently, we at IndiaNews

believe that a different approach to reporting these changes is required. Hence we have decided to take

a break, analyse the pattern of these changes, discuss the new approach with both current and potential

readers of IndiaNews before coming out with a new format of IndiaNews - which will have a stronger

focus on food ingredients and food technology. Until then we wish you all good luck with your

business in India.

IndiaNews Food & Food Ingredients Review

Editorial

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 3



GoI striving to improve food standards

Due to the spurt of health issues in India, the

Government of India (GoI) has undertaken the

initiative to improve the hygiene levels of foods.

The GoI will be implementing certain safety

norms in order to prohibit adulteration and

contamination of edible oils, packaged-milk and

processed-meat.

GoI will also be implementing certain mandatory

norms for companies that deal with packaged

drinking water. It is expected that these norms,

which will be formulated by the Food Safety and

Standards Act, 2006, will be imposed from

February 2010 in phases. These norms would be

made mandatory and in case of non-adherence to

these norms, companies would either stand to lose

their licenses or would have to cough up certain

financial penalties.

In order to raise the quality of food products and

to prevent food items from being wasted, GoI has

imposed certain norms for slaughter houses, the

process of transporting the same and most

significantly, the hygiene levels to be maintained

in the slaughter houses.

The government has undertaken another initiative

to improve the hygiene standard and quality levels

of food items that are served in restaurants,

schools, railways, canteens, airports, airlines and

cruise. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has

formulated certain guidelines and standard norms

to investigate hygiene levels and quality of food

items. The Centre will be monitoring the retailers

who own 30-40 stores in order to maintain the

standard of foods. (TFPJ 09 Dec 2009)

India’s food inflation accelerates

The prices of foods in India were rising at their

fastest pace in late November, this year, adding to

the pressure on the central bank to tighten

monetary policy sooner to contain any likely spill-

over to the broader economy.

The food price index reached 19% in 12 months

to Nov. 28 as the worst dry spell in nearly four

decades and floods in parts of the country hurt

summer crops.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond briefly

raised one basis point to the day‘s high of 7.5%

after the release of the data. It had ended at 7.4%

on 9th

December, 2009.

A week ago, the Organisation for Economic

Cooperation and Development had cautioned

India against complacency on rising prices.

India‘s widely-watched annual wholesale price

inflation stood at 1.3% in October, 2009, but the

low headline number reflects the effect of high

fuel and commodity prices in the last year and

masks a build-up of price pressures in the country.

Wholesale prices have already risen to above 6%

from the beginning of 2009-10 financial year that

started in April. Economists have said that the

index could climb to as much as 8% by the end of

the fiscal year, above the central bank‘s perceived

comfort zone of around 5%.

The central bank, which cut its key lending rate

by 425 basis points during the worst of the global

crisis, began scaling back its monetary stimulus at

its last policy review in October, by removing

some of the liquidity support measures.

It left its key rates steady in October, but fastest

economic expansion in 18 months in the quarter

through September, fuelled expectations that it

will bring forward a rate rise to contain inflation.

(FlexNews 10 Dec 2009)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 4



Improvement in export of food products

In the year-end review, the commerce and

industry ministry observes positive indications of

recovery of exports of specific products.

According to the review, in October 2009,

improvement in export performance has been

observed in spices, cashew, oil meals, fruits &

vegetables, marine products, tobacco and drugs

compared with the same month of the last year.

It is further expected that export will record a

positive growth towards the end of the 3rd

quarter

or the beginning of the 4th

quarter of the current

financial year (2009-10).

Anand Sharma, union minister of commerce &

industry, said, ―During the first half of the current

year continues to be negative though the

deceleration is progressively slower. The intensity

of the decline in exports to -6.6% in October 2009

from a level of -35.5% in April 2009 is

encouraging‖. Even during the current economic

meltdown, SEZs have registered an impressive

growth in export, investment and employment

generation. (FNB 19 Dec 2009)

Packaged food industry in India - A bright road ahead

The Indian packaged food industry is estimated to

be INR 65 000 crores [2008] and has been

growing at an annual rate of more than 8% over

the past decade, according to the Datamonitor. It

expects the packaged food industry to grow at

more than10% in the next 5 years.

Drivers of growth:

Rising disposable income

Evolution of modern trade – The

organised retail has seen rapid expansion

across supermarkets, hypermarkets and

convenience stores.

Growing need for convenience and health

(Continued in next column)

Packaged Food Industry (Cont’d)

In the new trade policy announced by the

government, there is an increased focus on agro-

based industries which have in turn triggered

heightened activity in the packaged food industry.

Some of the key initiatives which have been

driving the growth of the industry include:

● bringing in food processing sector under

priority lending sector

● setting-up of 10 mega food parks and a target of

30 mega food parks by 2015

● tax rationalisation and exemption

Demand for packaged foods products in India

remains need-based. Hence, products such as

dairy and oil which form part of the daily staple

dominate the total packaged food consumption.

Dairy products constitute about 35% of the total

packaged food industry in India. Groupe Danone

has recently entered Indian dairy market which is

still dominated by local cooperatives such as

GCMMF. Among the multinationals, Nestle has a

sizeable presence in the organised dairy market in

India.

(Continued on next page)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 5




Strong demand for biscuits and other sweet

snacks has helped make bakery & cereals the

second most leading category contributing 24% of

the total packaged foods sales. Biscuits category

is largely dominated by local players like

Britannia and Parle. Breakfast cereals and energy

bars have been one of the fastest growing

categories within the bakery & cereals market.

Key challenges

Varied tastes and preferences

Strong unorganised market

Higher prices of packaged food products

Poor infrastructure due to lack of investment

As growth in income, urbanisation and organised

retail penetration continues, Indian packaged

industry will evolve from need-based

consumption towards choice-driven consumption.

Following sectors hold the key for the future

growth of the packaged food industry:

Ready-to-eat: Low penetration, changing lifestyle

and busier schedule are driving consumers

towards ready-to-eat packaged food segments.

Ready-to-eat meals, breakfast cereals and soups

are expected to see higher growth driven by the

convenience factor. Key companies in the

segment include MTR foods, ITC, Nestle and

Unilever among others.

Indulgence: Rising disposable income will drive

consumers towards indulgent products such as

ice-creams, confectionery and savory snacks.

Demand for the indulgence food category would

largely be driven by ―on-the-go‖ products such as

chocolates, potato chips.

Recent launches such as probiotic ice-cream by

Amul, Monaco Smart Chips by Parle Products

etc. suggest trends in this direction. Companies

such as Nestle, Cadbury‘s, ITC, GCMMF and

PepsiCo would be key beneficiaries from the

overall growth in the indulgent product category.



Health & Wellness: Datamonitor believes that

health & wellness product segments could see

heightened activities as Indian consumers follow

the global trend of ―Go healthy and be well‖. Key

product lines which are expected to benefit from

this trend include edible oils (with low

cholesterol), digestive biscuits, cereal bars etc.

Driven by the strong consumer demand, rapid

urbanisation and increasing organised retail,

packaged food industry in India set to inch

towards INR 1 lakh crores by 2015 with an annual

growth of over 10% making it one of the fastest

growing markets in the world.

(FNB 16 Dec 2009)

Economy to grow 7.7% this fiscal, but food inflation still a worry: FM

Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, exuded

confidence in achieving a growth rate of 7.75% in

the current fiscal, however, he expressed concern

over rising inflation trend and increase in food

prices including rice, wheat, pulses and

vegetables, adding that the rise is due to supply

side issue and it needs to be addressed in a

collaborative manner by both the centre and

states.

WPI index has increased by 19.7%. Therefore,

collaborative efforts of the Central and state

governments are required to tackle this problem,

he added, that there is enough stock of wheat and

rice in the Central pool and sale of the stock in

open markets would ease the pressure on prices.

Meanwhile, in the wake of rising prices, the

government allowed imports of refined sugar at

zero duty up to Dec. 31, 2010. Food inflation has

reached near 20% while sugar is inching near

INR 50/kg in the retail market. The finance

minister said there is also a need to increase

agricultural productivity by improving

effectiveness of public investments in the sector.

(Indian Express 14 Jan 2010)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 6


Aquaculture/Fishery

Declining demand for high-priced sea foods

In the last couple of months, there has been a hike

in the prices of almost all commodities owing to

the global economic recession. Consumers are

especially facing a tough time with the hike in the

prices of food products that are basic necessities

for sustenance.

As a result, the demand for seafood products in

the US market remains moderate in December,

the festive time when the demand for such items

soars. In fact, according to the Seafood Exporters

Association of India (SEAI), earlier there had

been a high demand for seafood products, ranging

from 35-40%, in the US market during the last 3

months of the year.

―It is expected that the demand for expensive

seafood like shrimps will continue to remain low

during the forthcoming festive season in the US‖,

Harish Wadhwa, proprietor of Blue Exporters, a

mid-sized fish export company in Maharashtra,

said.

Due to low consumption, there will be a surplus

of seafood products in the US domestic market,

thereby lowering the prices of such food items. As

a result, the export prices of seafood would also

be lowered leading to a loss for Indian seafood

exporters.

Although the demand for seafood products has

plummeted, Indian exporters are still optimistic as

there has been a cut in anti-dumping duties on

shrimp which are exported to the US. As a result,

the Indian exporters will be charged a low anti-

dumping duty on shrimps, which comes as a

much needed relief.

(Foodprocessing360.com 04 Dec 2009)

Shrimp exports to EU under threat

Exports of shrimps to the European Union (EU) is

under threat after a recent audit visit of Food and

Veterinary Office of EU expressed dissatisfaction

with the Indian residue monitoring system,

sources said.

More than 50% of shrimp exports from India go

to EU countries and a ban would seriously disrupt

aquaculture farms of the nation, Anwar Hashim,

president of Seafood Exporters Association of

India (SEAI) told FE.

Brussels-based Food and Veterinary Office

(FVO) is responsible for ensuring safety of food

imported into EU and has the mandate to ban

imports which do not match the standards

prescribed by it.

―Any laxity on Indian part could jeopardise

exports of more than INR 1 500 crores. The

authorities have to guarantee that laboratory

facilities are set up in all states and that all raw

materials are tested before processing. Farms have

to register with the coastal aquaculture authority

to be eligible for exports‖, Hashim added.

Importers of Indian sea foods have already

reported rampant use of antibiotics such as

chloramphenicol and nitro-furan in aquaculture

farms. Traces of antibiotic residues in aquaculture

shrimps exported in the past have prompted some

of the European countries to reject several export

consignments. (FE 17 Dec 2009)

Fish catch certificates must for exports

With the European Union (EU) implementing a

new scheme from the New Year day, all marine

products exported to EU will have to be

accompanied by a fish catch certificate. This is

aimed at providing traceability of the products to

ensure that they do not arise out of illegal,

unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing.


Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 7


Aquaculture/Fishery,

Meat & Poultry

Fish catch certificates (Cont’d)

Marine Products Export Development Authority

(MPEDA) is the nodal agency to implement the

scheme of issuance of fish catch certificates for

export to EU countries.

Rajkumar S. Naik, Assistant Director at

MPEDA‘s Sub Regional Office, told The Hindu

that the scheme was being implemented in

6 harbors of Karanataka − Mangalore in Dakshina

Kannada; Malpe & Gangolli in Udupi district;

Tadadi, Honnavar and Karwar in Uttara Kannada.

Only 60 fishing harbors in the country had been

selected in the first phase of the implementation

of the scheme.

The fishermen were expected to make entries in

the log books regarding their fishing voyage in

triplicate in the forms supplied to them. One copy

would have to be handed over to the exporter

while another would have to be dropped in the

boxes set up in the fishing harbors.

They would be retaining one copy with

themselves. When exporters approach MPEDA

for certification, the copies collected by it from

the drop boxes would be verified. The exporters

would be given fish catch certificates only if the

log sheets produced by them and the ones

collected from the harbors matched, he said.

All mechanised boats would be supplied with the

log books. The Mangalore MPEDA office would

be issuing log books to 1 800 boats in the city,

2 300 boats at Malpe and 2 800 boats at Gangolli,

he added. (The Hindu 02 Jan 2010)

Winter pushes poultry prices in North

With the demand for poultry products rising

steadily because of winter months in north India

coupled with stable feed prices, prices of poultry

products are likely to remain firm in the next few

months. (Continued in next column)

Winter pushes poultry prices (Cont’d)

According to Poultry Federation of India (PFI),

the wholesale price of broiler chicken has gone up

to INR 72/kg from INR 65/kg in October 2009.

The prices of egg have shot up to INR 44/dozen

against INR 34 three months back.

Meanwhile, feed meal prices have stabilised after

the arrival of new soybean meal. It was quoted at

around INR 18 500/t, almost INR 3 000 less than

October. India is fifth ranked broiler producer in

the world with an estimated production of

2.3 mio t of broiler meat pa. There is a huge scope

for the growth of poultry industry as the country‘s

pcc is only 2.4kg per person pa. (FE 14 Jan 2010)

Poultry units feel the heat of Telangana bandhs

The month-long agitations in Telangana and

Andhra-Rayalaseema regions over the issue of

bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh have hit the poultry

industry very hard.

Irregular supplies have resulted in drop in prices

during the season the poultry industry sees higher

rates. Egg rates (for 100 eggs), which are

supposed to be around INR 280-INR 290 during

the season, are hovering around INR 239 in the

State.

―Hyderabad and Secunderabad consume

50 lakh eggs/day; the region exports up to

90 lakh eggs to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and

eastern Uttar Pradesh‖, Subbaraju, Zonal

Chairman (Hyderabad) of National Egg

Coordination Committee (NECC), told HBL.

Frequent bandhs and disruptions to transport have

cut down the appetite of the twin cities for eggs

by 10 lakhs. The problems of the industry are not

restricted to Hyderabad alone. The egg market in

district headquarters and other urban centres in

the state too are impacted significantly.

(HBL 06 Jan 2010)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 8


Dairy

India calls for Indian probiotic studies and strains

India is developing guidelines that may mean

probiotic strains will have to be backed by clinical

trials conducted on Indian populations if they are

to get market approval.

India‘s small but growing probiotics market is

dominated by strains from non-Indian companies

and so the mooted guidelines suggest that

probiotics should be tested on local populations

before they receive safety approval because of

differences in Indian gut flora.

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR)

said that in addition to these kinds of trials, there

was a supplemental need for India to develop

specific, indigenous probiotic strains for

expressing optimal functionality.

―After a public debate, once the draft is finalised,

we would send it to the Drug Controller General

of India, department of biotechnology, Food

Authority of India. We have tried to harmonise

the standards with international norms as large

section of probiotic products produced in the

country is also exported‖, NK Ganguly, ICMR

former director-general, said.

The research group also proposed an adverse

event surveillance system as part of the voluntary

guidelines that have the potential to be mandatory

at a later point in time.

The Indian probiotics market is growing at about

40% annually, according to Frost & Sullivan data,

which valued the market at EUR 17.5 mio in

2007.

Global probiotic leaders, Danone and Yakult,

which have a 50-50 JV in India, welcomed the

guidelines. (ap-foodtechnology.com 07 Dec 2009)

India set to retain top spot in milk production India is expected to maintain last year‘s record of

being the world‘s largest milk producer, with an

estimated 110 mio t in 2008-09. The country

achieved the distinction with the milk production

of 104.8 mio t in the 2007-08, according to the

National Dairy Development Board.

The spokesman said that the world‘s milk

production was expected to be 688 mio t in 2008-

09, a marginal 1.7% increase over the previous

year as against about 4% increase achieved by

India.

Dairy cooperatives showed a better performance

in India. They procured about 9.2 mio t, an

increase of 9.7% over the previous year, handling

over 14% of the national marketable surplus. The

cooperative sector covered about 21% of the

country‘s villages and over 18% of the total milk-

producing households in rural areas.

The NDDB had prepared an INR 173 bio plan for

the next 15 years to increase its milk production

with better productivity, substantially

strengthening and expanding the infrastructure for

procurement and human resources development.

The NDDB had also set up a Centre for Analysis

and Learning in Livestock and Food at Anand,

Gujarat. (The Hindu 28 Dec 2009)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 9


Dairy

Ban on imports of milk products from China extended

―The central government hereby further extends

the prohibition on imports of milk and milk

products including chocolates, candies,

confectionery and foods with milk or milk solids

as an ingredient from China, for a period of

6 months from December 24 and until further

order‖, the notification said. (BS 26 Dec 2009)

Despite low supplies, Milkfed sales rise by 17%

Milkfed (The Punjab State Cooperative Milk

Producers‘ Federation) which holds 80% share in

the packaged milk market in the state, has seen a

17% increase in its sales over the last one year.

What worries Milkfed, though, is the fall in the

supply of milk. While demand for milk is

increasing, Milkfed is now grappling to ensure

adequate supplies to the state and the union

territory. The average daily procurement of milk

by Milkfed dropped to 10.6 lakh kg in

December 2009, as compared to 10.9 lakh kg in

December 2008.

Ironically, Milkfed is facing a shortage of milk

during winters — traditionally considered to be a

time when supplies are abundant. Not this year.

The extended summer and the scanty, scattered

rain thereafter have led to both late calving among

cattle and a shortage of green fodder. The sales,

meanwhile, are robust. Milkfed‘s average daily

sale of milk —sold under the brand name Verka—

stood at 6.2 lakh l in December 2008 in Punjab

and Chandigarh. In December 2009, the figure

went up to 7.3 lakh l.

Following the steady increase in procurement

price, Verka has also increased the rate of milk.

The price of full cream milk has been increased by

INR 2/kg and of other categories by INR 1/kg.

(FE 07 Jan 2010)

Australia looks at India for the exports of dairy products

Australia accounting for an estimated 2% of the

world‘s milk production is looking at new trade

opportunities in India. It eyes India to export its

premium dairy products.

―In India we are exploring opportunities and

bilateral ties available in the niche segment like

speciality dairy cheese, cultured dairy powders

and other products that are not traditional‖,

Peter Myers, manager at International Market

Development Programme, Victorian Department

of Primary Industries, said.

Victoria which accounted for 80% of Australia‘s

dairy exports was also interested in promoting the

technical know-how to enhance the domestic

production, Myers added. According to a PTI

report, an Australian delegation met several

leading retail chains such as Spencer‘s, Reliance

Fresh in the country to explore the opportunities

in the India. (FNB 05 Dec 2009)

Milk sector calls for aid unanswered

The Guharat Cooperative Milk Marketing

Federation (GCMMF), India‘s largest milk co-

operative, has accused the government of failing

to help it placate the competing interests of

consumers and farmers. GCMMF has increased

the prices of pasteurised milk thrice in 2009 to

USD 0.5/l. However, its 2.8 mio milk producers

are demanding more remuneration.

The co-operative‘s chief GM, Rupinder Singh

Sodhi, told just-food that the Indian government

has ignored a formal GCMMF memorandum

calling for a ban on exports of de-oiled cake - a

rice milling by-product used in cattle feed - and

lowering of taxes on other feed ingredients.

―The cost of production is still rising and if it goes

up further, naturally we have to increase the

price‖, he added. (Just-food 18 Dec 2009)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 10


Dairy

The government considering ban on casein exports

The Centre is all set to restrict exports of casein

from the country due to shortfall in milk

procurement by the dairies, particularly in the

North.

During August-December, 2009, almost 7 000t of

casein were exported during this period, i.e.,

dairies have used up 24.5 crore l or over

16 lakh lpd. This is equivalent to 60% of the 26-

27 lakh lpd of milk that Mother Dairy currently

markets in New Delhi.

Major exporters of casein include VRS Foods,

Bhole Baba Dairy Industries, Modern Dairies and

Industrial Progressive (India) Ltd., Kohinoor

Foods and the Baramati-based Schreiber Dynamix

Dairies Ltd.

Casein exporters now enjoy 9% duty entitlement

passbook benefit on the free-on-board value of

their shipments. Not only is this sop going to be

withdrawn, there is a proposal to altogether ban

exports, official sources said. Besides casein, a

ban of export of milk powder is also apparently

on the anvil.

Casein makers are paying a rupee or two more,

thereby leading to significant milk diversion, the

sources said. (HBL 13 an 2010)

Hatsun’s Palacode plant on track

The Chennai-based Hatsun Agro Product Ltd.,

which is the largest private sector dairy in India,

has set-up the biggest plant near Palacode in

Dharmapuri District of Tamil Nadu.

This plant has the most modern systems and a

milk-processing capacity of 900 000 lpd. The

company had a turnover in excess of

INR 1 000 crores at the end of the last fiscal.


Hatsun’s Palacode plant (Cont’d)

R.G. Chandramogan, MD of Hatsun Agro

Product, said: Hatsun has established an extensive

direct milk procurement network of

300 000 farmers. It has 6 000 collection centers

and 62 chilling units across Tamil Nadu and

Karnataka.

Hatsun has three major divisions —ice cream,

milk and milk products & ingredients— with the

brands including Arun Ice Creams, Arokya Milk

(sold 1 mio lpd), Hatsun ghee, butter and milk

powder. The company also produces cattle feed as

per the required specifications and supplies it to

the farmers at concessional prices.

Hatsun had launched a project called ‗White

Gold‘ which helps farmers to set up mini-dairy

farms of 10-30 animals and provide them with

guidance on water management, fertiliser usage,

labor management, productivity improvement

etc., that motivates the farmers and brings in

tremendous goodwill and loyalty. So far, Hatsun

has been instrumental in promoting 400 such mini

dairy farms across Tamil Nadu.

(India PR Wire 08 Dec 2009)

Cadbury Dairy Milk gets a brand new look

The much loved flagship brand Cadbury Dairy

Milk will now adorn a brand new premium

packaging look for its consumers. The change into

a premium international packaging is the first in

7 years for the brand.

The fine purple and gold packaging portrays the

rich and creamy taste of Cadbury chocolate. The

smooth and sophisticated eating experience of

India‘s most loved chocolate brand is creatively

conveyed in the new international pack with the

gold Cadbury logo. (FNB 23 Dec 2009)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 11


Dairy

Meat & Poultry Danone to enter health products market

Six months after its settlement of disputes with

Britannia Industries Ltd., the Paris-based MNC‘s

Indian subsidiary—Danone India— has made a

quiet entry into the local dairy market with its

fortified chocolate milk in Hyderabad.

Two weeks back, the dairy company with brands

such as Actimel and Activia that are very

successful in the Europe began test-marketing

Choco Plus Milk in Hyderabad.

The firm will not sell milk in pouches like rival

Amul. ―There will be no milk in pouches from us.

Anything else but that‖, Jochen Ebert, GM of

Danone India said.

Danone India‘s head disclosed that the French

company was looking at coming out with India-

specific products, which would be in line with its

global strategy of ‗health through food‘.

The company currently sells its products in four

categories — fresh dairy, waters, baby nutrition

and medical nutrition— and with growth in the

Western markets having peaked; it has turned

attention to the emerging markets.

In 2008, emerging markets contributed 40% of the

group‘s sales because they are growing at a faster

pace than developed markets. That is why India is

important in the company‘s current scheme of

things. (Imagesfood 11 Dec 2009)

High on health

Verka seems to have caught on to the fitness and

low-calorie mantra and has something new in its

kitty. In next summer, the brand will launch

sugar-free barfi, pinni and kheer.

Milkfed, which owns the brand, Verka, has

recently purchased the technology for making

these sweets using artificial sweeteners, with the

know-how from Central Food Technology

Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore.

Verka‘s MD, VK Singh, says that there is a big

market for sugar-free mithai, ―the processes

specified by CFTRI are standardized and we‘ll

use only those artificial sweeteners which are

tested by the institute‖. There are also plans to

increase the shelf-life of Verka kheer, launch

ready-to-serve juices like orange & mango juices

and also sugar-free lassi.

(Indian Express 18 Dec 2009)

GSK launches Horlicks Pro Height

GlaxoSmithKline, one of the leading food &

beverage players in the country, has launched

Horlicks Pro Height which is a specialised protein

formulation containing essential nourishment

which is important for a child‘s growth.

GSK claims that unlike regular health drinks, the

new product contains ‗+3 Protein‘ and best

quality whey protein. Pro Height designed by the

experts at Horlicks Nutrition Academy contains a

combination of soya and whey protein in the ratio

of 60:40 to facilitate easy digestion and faster

absorption. It has 23 vital nutrients and no added

preservatives. The new Horlicks will be available

at INR 200 for a 400g pack in Vanilla flavor.

(FNB 17 Dec 2009) Please refer to more GSK news in Major Food

Companies segment.

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 12


Alcoholic Beverages

Wine consumption expected to grow by 25-30% According to the latest research report by

RNCOS, a market research company, on ‗Indian

Wine Industry Forecast to 2012‘ wine

consumption in India is expected to grow by 25-

30% annually between 2009 and 2012.

India has emerged as one of the fastest growing

markets for wine on the global map. Despite

India‘s vast population of more than 1.1 bio the

consumption of wine remains extremely low. The

per capita consumption of wine in the country was

estimated at around 9 ml in 2008, indicating a

huge potential for growth in the coming years.

Various factors such as favourable government

policies, increasing disposable income, amplified

wine marketing and influence of Western culture

are helping to drive India‘s wine consumption.

The study states that various policies by the state

governments are encouraging domestic wine

producers to set-up their own wineries in the

country, giving a boost to the domestic industry.

The efforts by the Maharashtra and Karnataka

governments remain far-fetched in this regard.

(HBI 15 Dec 2009)

Vinsura Wineries launches Brut Vinsura Vineries Pvt. Ltd., a Nashik valley

winery started by Nashik valley farmers, proudly

adds a fresh sparkle to its brand, Brut, a sparkling

wine.

Brut is made from an exclusive cuvee of

handpicked Chenin Blanc grapes. It is crisp, soft

and well balanced with greater fruit on the palate

to make it elegant and harmonious. A good fizz, a

great feel and a long finish is what the Brut is

characterized by. Brut is best when served at 5-

8°C and available at all leading retail outlets and

at selective malls at INR 610.

(India PR Wire 09 Dec 2009)

UB Group plans big push to wine business

The UB Group plans to give a big push to its wine

business with the investments of INR 100 crores

in the next two years, according to

Abhay Kewadkar, Chief Winemaker and Business

Head, Wines.

At present, the UB Group has two companies to

promote its wine business – Four Seasons Wines

Ltd. (FSWL) which produces Indian wines and

United Vintners Ltd. (UVL) which imports wines

from all over the world. It entered the wine

business in fiscal 2008-09.

The Group has established facilities at Baramati

with equipment imported from France and Italy. It

also has an automatic bottling line and facilities to

ensure good and consistent quality of wines. A

long-term agreement with farmers has also been

signed, Kewadkar said.

In Hyderabad to formally launch some of FSWL‘s

wines in Andhra Pradesh market, he said that the

company has firmed up a strategy that involved

creating awareness, education and access for

wines in the domestic markets. Towards this end,

it has taken up events that include ‗wine tasting

sessions‘, wine parties, festival gift packs and so

on.

He felt that Andhra Pradesh also should promote

wines with a conducive policy, softer duty and tax

structures as its neighbors —Karnataka and

Maharashtra— where the company has already

launched several of its brands.

In Andhra Pradesh, the company‘s Four Seasons

and Zinzi wines launched in May 2009 have

captured nearly 25% market share, with sales of

300-400 cases/month, said K. Laxmi Narasimhan,

COO of United Spirits Ltd. (HBL 22 Dec 2009)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 13


Alcoholic Beverages

Heineken partners with UB, brings in APB India

Heineken N.V., one of the largest brewers in the

world, has just announced a new shareholders‘

agreement with Dr. Vijay Mallya and United

Breweries Ltd. (UB) and agreed the key terms for

the brewing and distribution of the Heineken

brand in India.

As part of the agreement, Heineken would acquire

Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd. (APB) India and in a

subsequent transaction intends to transfer this into

UBL during 2010.

The changes in India come along with changes in

shareholding in other Asian markets. Heineken

has also announced that it has strengthened and

enlarged APB, its JV partnership with Fraser and

Neave Ltd. (F&N), through the transfer of

Heineken‘s controlling stakes in PT Multi Bintang

Indonesia (MBI, 68.5%) and Grande Brasserie de

Nouvelle-Calédonie S.A. (GBNC, 87.3%) to

APB.

―Our partnership and the combination of the

Kingfisher and Heineken brands will transform

our ability to unlock the market‘s considerable

potential and to shape the premium segment‖,

Jean-François, CEO of Heineken‘s, said.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Heineken

has the right to nominate three members of the

UBL Board, including CFO. In a UBL Board

meeting in India, Heineken nominee Guido de

Boer has been appointed as CFO and Messrs René

Hooft Graafland (Member of Heineken N.V.‘s

Executive Board and CFO) and Siep Hiemstra

(Regional President of Heineken Asia Pacific)

have been appointed as non-executive directors.

After the deal, which still has to be approved,

Heineken and Dr. Vijay Mallya and his associates

jointly would hold a majority interest of 75% in

UBL, the No. 1 brewer in India with 48% market

share. Heineken holds a 37.5% interest in UBL.


Heineken partners with UB (Cont’d)

Dr. Vijay Mallya and his associates also hold a

37.5% interest in UBL, with the remaining 25%

held publicly. APB India located at Aurangabad

has a capacity of 300 000 hecto lpa and it brews

Cannon 10000, Tiger and Barons. APB Pearl

located in Andhra Pradesh is producing Cannon

10000 & Tiger, with a capacity of

160 000 hecto lpa.

According to Heineken, the Indian beer market is

expected to grow to 14.4 mio hecto l in 2009. The

beer market has historically been experiencing

double-digit growth and is expected to continue a

strong growth driven by the rapidly developing

middle class, favorable demographics, strong

economic fundamentals and a shift from other

alcoholic beverages. Per capita consumption of

beer is currently estimated at 1.3 lpa.

Through the cooperation with UBL, Heineken

hopes to achieve a strong position in the growing

premium beer segment, which is currently

estimated at 6% of the total beer market.

(FII 12 Dec 2009)

Deccan Plateau unveils new line of wines

Pune-based Deccan Plateau Wines has introduced

a series of new regional Indian wines including

Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Zinfandel, Cabernet-

Shiraz and Shiraz-Cabernet-Merlot.

The firm said that launch of Trivalli (Shiraz-

Cabernet-Merlot) wines is first for any wine-

maker in the country. The wine comes with black

currants, blackberries, cherries and clove.

According to Nitin Shinde and Girish Kamble,

promoters of Deccan Plateau wines, the brand will

raise the quality bar very high and will be finally

India‘s turn to capture the international wine

markets. The wines are a blend of different

flavors of spices. (Continued on next page)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 14


Alcoholic Beverages

Deccan Plateau unveils new line of wines (Cont’d)

Shinde said that the wines will be exported to

Europe, the US and South Africa and will be

launched in Pune, Goa and Aurangabad

immediately and soon in Mumbai.

Deccan Plateau has plans to introduce Rose Wine

and Sauvignon Blanc (white) wines in 2010. Rose

will be semi-sweet, while Sauvignon Blanc, will

come with a fruit flavor with a hint of eucalyptus.

Kamble and Shinde said that Deccan Plateau also

offer professional consultancy services from

plantation vineyard to vinery techniques. The

services include vineyard design, development

and management, wine-making, winery &

building design, process design, machinery and

contract production, contract wine-making and

bottling. (Drinks Business Review 22 Dec 2009)

Four Seasons’ festive launch - Barrique Reserve wines Four Seasons Wines Ltd. (FSWL), a subsidiary of

United Spirits Ltd., has launched its much awaited

reserve wines - the Four Seasons Barrique

Reserve Collection.

The collection includes two limited-edition

varietal red wines from Cabernet Sauvignon and

Shiraz, both made with the best quality grapes

handpicked from the Sahyadri Valley of

Maharashtra.


Four Seasons’ festive launch (Cont’d)

A nine-month maturation in new French oak

barriques (small oak barrels) lends these wines a

subtle complexity, an enigmatic bouquet, a

velvety texture and a lingering finale, offering

wine connoisseurs the best elements every good

wine should bring to the palate.

Testimony to this is the fact that the wines have

already picked up awards at the recently held

Sommelier India Wine Competition, with the

Four Seasons Barrique Reserve Shiraz 2008

winning bronze, while the Four Seasons Barrique

Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 winning a

Commendation.

The Four Seasons Barrique Reserve wines have

been meticulously and passionately created by

Abhay Kewadkar, India‘s most respected

winemaker and a renowned name in the world of

wine.

The Four Seasons Barrique Reserve Collection is

currently available in Bangalore priced at

INR 900 for a 750 ml bottle. The wines have

already hit the Mumbai and Pune markets and will

soon be available in Kolkata and Goa as well in

this year. (IndiaPRwire 23 Dec 2009)

Reserve is a term given to a wine that is of a

higher quality than standard bottling or a wine

that has been matured in oak barrels prior to

being bottled.

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 15


Alcoholic Beverages

Bacardi launches Bacardi O, to focus on smaller cities

Leading global premium spirit manufacturer,

Bacardi, has launched orange-flavored rum,

Bacardi O, in Karnataka and plans to focus on tier

II and III markets in the country.

"Karnataka is the first market in India where the

product has been introduced. We plan to

subsequently roll it out in Andhra Pradesh and

hope to go national by end of the fourth quarter",

Arvind Krishnan, controller-marketing, Bacardi

Martini India told reporters.

The firm is also looking at the imminent launch of

their golden rum Bacardi gold in Karnataka in

couple of weeks. It would be heavy-aged rum, he

said. The firm has focused on 19 smaller cities

where it has launched promotional events.

(ET 10 Dec 2009)

The Maharashtra government allows use of maize for liquor

The Maharashtra government will go ahead with

its decision to allow use of grains like maize,

sorghum and pearl millet for the production of

liquor.

The excise department said that applications from

23 units for the manufacture of grain-based

alcohol have been cleared and 22 proposals are in

the pipeline. Though grains are grown in the

backward regions of Vidarbha, the liquor units

would mostly be located in the sugar belt of

western Maharashtra. (Continued in next column)

The Maharashtra government allows use of maize for liquor (Cont’d)

The government has defended the alcohol-from-

food grains decision by arguing that only

degraded, blackened sorghum and pearl millet

damaged by bad weather and untimely rains that

otherwise goes waste or used as cattle feed would

be used for making liquor.

Those opposed to the decision argued that once

allowed even good quality grains too could be

diverted for alcohol making. Taking note of the

opposition, Chief Minister (CM) had decided to

put on hold these proposals. But the CM clarified

that cleared applications could go ahead. ―The

decision to put on hold the plan is applicable to

new proposals. The existing ones stand cleared‖,

CM said. (ET 18 Dec 2009)

Savoring mahuda in Leh might soon become a reality

Country-brewed liquor from one region of India

may soon be available across the country. The

Ahmedabad-based National Innovation

Foundation (NIF) has begun collecting samples of

locally-brewed liquor from across India for lab

tests.

From the test results, 5 types of liquor will be

taken up for quality control to make sure they are

safely mass-produced and sold through interested

companies or distributors.

The NIF has had two experiences with traditional

formulations - a cactus fruit drink from Jesdan in

Rajkot; and a method of organically ripening

bananas by a tribal man in Angul in Orissa.

The cactus fruit drink was analysed by the Central

Food Technological and Research Institute

(CFTRI) in Mysore and the results confirmed

high contents of calcium, iron and vitamin C. The

NIF has recently filed a patent for the drink in the

collective name of the village.


Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 16


Alcoholic Beverages

Savoring mahuda in Leh (Cont’d)

The herbal banana ripener developed by

Budhadeba Sahu of Angul was also validated by

CFTRI. In terms of total and reducing sugars, the

test found Sahu‘s formulation superior to

commercial methods of ripening using chemicals

and various other organic methods.

(Indian Express 05 Jan 2010)

Grain-based alcohol on a high as molasses price soars

The Maharashtra Government‘s offer of INR 10

subsidy for every litre of alcohol produced from

grain has led to a virtual scramble for setting up

non-molasses-based distilleries in the State.

The state government has till now issued

23 licenses for grain-based distilleries, involving

an aggregate alcohol production capacity of

10.8 lakh lpd.

Assuming 270-275 days of working, that comes to

almost 30 crore l annually — not small, in relation

to the State‘s total rectified spirit (potable plus

industrial) output of 36 crore l in 2008-09 or even

the peak 70 crore l achieved the previous year.

Among those to have been granted licenses under

the INR 10-a-litre subsidy scheme for grain-based

alcohol are the 1.2 lakh lpd-capacity Radico NV

Distilleries at Aurangabad (in which Radico

Khaitan holds 36%), Tilaknagar Industries in

Ahmednagar (1 lakh lpd) and Mallikarjun

Distilleries Pvt. Ltd. at Gangapur in Aurangabad

(1 lakh lpd).

Of these, the first two have commissioned their

plants, while Viraj Alcohols (Kolhapur), Anand

Distilleries (Amravati) and Alcoplus Producers

Pvt. Ltd. (Latur) have reportedly even started

availing themselves of subsidy. The bulk of the

distilleries approved are of 30 000-60 000 lpd

capacity. (Continued in next column)

Grain-based alcohol on a high (Cont’d)

The liquor units using grain as feedstock are

eligible under the State Government's policy

originally of June 8, 2007, for INR 10/l rebate on

the excise duty payable by them.

In addition, they are being offered capital

reimbursement of up to 150% or INR 37.5 crores

(whichever is less) if the investment is in the

notified backward ‗D‘ zones of Marathwada and

Vidarbha. This goes up to 200% or INR 50 crores

(whichever is less) if the unit comes up in the

more backward ‗D+‘ zones.

Only those distilleries sanctioned before

August 20, 2009, and commencing production

within two years of the license being granted are

eligible for the sops. Moreover, these are valid

only till December 31, 2013, or four years from

start of production, whichever is earlier.

The latter was directly revenue-linked: A three-

year export duty exemption subject to the

distillery generating a minimum INR 50 crores of

annual revenue. The policy spurred the setting up

of Radico Khaitan‘s first 1 lakh lpd grain-based

distillery in Rampur in addition to its existing

2 lakh lpd molasses-based unit.

Subsidies for grain-based distilleries have been

justified mainly due to the higher cost in

manufacturing alcohol from sorghum, pearl millet

or broken rice against the conventional sugarcane

molasses route. Besides hedging liquor makers

from volatile molasses prices, it also provides an

additional market for coarse grain grown by

resource-poor farmers in rain-fed regions.

Critics, however, allege that the subsidies are

trade-distorting and divert grain that would

ordinarily have been consumed by humans or

used for animal-feed. Also, the distilleries are

sourcing the grain not directly from farmers but

from the market, which does not really benefit

them. (HBL 12 Jan 2010)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 17



Coca-Cola launches energy drink Burn in India

Beverages maker, Coca-Cola, announced its foray

into the energy drink segment in India with the

launch of Burn. Priced at INR 75 for a 250 ml-

can, Burn is one of the most successful energy

drink from the company‘s global portfolio.

As part of the phased roll-out, Burn will be

initially available in select premium outlets in

three major cities Mumbai, New Delhi and

Bangalore, the company said.

Burn is targeted at the trendsetting, socially active

and adventurous young adults who require energy

to experience life to the fullest, it added. This

energy drink has a strong presence in Russia,

Ukraine, France, Italy, Great Britain, Austria,

Poland, the US, Australia and South Africa.

Coca-Cola India, which mostly sells carbonated

drinks in the country, has various brands like

Thumbs Up, Sprite, Limca, Fanta, Coca-Cola,

Kinley, Georgia Tea & Coffee, Maaza and

Minute Maid in its portfolio.

(Rediff Business 01 Dec 2009)

Tangy flavor to Cola wars: Coke launches Nimbu Fresh

In a bid to offer a lemon-based drink to counter

PepsiCo‘s Nimbooz and Parle Agro‘s LMN, Coca

Cola India has come up with a lemon juice,

Nimbu Fresh under its Minute Maid brand.


Tangy flavor to Cola wars (Cont’d)

Nimbu Fresh is expected to take the cola-lime

wars to another high with the latest lemon

concoction from the Coke priced aggressively

compared to its PepsiCo and Parle counterparts

both of which were launched a year ago. While

Nimbooz is available in 200 ml & 350 ml PET

bottles priced at INR 10 & INR 15 respectively, a

400 ml Nimbu Fresh is priced at INR 15. Coke

also has a 1 l PET priced at INR 40.

Now Coke has launched the product only in Tamil

Nadu and the national launch is expected later this

year. Interestingly, packaged lemon juice is a

relatively new category with PepsiCo and Parle

Agro who entered the segment last year despite

fresh lime being the biggest with 49% share in the

fresh juice category.

All the three players are looking at making a dent

in the large unorganised segment with each

claiming the product tastes closest to made-at-

home lemonade. Both Coke and PepsiCo have

aerated limes, Limca and 7Up, respectively.

INR 15 000 crores packaged juice market in India

is dominated by fruit drinks at 90%, followed by

juices (8%) and nectars (2%). (ET 19 Jan 2010)

PepsiCo gets CCEA nod to invest USD 200 mio in India

Soft-drink maker, PepsiCo, has been granted

approval to invest an additional USD 200 mio in

its Indian subsidiary, PepsiCo India holdings, in

the next 3 years, according to the cabinet

committee on economic affairs (CCEA) after a

clearance from the FIPB.

PepsiCo India is planning to invest more than

USD 170 mio, with its bottling partners investing

the rest of the amount. This is so far the largest

investment by PepsiCo in its beverage business

since its entry into India in 1989.


Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 18



PepsiCo gets CCEA nod (Cont’d)

These new investments will be spread across

supply chain, fruit processing, agriculture,

manufacturing, market infrastructure and R&D. In

the next three years, capacities will be augmented

in various locations, including setting-up of new

green-field plants, the company says.

It has already begun scouting around for suitable

locations. With this move, PepsiCo‘s total

investment for which it has approvals will

increase to USD 655 mio. It has invested around

USD 1 bio in India so far. India is among the

fastest-growing markets for both of the world‘s

largest soft drink companies— PepsiCo and Coca-

Cola. (ET 10 Jan 2010)

Now, packaged sugarcane juice

Kolhapur-based Warana dairy producers‘

cooperative is preparing to assert its own identity

through the launch of Warana Joy, its national

brand. Among its new products is sugarcane juice

in aseptic tetra packs. The cooperative is in the

process of applying for a patent for this product.

It has already launched mango and apple juices

under the new brand. ―We plan to bring many

products such as milk shakes, flavored milk,

condensed milk and butter milk in aseptic

packaging. We have a daily capacity to produce

5-6 lakh packs‖, said chairman of the cooperative,

Vinay Kore, who plans to invest about

INR 100 crores over the next few years.

Even as it seeks to launch its independent brand,

Warana is a large player in the toll (or contract)

manufacturing space. It produces 45tpd of

Bournvita for Cadbury‘s, table butter for

Britannia and soy milk for Ruchi Soya. It is

looking to strengthen this business through an

equal JV with the Saudi Arabia-based National

Food Industries Corp. (ET 31 Dec 2009)

Godrej Hershey likely to sell its two brands to Emami

A leading food and beverages company in India,

Godrej Hershey Beverages and Food Ltd., is

likely to sell its non-carbonated beverage brands,

Jumpin and XS, to a consumer goods company

Emami Ltd.

Godrej Hershey is holding talks with several

prospective buyers for the brands. Godrej Hershey

is willing to sell two brands for around

USD 17.7 mio for which Yes Bank is preparing

the mandate. The bank has the mandate to sell the

non-core brands, including edible oil, tea and non-

carbonated drinks, Indian media reports.

Jumpin and XS put together contribute around

USD 12 mio to Godrej Hershey‘s kitty. Sofit

soymilk has a turnover of around USD 2 mio.

Other than the brands, the total valuation of the

plant comes to around USD 6.6 mio.

(Foodbizdaily 04 Dec 2009)

Jain Agro to launch bottled coconut water

With an aim to create its base in Western India,

Bangalore-based Jain Agro Food Products Pvt.

Ltd. is planning to launch bottled tender coconut

water under the brand name, Cocojal, in

Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat on January 1, 2010.

The company has appointed Maharashtra Agro

Food Product Enterprises (MAFPE) as a sole

distributor for Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat.

MAFPE is in the process of appointing district-

level distributors across these three states. (Continued on next page)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 19



Jain Agro (Cont’d) Presently, Cocojal is being sold out in New Delhi

and Bangalore. The company‘s coconut water

processing plant is located near Bangalore.

―Cocojal will be available in 200 ml bottle at a

retail price of INR 20. The life of Cocojal will be

nine to 18 months‖, Dhananjay Pange, proprietor

of MAFPE, said in a media report.

(Imagesfood 15 Dec 2009)

Bisleri challenges HC order on Maaza

Bisleri has challenged the order of New Delhi

High Court (HC) which had restrained the

Ramesh Chauhan-promoted firm from infringing

on trade rights of the beverage major, Coca Cola,

by manufacturing Maaza drinks.

Bisleri has filed a petition before the division

bench challenging the order slamming the firm for

manufacturing mango-flavored soft drink under

the trade name, Maaza, in India through third

party and had directed not to sell it.

Bisleri (formerly Golden Agro) had sold the

Maaza trade mark to Coca Cola for use in Indian

market but had reserved the right for overseas

markets. However, Coca Cola had alleged that

Bisleri had continued to use the trade mark in

Indian markets through dummy firms.

Passing the order, Justice Manmohan Singh had

found that Bisleri in association with Verma

International, a firm allegedly owned by its

employee, RV Verma, was producing soft drinks

under the trade name, Maaza, in a factory in

Andhra Pradesh and exporting it to Australia and

some other countries. (ET 08 Dec 2009)

Bisleri launches Vedica

Leading mineral water manufacturer, Bisleri, has

recently launched Vedica which is positioned as

natural mountain water sourced from the

Himalayas. The water is being sourced from a

spring in Uttarakhand; this will be bottled and

packaged at Bisleri International‘s plant in the

same state. The product will be available in

500 ml and 1 l packs. (Imagesfood 30 Dec 2009)

Bisleri gets ready to take on Tata

In a bid to take on Tata Tea‘s enhanced water

brand which is yet to be launched in the domestic

market, FMCG major Parle Bisleri is gearing up

to launch its enhanced water brand within two

months.

―We are setting up a new manufacturing facility

for the new products in New Delhi. We will be

making fortification of our new product with

vitamins and minerals‖, said Bisleri

International‘s chairman, Ramesh Chauhan.

Moreover, Parle Bisleri will be the first FMCG

major to enter the enhanced water segment in the

INR 2 400 crores packaged water business in

India. On the other hand, Tata Tea Ltd. (Maker of

Himalayan Water) is stepping up its R&D

projects in order to foray into this nascent

segment. Tata Tea is building its strategic

capabilities to access a new distribution channel

across the country for liquid products.

―We are currently testing with 4 different flavors

in Mumbai. Our flavored water brand fortified

with vitamins is developed at Bisleri

International. The premium brand will be priced

at around INR 20‖, he added.

With 60% market share, Parle Bisleri currently

leads the pack in the packaged water business in

the country. Incidentally, PepsiCo India is also

eying the enhanced water space to take on rivals

in the packaged water business. (FE 31 Dec 2009)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 20


Tea

Mcleod Russel buys Uganda tea plantations

Kolkata-based tea plantation major, Mcleod

Russel India Ltd., is acquiring the Uganda

business of UK-based James Finlay Ltd. Mcleod‘s

subsidiary, Borelli Tea Holdings Ltd., is picking

up a 100% stake in James Finlay (Uganda) Ltd.

for a provisional consideration of USD 25 mio, it

said.

The deal will also involve Borelli paying another

USD 5 mio to the vendors, James Finlay and

James Finlay International Holdings Ltd., payable

as inter corporate debt.

The transaction involves Borelli entering into a

share purchase agreement with the vendors to buy

Uganda‘s Rwenzori Tea Investments, which owns

a 100% in James Finlay (Uganda) Ltd.

The acquired firm is involved in growing,

processing and marketing of black tea and owns 6

tea estates with annual production of around

15 mio kg of black tea. James Finlay (Uganda) is

profit making and dividend paying, the release

added.

This deal follows Mcleod‘s buy of Gisovu Tea

Company in Rwanda that has a capacity of

producing around 1.7 mio kg of tea annually. The

new acquisition will help McLeod Russel expand

its capacity to 96 mio kg pa. Mcleod could also

look at expanding its operations in Uganda

further. (Reuters 24 Dec 2009)

McLeod Russel tastes profit on high volumes

During the quarter ended on 31st December, 2009,

McLeod Russel India Ltd., world‘s largest

producer of tea with gardens spread across India,

Vietnam and Uganda, posted 184% jump in net

profit at INR 137.9 crores (INR 48.5 crores),

riding high on increased production of

227 lakh kg (205 lakh kg), higher sales volume at

235 lakh kg (211 lakh kg) and higher selling price

at INR 142.41 a kg on an average (INR 114.9/kg)

during the period, according to a company

release.

During the first nine months of the current fiscal,

the company‘s exports were 207 lakh kg

(206 lakh kg) at INR 151/kg on an average

(INR 116/kg on an average). (HBL 26 Jan 2010)

Jay Shree Tea forms JV with Rwanda firm

One of India‘s biggest tea producers, Jay Shree

Tea and Industries Ltd. has formed a JV with a

Rwandan firm to acquire plantations in the central

Africa.

The 50:50 JV by Kolkata-based Jay Shree Tea is

expected to snap up by the end of January

majority control in at least two tea plantations

being disinvested by the Rwandan government,

said an official of the Tea Board, the tea industry

regulator.

The two gardens together produce around

4 mio kg p.a. The Rwandan government plans to

sell a 60% stake in tea estates immediately and

another 30% after some time. The balance 10%

would eventually be held by a cooperative of

plantation workers, he added.

Jay Shree Tea‘s MD, D.P. Maheswari, said that

the firm was evaluating acquisition possibilities in

Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.

(Live Mint 13 Jan 2010)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 21


Tea/Coffee

Tea firms see fall in output, export

Tea output fell by 2.1 mio kg during January-

October this year to 830.3 mio kg from

832.5 mio kg reported during the first 10 months

of 2008.

The exports during the period dropped by 12.4%

to 150 mio kg from 171.2 mio kg in the same

period last year, according to data published by

the Tea Board of India and the Indian Tea

Association (ITA).

The production in South India has declined by

2.3% to 196.1 mio kg during January-October,

2009, from 200.7 mio kg in the same period last

year. In North India, output increased 0.4% to

634.1 mio kg from 631.7 mio kg a year ago. In

Assam, the output rose sharply, while Bengal

remained under pressure.

Tea output in 2008 & 2009 (Jan-Oct)

2009

(mio kg)

2008

(mio kg)

%

Change

North

India

634.1 631.7 0.4

South

India

196.1 200.7 -2.3

Exports in 2008 & 2009 (Jan-Oct)

North

India

73.8 96.0 -23.1

South

India

76.2 75.3 1.2

North Indian teas which comprise the Assam

valley, Cachar, Darjeeling, the Dooars and the

Terai have seen an increase in output by

2.4 mio kg during the first 10 months of the year

compared with the last year.

But the production in Bengal which consists of

Darjeeling, the Dooars and the Terai has come

down by more than 9 mio kg. Meanwhile, the

average price during the period is up by

INR 25/kg to INR 159.1/kg from INR 133.8/kg

during the same period last year.

(The Telegraph 13 Dec 2009)

Tata Coffee’s net profit at INR 13.9 crores in Q3

Tata Coffee Ltd. has announced the financial

results for the quarter ended on 31st December,

2009. The net sales were at INR 76.4 crores for

the quarter ended on 31st December, 2009, against

INR 65.1 crores for the same quarter in 2008.

The net profit/loss was at INR 13.9 crores for the

quarter against INR 12.2 crores for the quarter

ended in 2008. The net sales were at

INR 239.8 crores for 9 months ended on

31st December, 2009, against INR 249.3 crores for

the same period in 2008.

The net profit/loss was at INR 25.5 crores for

9 months ended on 31st December, 2009, against

INR 23.7 crores for 9 months ended on

31st December, 2008. The company has reported

an EPS of INR 13.6 for 9 months ended on 31-

December-2009 against INR 12.7 for the same

period in 2008. (equitybulls.com 26 Jan 2010)

Global coffee exports dip 7.8%; India’s up 20%

Coffee exports globally have fallen 7.8% to

13.4 mio bags (each containing 60kg) in first

2 months of the 2009-10 crop year, whereas those

from India have risen by more than 20% to

5.1 lakh bags in the same period, the International

Coffee Organisation (ICO) has said.

―Exports during October-November period of the

2009-10 coffee year have decreased by 7.8% to

13.4 mio bags compared to 14.5 mio bags in the

same period last year‖, the ICO has said.

Global coffee export figures remained bleak due

to a sharp fall in shipments from Brazil, the

world‘s largest coffee producer.

During the October-November period, overseas

sale of coffee bean from Brazil dipped 11.1% to

5.3 mio bags from 6 mio bags. (PTI 07 Jan 2010)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 22


Food Service & Retailing

Gloria Jean’s to have 41 outlets in India by 2011

The Australian coffee retail brand, Gloria Jean‘s

Coffees, plans to have a total number of 41 outlets

by end of 2011. At present, Gloria Jean‘s Coffees

has 10 outlets in the cities of Mumbai, Bangalore,

Chennai and Hyderabad. The average size of an

outlet is between 1 000-1 200 sq.ft.

―In addition to Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad

and Chennai, we will expand to the new cities of

Pune, Delhi, Mysore, Coimbatore, Cochin,

Thiruvananthapuram and Kolkata‖,

Pankaj K Neeraj, head of operations at Citymax

Hospitality (the master franchisee for the brand in

India) said. (Imagesfood 15 Dec 2009)

Bharti Retail to have 200 outlets by Dec 2010

Bharti Retail said that it will expand the number

of its retail stores to 200 from the present 70 by

the end of 2010. Bharti Enterprises‘ VC & MD,

Rajan Mittal, said most of these will be Easyday

stores. Mittal, however, refrained from

commenting on investment numbers till

December 2011 when it completes three years of

operations with a turnover of INR 1 000 crores.

The company has a tie-up with US retail major –

Wal Mart− operating in both wholesale cash-and-

carry format and Easyday retail format and

currently operates only in the northern part of the

country.

―We will now expand in Rajasthan, Madhya

Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and the NCR‖, Mittal said.

The company had earlier planned to pump in

USD 2 bio by 2017 with 10 mio sq. ft. space.

Mittal said that the firm was selling Wal Mart

labels such as George and Great Value. All the

private labels constitute 16% of the total products

and the company was aiming to increase it in the

future. (Hindustan Times 11 Dec 2009)

Blue Foods launches Purple Rain

Restaurant chain Blue Foods which manage

brands like Copper Chimney, Noodle Bar,

Bombay Blues has added a new restaurant brand

—Purple Rain— in its portfolio. It has launched

its first outlet at Sobo Central Mall in Mumbai.

Chef Orlati, Head Manager, Purple Rain said,

―This is not a fusion cuisine. We have tried to

create the menu with a combination of flavors and

global influences wherein each dish has a flavor

of its own and no dishes have the common

sauces‖. (HBI 03 Dec 2009)

News Café sets shop in India

South Africa‘s high street café and cocktail bar,

News Café, has entered India following a

franchising agreement with Hyderabad-based

Numbers Only to open its outlets. The firm which

opened its first outlet in New Delhi said that it

would launch four such cafes in the future.

News Café is a part of South Africa-based

Fournews Group which has a portfolio of brands

such as Café Fino, Headline, Danesi Caffe,

Fusion Foods and Roasted Media under its belt in

food, drinks, entertainment venues and design

aesthetics.

The USD 40 mio News Café has said that at this

point all stores will be owned and managed by

Numbers Only Hospitality in India, but they have

the mandate to franchise the brand under license

in India. The investment per outlet will be

between USD 750 000 and USD 1 250 000.

(FNB 23 Dec 2009)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 23


Snacks

United Biscuits set on expansion in India

The UK-based biscuit manufacturer, United

Biscuits, is set to enter the India market by

acquiring a manufacturing facility owned by

SS Food Industries in Himachal Pradesh,

according to the Economic Times.

United Biscuits is planning to first introduce

McVitie‘s brand in India in the first quarter of

2010. SS Food Industries manufactures biscuits

which are exported to Africa and the Middle East.

Frost & Sullivan predicts that the Indian bakery

industry is expected to grow by 8% rate from

2010 onwards.

According to the market analysts, although local

makers have an advantage in many ingredient

markets, the threat from imports looms large.

In their analysis of ingredients applications for the

Indian bakery industry, according to Frost &

Sullivan, the market will nearly double in 7 years

from revenues of over USD 161.4 mio in 2007 to

USD 278.1 mio in 2014.

The Indian market is devoid of entry barriers for

imports, with the local manufacturers competing

against major global players such as Denmark‘s

ingredients giant, Danisco, and enzyme supplier,

Novozymes. (Bakeryandsnacks.com 07 Dec 2010)

PepsiCo to launch more products in two months Food and beverages major, PepsiCo India, is

planning to launch more products under the

brands, Cheetos and Kurkure, in the next

two months, Pepsico India Holdings‘ VP

(Marketing), Ruchira Jaitly, said.


PepsiCo to launch more (Cont’d)

The firm was planning to launch them by

January 2010 and hoping to maintain its double-

digit growth. The Cheesy Bugs are made from

whole grain and does not have any artificial or

added flavors, she said. The company had set

apart more than 30% of its turnover for promotion

of new products in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, she

added. (ET 01 Dec 2009)

How small packs pay off big

Priced at INR 5 for a pack of 4-5 biscuits, on an

average depending on the brand, Britannia found

that the biscuits were flying off the shelves as

consumers took to the handy packs.

It isn‘t just Britannia that launched low unit price

(LUP) packs of its top brands. Confectionery

major, Cadbury India, which launched its

blockbuster brand, Cadbury Dairy Milk (CDM),

in INR 2 packs a little over a year ago, is seeing a

surge in sales volumes as consumers lap up its

offerings. MD of Cadbury India, Anand Kripalu,

says that the INR 2 pack of the CDM brand is

almost 15% of the volumes of the brand now.

What started with the shampoo makers selling

their products in LUP or sachets is now de rigueur

across categories: biscuits to toothpastes, soaps to

potato chips and snacks, and to even service

offerings such as telecom re-charge packs,

marketers are discovering that small packs, in the

price range of INR 5 to INR 10, bring home the

volumes.

Britannia‘s MD, Vinita Bali, said that the firm‘s

small-pack strategy is paying off big for the

company and is tracking to be INR 250-

300 crores business this year. Brand consultant

Harish Bijoor says that though India is a large

market, it is large in trickle-drops. ―Every

marketer who wants to harvest the wind will have

to adopt little-drops strategy. This means going

the way of small packs‖, he explains.

(HBL 13 Dec 2009)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 24


Snacks & Culinary Items

Cheetos Whoosh by Frito-Lay

PepsiCo India‘s Frito-Lay division has launched

Cheetos Whoosh Cheesy-Bugs for kids. The

product is made from whole grains making it rich

in fibre & proteins and is fortified with Vitamin

A, the company sources said.

Cheetos Whoosh Cheesy bug has no artificial

flavor or colors, zero trans-fats and no added

MSG. This innovation is get set to excite kids

with unique ,exciting, never seen before bugs

shapes like snakes, scorpions, lizards and spiders

all in one bag with delicious real cheese flavor,

sources added. The product is available

nationally priced at INR 10 for 33g.

(FBD 14 Dec 2009)

Please find more PepsiCo news in the Sugar

segment.

Maggi introduces new variants for low-income group

Nestle India has launched two new products –

Maggi Rasile Chow and Maggi Masala-ae-Magic.

These are primarily low price concepts for the

bottom of the pyramid.

Rasile Chow has been developed especially for

the rural/semi-urban markets to provide low-cost,

light meal fortified with iron. Rasile Chow, gravy

noodles that can be cooked in 2 minutes, will be

available for INR 4/pack.

Masala-ae-Magic is a taste enhancer containing

iron, iodine and vitamin A. It is available in the

single-use sachets for INR 2 and was developed

with the technology from Nestle R&D, Singapore.

The company will launch a nutrition education

programme for its target markets, beginning with

Dharavi in Mumbai. (Imagesfood 30 Dec 2009)

Bhat’s Foods launches RTE chapattis

In a recent development, Karnataka-based

Polykorp‘s food division, Bhat‘s Foods, has

launched ready-to-eat (RTE) chapattis. Currently,

Karnataka is the market for these chapattis but the

company is gearing up for a national foot print

early next year, according to a media report.

The ready-to-eat chapattis are made out of wheat,

sorghum and finger millet. The company has

invested about INR 8 lakh for an indigenous

fabricated chapatti machine. The capacity of the

machine is 1 000 chapattis per hour. The shelf life

of the plain and masala chapattis are 3 days and

7 days, respectively, under refrigeration.

The company claims that the entire process of

sourcing and manufacturing is carried out in

accordance with the Food Safety & Standard Act,

2006. The plain chapattis are priced at INR 35 for

300g whereas Masala chapattis cost INR 40.

As part of its next phase of expansion, company is

scouting for franchisees. The estimated cost for a

franchisee outlet is between INR 15 and 25 lakh,

the company said.

Another business opportunity for chapatti makers

is the concept of vending chapatti rolls with

vegetarian or non-vegetarian filling. Kiosks can

be put up at malls and shopping centres to offer

these anytime-snacks.

Future products in the pipeline include fibre-rich

chapattis and rice rotis. Efforts are on to seek

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point

(HACCP) and ISO certification.

Polykorp Pvt. Ltd. is known for its leading bakery

brand, Beekays. The company‘s other division

Bakers Shoppee deals with the supply of imported

bakery and café machines.


Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 25


Culinary Items

Dabur to enter ready-to-cook foods

FMCG major, Dabur, plans to launch its ready-to-

cook products in the beginning of the next fiscal

under its Hommade brand to expand in the

estimated INR 2 800 crores packaged food

segment. At present, Dabur sells its culinary

pastes such as garlic, ginger, ginger-garlic &

tamarind, tomato puree and coconut milk in the

packaged format under the brand, Hommade,

besides Real and Activ brands of fruit juices in

the packaged food category.

―Going forward, we are looking at expanding the

range soon, including entry into new formats of

packaged food products, which are showing good

potential‖, Dabur India‘s Marketing Head

(Foods), KK Chutani, told PTI.

He said that Dabur is looking at traditional items

like paneer and the products would be launched

under the Hommade brand. The firm will focus on

the southern markets for the new products. Its

food business including beverages is worth

INR 400 crores and contributes around 13% of its

overall turnover. (BS 14 Dec 2009)

Neesa Agritech ventures into frozen food

Ahmedabad-based agri-biotech company Neesa

Agritech Pvt. Ltd. (NAPL) has made foray into

the frozen foods segment with the brand name of

‗Instant Indian‘. NAPL has planned to launch all

major categories of foods including curries,

breads, rice, snacks and desserts.

Sanjay Gupta, group chairman of NAPL said,

―We are targeting India as well as overseas ethnic

market in the US, UK and Gulf to harness the new

consumer trend and to make the category more

relevant and exciting for consumers and channel

partners‖.

Instant Indian range claims to be 100% natural.

NAPL has decided to look for new ways to drive

value in the frozen, ready-to-eat-food category.


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Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 26


Food Additives & Sugar

Centre of excellence for salt to be set-up

By the end of the year, the country will have its

first centre of excellence on salt that is expected

to act as a catalyst in achieving the production

target of 38 mio t by 2020, according to

P. N. Rao, VP of Indian Salt Manufacturers‘

Association.

To be set-up with an initial investment of

INR 5 crores in Ahmedabad, the centre will be

maintained by the Centre and the State

government in collaboration with the Salt

Commissioner, Central Salt and Marine Chemical

Research Institute, Bhavnagar, the Centre for

Community Medicine, the All India Institute of

Medical Sciences, New Delhi and other

international organisations.

Ahmedabad contributes to more than 70% of the

country‘s salt production led by Tata Chemicals,

Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd. and Nirma and

followed by several fragmented small and

medium salt pans. (HBL 25 Jan 2010)

Maharashtra sugar output up by 15%

Sugar output in Maharashtra, the largest sugar-

producing state, has increased by 15% to

11.6 lakh t so far in this season compared with

10.1 lakh t in the same period last season, due to

more crushing of cane, according to the

Maharashtra State Co-operative Sugar Factories

Federation‘s secretary, Ajit Chougule.

The output has increased as the mills have

crushed 21 lakh t more sugarcane this season, he

said. However, he added that recovery (rate at

which sugar is produced out of a quintal of cane)

has fallen to 9.7% from 10.7% of the last year.

Chougule said as many as 129 mills have started

crushing in the state; Amongst 129, 103 are co-

operatives and rest private.


Maharashtra sugar output up (Cont’d)

The association‘s MD, Prakash Naiknavare, has

said that the state produced about 48 lakh t of

sugar in the October-September season against

46 lakh t in the same season last year.

India, the largest sugar consumer in the world, is

estimated to produce 16 mio t this season, though

it needs about 23 mio t to meet its annual demand.

The government has allowed duty-free imports of

raw and white sugar to augment the domestic

availability and curb price rise. The mills and

private traders have imported more than 5 mio t of

raw sugar and 1 mio t of white sugar.

(FE 08 Dec 2009)

PepsiCo seeks government nod to use sugar alternative

In what could be an effective way to overcome

soaring sugar prices, PepsiCo India has sought

government nod for using alternative sweetener

for beverages. The prices of sugar which account

for a third of the input cost of carbonated

beverages have skyrocketed to INR 40/kg from

around INR 20 last year.

Citing the example of the plant Stevia, often

found in Latin America, China and Africa,

Chadha said that Pepsi wants to use it as a sugar

substitute and grow it in India. ―Stevia is the sugar

of tomorrow. Its leaves are 30 times sweeter than

sugar. We are talking to the regulatory people. It

is allowed in other countries and should be

allowed in India as well‖, Chadha said.

Meanwhile, the company is looking at various

options like leveraging on imports and hiking the

prices of its products to tide over the situation.

Besides, the company is entering into future trade

contracts of sugar as part of the strategy to

minimise the cost. ―Fortunately, given that import

is allowed we can lock in and look in forward

deals and that is what is really helping up tide

over the situation‖, Chadha added.

(The Hindu 06 Dec 2009)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 27


Oils

Edible oil imports rise by 36% in November 2009

India‘s vegetable oil imports in November, the

first month of the 2009-10 oil marketing year, has

surged by 36%, largely due to low oilseed

production and poor carryover stocks. Traders

said that such a huge jump in edible oil imports at

a time when local oilseed crushing is set to gain

momentum shows that processors fear that

oilseeds supply will get scarce in the coming

months.

As per the latest data from the Solvent Extractors‘

Association of India (SEA), both edible and non-

edible oils import for November 2009 was

753.9kt as against 555.3kt in November 2008,

consisting of 712.6kt of edible oils and 41.2kt of

non-edible oils. Country‘s total import of edible

oil during November 2008 to October 2009 is

reported at 8.2 mio t as compared to 5.6 mio t in

the last year, up 46%.

Imports of edible-oils in November 2009 & 2008:

Nov. 2009

(kt)

Nov. 2008

(kt)

RBD Palmolein 112.6 137.9

Palm oil 577.7 509.0

Soy oil 78.0 0.0

Sunflower oil 55.6 8.0

―The share of palm oil in the total edible oil

imports is increasing rapidly due to the fact that it

takes 8 days to import and is cheaper. Monsoon of

this year has been a threat to the farmers and it‘s

unfortunate that in spite good soy crop in India,

the crushing margins are negative. This trend has

been there for the past 3 months‖, said

KN Rahaman, deputy research head, Way2Wealth

Securities.

Within the next 3 months, the prices of vegetable

oils would go up by 15-20%. This year, the

imports for India would be higher due to

increasing consumption and bad Kharif crop.

(FE 15 Dec 2009)

Oilmeal exports fall 44% in Dec

Oilmeal exports in December 2009 slumped by

44% from a year ago to 395.6kt, its second

monthly fall in three months, as soymeal prices

rose on poor oilseed crop and as shipments to

Vietnam, Japan and South Korea fell, the Solvent

Extractors‘ Association of India said.

In November, oilmeal exports plummeted by 49%

to 346.8kt from a year ago. Soymeal exports

halved to 328.2kt in December from 655.8kt year-

on-year, the SEA said. Exports in the nine months

to December in fiscal 2009-10 were 2.3 mio t,

down 44% from 4.1 mio t a year ago.

India‘s oilmeal price has risen after the worst

monsoon in 37 years hit the summer-sown oilseed

crop, reducing output.

The Central Organisation for Oil Industry and

Trade said that India‘s output of summer-sown

oilseeds fell by 12.5% to 13.1 mio t in the crop

year that began in July 2009, mainly due to lower

groundnut and soybean output.

Oilmeal exports to China and Thailand in

December bucked the trend, but exports during

the April-December period were down from a

year ago. India‘s exports almost half of its annual

oilmeal because of low domestic consumption.

Soymeal is the largest oilmeal exported from

India. (FE 07 Jan 2010)

The government to impose trans-fat limits on vanaspati

The government proposes to limit the trans-fatty

acids (TFAs) content in vanaspati to 10% by early

next year and to 5% in the subsequent three years.

The Food Safety & Standards Authority of India

(FSSAI) is in the process of drafting the

notification stating the above limits in line with

the recommendations of the National Institute of

Nutrition, Hyderabad, according to a report in

Business Line. (Continued on next page)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 28


Oils

The government to impose trans-fat limits (Cont’d)

Vanaspati is basically a partially-hydrogenated

vegetable oil that goes as poor man‘s ghee. It is

used in restaurants, bakeries and sweetmeat units.

Hydrogenation is to rise its‘ melting point and

transform the liquid into a solid product.

As hydrogenation proceeds, the TFA content

increases and then decreases only after the

melting point is raised to levels that make the

resulting vanaspati so hard to put off consumers.

The problem is more in oils having high poly-

unsaturated fatty acids, such as soybean, cotton

and rice bran oil. In soybean oil, the TFA content

is 28% at a melting point of 33.5°C, rising to

37.6% at 43.7°C and falling to zero at 68°C. For

rice bran oil, the TFA is as high as 65% even at a

melting point of 41°C.

The National Institute of Nutrition at Hyderabad

has recommended a 10% TFA cap by considering

a per capita daily fat consumption of 20g in rural

India and 30g in urban India. At 9kcal for every

gram, these would produce 180kcal and 270kcal

out of a person‘s total energy consumption of

2 000kcal from food. Even at 10% TFA level,

there is health risk at 30g of vanaspati

consumption per day, the NIN has noted.

The American Heart Association recommends

that the daily intake of trans-fats be limited to 1%

of the total calories, which is equivalent to

roughly 2-2.5g of trans-fat per day.

(FNB 01 Dec 2009)

Kerala bans palm oil imports

The Kerala state government has invoked one-

year ban on palm oil imports, primarily from

Malaysia and Indonesia, via Cochin port to

protect the coconut farmers‘ interests in the

southern state.


Kerala bans palm oil imports (Cont’d)

―The state government slammed the ban as palm

oil usage has led to lesser consumption of coconut

oil, thus adversely affecting coconut peasants in

the state‖, Cochin Port Trust chairman

N. Ramachandran said. Prior to the ban, he said

that 100 000 to 200 000t of palm oil were brought

in through Kochi Port.

It is believed that coconut industry lobbyists had

pressured the state government to impose the ban

to protect 2 mio coconut farmers in Kerala, one of

the largest coconut producers in India.

(Freshplaza 24 Dec 2009)

Groundnut variety that requires less irrigation

A majority of farmers, when their crops fail

successively due to some pest attack, invariably

go in either for a change in their cropping pattern,

or in some cases, even stop farming. But it is only

a few determined farmers who try to find the root

cause of the problem and overcome it.

Dhirajlal Virjibhai Thummar, a groundnut farmer

in Gujarat, is credited with developing a new

groundnut variety named ‗Dhiraj 101‘ which is

resistant to stem rot. The crop matures in 95-

105 days and bears 35-40 pods per plant. About

90-100kg of seeds is required for a hectare.


Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 29


Oils/Spices & Flavors

Groundnut variety (Cont’d)

In the year 2004 he sowed GG-20 groundnut

variety and the whole crop got infested with the

stem rot disease resulting in wilting and almost

complete failure of the crop.

"However, I identified a few plants, which are not

affected by this disease. Believing that these may

contain some inherent property that makes them

stem rot-resistant, I harvested and kept the seeds

of these plants separately".

The farmer sowed the seeds separately in the next

season and continued the screening and selection

for three consecutive years. Finally he obtained

plants which were free from stem rot and wilt.

At 3 200-3 500kg/hectare, the yield is higher (42-

45%) than locally cultivated varieties. This

variety performs well in average monsoon as well

as in less irrigation conditions. This variety

matures eight to ten days earlier than the GG-20.

NIF facilitated the field trial of Dhiraj101 at the

Oil Seed Research Station, Junagarh.

(The Hindu 07 Jan 2010)

ASFL launches a range of add-on ingredients, Keya

Amalgam Specialty Foods India Pvt. Ltd.

(ASFL), a subsidiary of Amalgam Enterprises,

has launched a range of add-on ingredients —

Herbs, Seasonings and Spices— under the brand,

Keya. The only range of freeze-dried product,

Keya, is available at major retail outlets in

11 cities across India with more than 25 variants.

Among the flavors available are Basil, Oregano

and Parsley within the range of herbs; cardamom

powder, chilli flakes and cinnamon powder

among the spices and Italian, Chinese and Salad

seasonings amongst the range of seasonings.


ASFL launches a range of add-on ingredients, Keya (Cont’d)

Saumil Thanawala, MD of Amalgam Specialty

Foods said, ―Keya‘s range of products are

processed from high quality, organically-grown

herbs and spices, handpicked from selective areas

and free from contaminants. We use freeze drying

which retains the natural color, flavor, nutrients

and aroma of the products. We are confident that

these products will be popular in the Indian

market, as the Indian consumers appreciate farm-

fresh ingredients‖. (HBI 15 Dec 2009)

India losing to Vietnam in pepper export

India is losing out to Vietnam in black pepper

exports. According to the Vietnam Pepper

Association (VPA), this year, the country

exported 128kt during January-November

compared with 17.1kt exported by India.

Vietnam‘s exports during the period increased by

43% while that of India dipped by 23%. The main

reason for this sharp fall in exports is the high

prices offered by India in the past two-three years.

It is losing its traditional markets like the US and

the Europe because of this. The Indian MG-1

grade is quoted at USD 250/t higher than in other

international markets.

(Continued on next column)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 30


Spices & Flavors

India losing to Vietnam in pepper (Cont’d)

Exports by Vietnam to US and Europe increased

substantially this year whereas India continued the

downward trend. Earlier, global economic turmoil

had been attributed for the setback in exports, but

Vietnam‘s commendable performance rules out

this theory.

Rising domestic consumption is the main reason

for the high prices in India. The average annual

domestic consumption is around 40kt against an

average annual production of 55kt.

Vietnam which has the highest global output of

120kt is consuming only 3.5kt annually. It is

interesting to note that Vietnam imported 10kt of

pepper for re-export this year mainly from Brazil,

Cambodia and India. (BS 16 Dec 2009)

Spices exports up 20% in November

India‘s spices exports in November jumped by

20% to 39 485t from 32 985t a year ago,

according to the Spices Board. Export earnings

rose 7% on year to INR 464 crores from

INR 435 crores.

In Dollar terms, export earnings rose by 12% to

USD 99.6 mio from USD 88.7 mio. The spurt in

exports was driven by chilli, coriander, small

cardamom, garlic, ginger, curry powder, spice oils

and oleoresins.


Spices exports up 20% (Cont’d)

Export earnings from chilli rose 59% on year to

INR 121 crores. Average income from turmeric

export rising to INR 87.5/kg from INR 51 is the

key trigger for rise in export earnings despite fall

in volume.

The volume of small variety cardamom zoomed

450% on year to 275t from 50t, while export

earning gained 520% to INR 21.4 crores from

INR 3.4 crores.

Export volumes of spices: Spices Nov. 2009 Nov. 2008 %

change volume

(t)

value

(INR

crores)

volume

(t)

value

(INR

crores)

Chilli 17 500 121 11 250 - 56

Pepper 1 500 25.5 2 100 34.7 -29

Turmeric 3 000 26.2 4500 22.9 -33

Jeera 4 000 45.4 4500 50.5 -11

Small

cardamom

275 21.4 50 3.4 450

Average earning from cardamom exports rose to

INR 780/kg from INR 690.8/kg.

Spices Board targets to export 435 000t — worth

INR 4 500 crores — in 2009-10 (April-March)

compared with 470 500t — worth

INR 5 300 crores — a year ago. The board had

fixed a lower target due to recession in major

export destinations such as the US and Europe.

(BS 01 Jan 2010)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 31


Food Grains

Corn finds no takers

Despite gradual signs of an economic revival in

the global market, the corn exporters are yet to

recover from their losses. There are two major

factors contributing to the sustained losses

suffered by the corn exporters — very few buyers

in the global market and the high moisture content

in corn.

―Presently corn is exported only from

Maharashtra as it continues to maintain its export

standard in the global market. Therefore,

Maharashtra exporters receive greater number of

export orders compared to other domestic

exporters‖, says Indrajit Sen, manager of Ghoshal

Exporters, a small-sized corn export company in

Mumbai.

Vietnam is one among the few corn buyers in the

global market. However, Vietnam is demanding

corn imports of INR 10 600-INR 10 825/t with

13% moisture content. The exporters have stated

that they would not be able to maintain profit

margins if they export corn at INR 10 000/t as

they are charged for transportation, packaging,

shipping and allied services.

Moreover, corns produced in South India have

more than 14% moisture content, which might

damage the items during shipment.

With high moisture content, corn crops are most

likely to be affected by a fungus called Aflatoxin.

As a result, domestic exporters would be unable

to export high quality corn, which will further

impact their export orders negatively.

(TFPJ 07 Dec 2009)

Wheat output to set new record this year: Pawar

The country‘s wheat production will surpass the

last year‘s all-time high of 80.5 mio t, Agriculture

and Food Minister, Sharad Pawar, said.

The area under wheat crop has gone up

marginally by 1.2 lakh hectares to

217.2 lakh hectares as on December 10 in the

current Rabi season, according to the official data.

The government is eyeing production of

additional 1.5 mio t wheat in the 2009-10 season

by increasing the area coverage.

There have been demands from bulk consumers to

reduce the price at which government sells wheat

under OMSS in the open market from its stocks.

(FE 15 Dec 2009)

Amira Foods plans to expand pan-India distribution

Amira Foods (India) Ltd., producer and

distributor of Amira brand of Basmati rice, has

decided to expand its distribution pan-India

network to reach out all segments of the trade in

the country. Currently, the company has almost

100 distributors and sales staffs across the

country.

The firm would focus on enhancing its

distribution in HORECA (Hotel Restaurants &

Catering) segment in the future, Rajesh Nangroo,

VP - Sales & Marketing, said.

Amira is the exclusive distributor of Basmati for

Pride Hotels, Radisson Pune, major clubs and

restaurants in New Delhi. Major hotels have

annual contract system and the firm will

participate in the tendering system of these hotels

from next year.

Amira has the following rice varieties in its

branded portfolio: Amira Pure Basmati, Indigo

Basmati, Good Length and Good Health Brown

Basmati. (FoodBizDaily 02 Dec 2009)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 32


Food Grains

Saroj Industries to launch brown rice and multi-grain flour

Saroj Agro Industries, a leading manufacturer of

ready-to-cook health foods, has launched new

products under its brands, Vijay and Master Cook.

They are natural and free from synthetic additives

and artificial flavors. The company is gearing up

to launch brown rice, red rice, multi-grain flour

and sooji shortly.

The firm has multi-grain production facility with

a capacity of 20tph in Karnataka. It processes

paddy, wheat, maize, sorghum, pearl millet, finger

millet, etc.

In addition, the company has invested

INR 20 crores for setting-up a milling facility

where it has installed a range of state-of-the-art

indigenous and imported machinery from

Switzerland and South Korea.

According to Srinivas Rao, MD of Saroj Agro, the

focus is towards health foods and the products are

much-sought after for its quality and consistency.

The company is also exporting the products to the

overseas markets.

This variety of rice will be popular in the

international markets of the US and the UK going

by the increased awareness of the high-fibre

content. In India, the brown rice segment has been

growing at a rate of 40% annually, Rao said.


Area under Rabi pulses up

High prices seem to have enthused farmers to

expand plantings of pulses this time. According to

the Union Agriculture Ministry, the area under

virtually every Rabi pulse crop, barring peas and

lathyrus has gone up this year, compared to the

progressive coverage during the corresponding

period of 2008-09.


Area under Rabi pulses up (Cont’d)

Area under grains & pulses: (lakh hectares)

Grains &

pulses

Normal* 2009 2008

Wheat 270.9 260.7 255.6

Sorghum 47.5 44.3 48.9

Barley 6.8 7.6 7.1

Maize 8.7 8.8 8.5

Rice 39.8 4.5 3.6

Gram 71.7 82.0 78.7

Lentil 14.3 15.5 13.7

Peas 7.3 6.9 7.8

Black

gram

7.1 4.3 4.2

Green

gram

6.4 3.0 2.6

Lathyrus 6.4 3.6 4.2

Kulthi 2.8 4.3 4.0

*Five-year average from 2003-04 to 2007-08.

The increased acreage is especially visible in

gram, where already 82 lakh hectares have been

planted – the highest since the 84.7 lakh hectares

of 1998-99. Last year, gram output hit an all-time-

high of 7 mio t. If current sowing trends are any

indication, 2009-10 might witness a yet another

bumper, if not record, harvest.

Prices apart, the boost to pulses plantings have

also come from the good spell of post-monsoon

rains in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Uttar Pradesh

(UP). Both these States have seen expanded

coverage under gram and lentil.

Among other crops, the area under wheat is

higher than last year‘s progressive levels, while

shrinking in sorghum. At the same time, farmers

have brought more area under maize and barley

this time. (HBL 02 Jan 2010)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 33


Fruits & Vegetables

Potato output may rise to 8% in 2009-10

The scare of light blight attack (a fungal attack

becoming widespread when humidity is high

accompanied by low temperature) in Karnataka

notwithstanding, India‘s potato output could rise

by 6% to 8% in 2009-10, according to traders and

analysts.

In 2008-09, the output was placed at 260 lakh t

down from the high of 305 lakh t in 2007-08.

―With potato fetching a better price this year

compared to the previous years, farmers who had

either left their land barren or gone for sowing of

other crop will come back‖, said Sachid Madan,

Director at Technico Agri Sciences, a subsidiary

of the cigarette to hotel major ITC Ltd.

Increased production would mean that prices

which have already risen year-on-year by more

than 100% should begin to moderate.

(21foods 09 Dec 2009)

APEDA to set-up traceability system for horticultural products Agricultural and Processed Foods Export

Development Authority (APEDA) has decided to

set-up traceability system for horticultural

products exported from India and the maintenance

of traceability system. The major product groups

under the ambit of APEDA include floriculture,

fresh fruits and vegetables, processed fruits and

vegetables, animal products, other processed

products and cereals.

The traceability system for grapes, pomegranates,

groundnut and organic products would be

integrated into the new system which will lead to

a full-fledged traceability system and named as

TraceNet. Earlier, APEDA developed an internet-

based traceability software system, for monitoring

grapes, pomegranates, groundnuts and organic

products exported from India.


APEDA to set-up traceability system (Cont’d)

The developed traceability software system has

integrated all stake-holders in the supply chain of

export of these products namely the farmers, state

government departments, Central government

departments, the pesticide testing laboratories,

processors, exporters, certification bodies,

APEDA and other related public and private

organisations.

Apeda now invites experienced software

consultancy organisations to submit their

technical and financial bids to provide turnkey

services for setting-up traceability system for the

products mentioned above, including project

formulation, application software development,

implementation, support and maintenance through

their own manpower, it is learnt.

A total number of 103 products currently come

under the category of fresh fruits and vegetables

plus forest produces as per the APEDA directory.

(Freshplaza 01 Dec 2009)

India eyeing Gulf market for horticulture exports

India is planning to organise horticulture fairs to

showcase a variety of its produce in the Gulf

Region to boost exports, Union minister of state

for agriculture KV Thomas said. The Gulf offers a

huge export potential, he told reporters after

inaugurating the ‗Orange Festival‘ at the 3rd

Inter-

State Horticulture Fair at Lal Bagh.

A total of INR 1 200 crores has been allocated for

the National Horticulture Mission out of which

INR 700 crores has already been spent by

different states, Thomas said.

India is one of the world‘s biggest producers of

horticultural products growing nearly 11% of all

the world‘s vegetables and 15% of all fruit, he

said. Farmers from different states including

Punjab, Maharashtra and North-East are

participating in the fair. (DNA 04 Jan 2010)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 34


Biotech/


Heat-resistant potato developed

To be safe from the adverse effects of global

warming, Central Potato Research Institute

(CPRI), Shimla, has developed a new variety of

potato, Kufri Surya, with more heat resistance.

Night temperatures up to 18°C is ideal for

cultivation of the ordinary potato variety, but

Kufri Surya could endure heat up to 22°C,

Principal Scientist CPRI, JS Minhas told PTI.

Though countries like Israel had developed such

vegetables, Kufri Surya is the first of its kind in

India. Trial cultivations conducted in Uttar

Pradesh, Dharwara Karnataka and Pune in

Maharashtra were successful. Its seeds are being

prepared in Meerut for distribution among

growers, he said. (21Foods 11 Dec 2009)

Grace Foods forays into India

Caribbean food giant, Grace Kennedy Ltd., is

planning to enter India with a slew of authentic

Caribbean foods. The firm has a turnover of

USD 880 mio with a new range of products which

are convenient and nutritious. The products were

launched in New Delhi recently, with channel

partners and members of the trade in attendance.

According to Praveen Mehta, Lead Manager of

Grace Foods, the firm has made partnership with

Best Products & Solutions. (HBI 05 Jan 2010)

Nestle to invest INR 250 crores in Himachal Pradesh

The food product major, Nestle India, has got

approval to set-up INR 250 crores F&B facility in

Una district of Himachal Pradesh.

The state had offered a plot to Nestle at the Baddi

industrial area in Solan district too. Nestle‘s

senior official said that the proposed plant would

be close to Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir, and

the site was selected with an eye to business

prospects in these neighboring states too.

(Sify Business 27 Dec 2009)

Nestle gets board approval for Speciality Foods

Foods maker Nestle India‘s announcement that it

will acquire the healthcare nutrition business of

Speciality Foods marks the INR 4 324 crores

company‘s formal entry into the specialised health

nutrition space. The Board of Nestle India

approved the acquisition which will be effective

from 1st January, 2010.

But this is not an outright acquisition and in effect

transfers a business being run under its wholly-

owned subsidiary to the listed entity. The

INR 29 crores Speciality Foods is a 100%

subsidiary of Switzerland-based Nestle SA.

Nestle had acquired the brands after it bought the

medical nutrition business of Novartis AG in

2006. Speciality Foods sells nutritional brands

like Resource, Optifast and Spert.

Nestle India‘s CMD, Antonio Helio Waszyk, said,

―We have been leveraging the group‘s R&D

capability and expertise in nutrition science and

technology to develop superior nutritional

products for everyday use‖.

Nestle India‘s existing portfolio comprises

culinary foods like Maggi instant noodles,

ketchup and seasonings, chocolate brands KitKat

and Munch, Nescafe and infant nutrition foods

like Lactogen, Cerelac and Nan.

A FMCG analyst at Enam Securities said: ―The

acquisition is mainly to do with technologies for

science-related foods and would accelerate the

company‘s health and wellness focus. But

Speciality Foods‘ brands have a small presence in

India‖. (ET 08 Dec 2009)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 35



Vibha Seeds opens new facility Vibha Seeds has formally launched its multi-crop

seed processing facility in Mahabubnagar district

of Andhra Pradesh.

The facility has a processing capacity of 1 200tpd

of field and vegetable crops. It has an industrial

scale biotech lab, a corn-cob drying facility,

cotton processing plant and cold storage among

others.

The unit can roll out 100 trucks of processed

seeds per day – of over 190 products in 12 field

crops and 18 vegetable crops, according to

company‘s CMD, Vidyasagar Parchuri.

(BS 01 Dec 2009)

Anil Group acquires Vadodara-based Vigo Biotech dairy

As part of its strategic initiative to foray into food

processing sector, Ahmedabad-based food and

bio-industrial conglomerate, Anil Group, has

acquired Vigo Biotech Dairy Pvt. Ltd. for about

INR 20-25 crores.

Anil Hospitality Ventures Ltd. (AHVL), a

company of Anil Group, has picked up a

controlling stake of 90% in Vigo Bio-tech.

―Through this acquisition, the company plans to

drive growth by leveraging emerging

opportunities in food processing sector‖, said

Amol Seth, MD of Anil Group.

―Vigo offers multiple synergies with our existing

businesses. We have planned an investment of

INR 75-100 crores to scale up the operations of

the acquired entity in next 12-18 months‖, Seth

added. Currently, Vigo markets cow milk in and

around Vadodara. Post expansion, Anil Group

intends to produce speciality dairy products.

Vigo has already installed a high-tech 80-unit

rotary milking parlor procured from dairy master

of Ireland and this is Asia‘s largest and the fourth

largest in the world. (Continued in next column)

Anil Group (Cont’d)

The dairy player already has 550

Holstein Friesian hybrid cows and Anil Group is

looking at increasing the number substantially by

the fiscal 2010-11.

―As part of our strategy to enter into food

processing sector, we are open to further acquire

players operating in distribution and production of

milk products space‖, he said. Anil Hospitality

currently runs a chain of dining halls and cafe,

which it is considering to expand.

(Sify Business 22 Dec 2009)

Agro Tech sales down; profit up

Agro Tech Foods has reported lower net sales of

INR 175 crores in the quarter ended on

31st

December, 2009, as against INR 182.5 crores

in the same quarter last year.

The company, which has been reducing its

exposure to commodities businesses in the last

few quarters, registered lesser contribution of

INR 27 crores (INR 31.6 crores) from this

segment. Interestingly, the contribution of

branded foods too saw a decline at

INR 147.3 crores (INR 150.5 crores).

The net profit was put at INR 7.7 crores

(INR 6.4 crores), the company informed the

Bombay Stock Exchange.

For the nine-month period ended on

31st

December, 2009, the company registered net

sales of INR 482.2 crores (INR 610.2 crores), as

contributions from branded foods declined to

INR 406.7 crores (INR 490 crores) and

commodities business to INR 72.8 crores

(INR 119 crores).

The net profit stood at INR 16.3 crores

(INR 13.6 crores). (HBL 25 Jan 2010)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 36



6 firms interested in setting up food parks in Punjab

Six food processing companies, including Mrs

Bector‘s Food (Cremica Group) and Brattle Foods

Ltd. have evinced interest in setting up Punjab‘s

first Mega Food Park (MFP).

The food park has to be developed under a

scheme floated by the Ministry of Food

Processing Industries to create infrastructure for

the sector.

"We have received applications from six

companies so far, which have submitted their

project proposals involving investment in the

range of INR 150-250 crores for setting up a

mega food park that will be the first ever in

Punjab‖, a senior official of Punjab Agro

Industries Corporation (PAIC) told PTI.

Among other companies which have shown

interest for the project are Punjab-based

International Fresh Farm Products Ltd., Maninder

Rice Mills, Kolkata-based LMJ Ltd. and Jodhpur-

based Veer Prabhu Exports. (PTI 27 Jan 2010)

GSK Consumer Q4 net up by 3.3% at INR 34 crores

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare

(GSKCH) reported net profit of INR 33.6 crores

for the quarter ended on 31st December, 2009,

registering an increase of 3.3% over the same

quarter last fiscal.

The company had reported net profit of

INR 32.5 crores for the same quarter last fiscal,

GSKCH said in a statement.

During the quarter under consideration, net sales

rose by 26% to INR 418.1 crores compared to

INR 331.5 crores in the same period last fiscal.


GSK Consumer Q4 net up (Cont’d)

For the financial year ended on 31

st December,

2009, it reported a profit after tax of

INR 232.7 crores compared to INR 188.3 crores

in the same period a year ago. During the year

2009, its total income rose to INR 1 921 crores,

registering a growth of 24.6% over 2008.

―2009 has been an extremely exciting year for

GSKCH with accelerated growth, driven by

customer centric innovation in existing and new

product categories‖, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer

Healthcare‘s MD, Zubair Ahmed, said.

(BS 25 Jan 2010)

Bharti-Walmart opens first agricultural co-operative centre

Bharti-Walmart Pvt. Ltd, a JV between Bharti

Enterprises and Walmart Stores Inc., has launched

its first agricultural co-operative centre in Sirhind,

Punjab.

This initiative is a part of Bharti-Walmart‘s direct

farm programme in partnership with 100 small

and marginal farmers near Ludhiana. The farmers

will be paid for their produce within 24 hours post

delivery.

Bayer CropScience has also designed a scientific

solution for the farmers through its ‗5P‘ process

that underscores best practices in production,

protection, programme monitoring, passport and

post-harvest. (FNB 25 Jan 2010)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 37


Tradeshows & Events

Trade Events Date Venues Website

VIV India 01-FEB-10 to

03-FEB-10

BIEC, Bangalore http://www.agrifeedonlineexpo.com/event

s.php/121/viv_india.html

Isrmex India 2010 03-FEB-10 to

05-FEB-10

National Dairy

Research Institute,

Haryana

www.isrmexindia.com/readmoreaboutus.h

tml

India International

Seafood Show

2010

19-FEB-10 to

21-FEB-10 Chennai Trade &

Convention Centre,

Chennai

http://indiaseafoodexpo.com/

Food Forum India

2010

04-MAR-10 to

05-MAR-10

Renaissance

Mumbai Hotel &

Convention Centre,

Mumbai

http://www.foodforumindia.com/foodforu

mevent/english/index.html

Rice Tech Expo

2010

Bhubaneshwar

05-MAR-10 to

07-MAR-10

Janta Maidan, Orissa www.ricetechexpo.com

India International

Potato Expo

09-MAR-10 to

10-MAR-10

NASC Complex,

New Delhi, Delhi

www.potatopro.com/Lists/Conferences/Di

spForm.aspx?ID=36

Foodtek

10-MAR-10 to

13-MAR-10

NSE Exhibition

Complex, Mumbai

www.biztradeshows.com/trade-

events/foodtek.html

Aahar 10-MAR-10 to

14-MAR-10

Pragati Maidan,

New Delhi

http://www.thomex.com/trade-

events/aahar-2010-1554.html

Sugar Asia 09-JULY-10 to

11-JULY-10

Pragati Maidan,

New Delhi

http://www.nexgengroup.in/sugarasia/ven

ue_dates.html

Agritech India 20-AUG-10 to

22-AUG-10

Palace Grounds,

Bangalore

http://www.agritechindia.com/why_agrite

ch_india.html

International

Foodtec India

30-SEP-10 to

03-OCT-10

Bombay Exhibition

Centre (BEC),

Mumbai

www.foodtecindia.com

Food &

Technology Expo

2010

06-AUG-10 to

08-AUG-10

Noida International

Expo Centre, Noida

http://www.foodandtechnologyexpo.com/

Food Ingredients

India

22-OCT-10 to

23-OCT-10

Bombay Exhibition

Centre (BEC),

Mumbai

http://fiindia.ingredientsnetwork.com/hom

e

Food & Bev Tech

2010

29-OCT-10 to

31-OCT-10

Mumbai Exhibition

Center, Mumbai

http://www.foodbevtech.com/

Drink Technology

India 2010

18-NOV-10 to

20-NOV-10

Bombay Exhibition

Centre (BEC),

Mumbai

http://drinktec.com/en/Home/drinkTechno

logyIndia

http://www.agrifeedonlineexpo.com/events.php/121/viv_india.html

http://www.agrifeedonlineexpo.com/events.php/121/viv_india.html

http://www.isrmexindia.com/readmoreaboutus.html

http://www.isrmexindia.com/readmoreaboutus.html

http://indiaseafoodexpo.com/

http://www.foodforumindia.com/foodforumevent/english/index.html

http://www.foodforumindia.com/foodforumevent/english/index.html

http://www.ricetechexpo.com/

http://www.potatopro.com/Lists/Conferences/DispForm.aspx?ID=36

http://www.potatopro.com/Lists/Conferences/DispForm.aspx?ID=36

http://www.biztradeshows.com/trade-events/foodtek.html

http://www.biztradeshows.com/trade-events/foodtek.html

http://www.thomex.com/trade-events/aahar-2010-1554.html

http://www.thomex.com/trade-events/aahar-2010-1554.html

http://www.nexgengroup.in/sugarasia/venue_dates.html

http://www.nexgengroup.in/sugarasia/venue_dates.html

http://www.agritechindia.com/why_agritech_india.html

http://www.agritechindia.com/why_agritech_india.html

http://www.foodtecindia.com/

http://www.foodandtechnologyexpo.com/

http://fiindia.ingredientsnetwork.com/home

http://fiindia.ingredientsnetwork.com/home

http://www.biztradeshows.com/trade-events/food-bev-tech.html

http://www.biztradeshows.com/trade-events/food-bev-tech.html

http://www.foodbevtech.com/

http://drinktec.com/en/Home/drinkTechnologyIndia

http://drinktec.com/en/Home/drinkTechnologyIndia

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 38

IndiaNews Projects Food & Food Ingredients Review

Company Industry State Capacity Completion Investment

(USD mio)

Simbhaoli Sugars

Ltd. (SSL)

Sugar refining Gujarat 3 lakh tpa March 2011 38.9

Vishwanath Sugar Sugar refining Karnataka 3 000tpd N/A N/A

Sanwaria Agro

Oils

Oil refining Madhya

Pradesh

350tpd N/A 1 250

Vibha Seeds Seed processing Andhra

Pradesh

4.4 lakh tpa N/A 43.1

Vadilal Group Dairy

processing

West Bengal 50 000 lpd 2010 5.0

Bihar State Co-op.

Milk Producers‘

Fed. Ltd.

Dairy

processing

Bihar 0.4 mio lpd April 2010 9.1

Chennys Cremery Dairy

processing

Karnataka 15 000 lpd N/A 1.0

Himalaya Intl. Ltd. Fruit processing Gujarat 50t 2010 2.5

Lite Bite Foods Food retailing - 45 outlets 2010 21.5

Gujarat State

Government

Gamma

radiation

Gujarat N/A 2010 N/A

Domino‘s Pizza Food retailing Maharashtra To serve

250 outlets

March 2010 1.9-2.9

Cocoberry Food retailing Maharashtra,

Tamilnadu

& Karnataka

12 restaurants March 2010 25.9

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 39


Agri Commodity Prices

Commodity Price Range

Current (Previous)

INR


Current (Previous)

(INR) Oilseeds (per quintal)

– New Delhi

Maida (per 40kg) 880/900 (860/880)

Mustard 2550/2675 (2550/2675)

Rice (per quintal)

Groundnut (2 400/2 700)

2 400/2 700

Shri Lalmahal 9 400 (9 300)

Edible oils

(per quintal)

Basmati common 6 000/6 200

(6 000/6 200)

Groundnut oil 7 000 (7 000) Permal Sela 2 050/2 150(2 050/2 150)

Mustard oil 875/1 125 (875/1 125) IR-8 1500/1525 (1500/1525)

Sesame oil 6 360 (6 350) Others (per quintal)

Soybean oil

(De-gummed)

5 850 (5 850) Pearl Millet 975/1 050 (975/1 050)

Soybean oil 780/800 (780/800) Sorghum 1 000/1 025 (925/975)

Coconut oil 940/970 (940/970) White chick peas

Rice bran oil 3 330/3 400

(3330/3 400)

Small 3 000/3 200

(3 000/3 200)

Palm oil 2 800/2900

(2850/2950)

Medium 3 800/4 000 (3800/4 000)

Vanaspati (15kg) Indian Mexican 5 200/5 500

(5 200/5 500)

Dhruv 680 (690) Maize 1 060/1 085 (1060/1 080)

Sohana 690 (690) White peas 1600/1625 (1600/1625)

Panghat 840 (830) Green peas 1950/2 000 (1950/2 000)

Sagun 910 (910) Barley 990/1 000 (990/1 000)

Rishi 660 (670) Black gram (per

quintal) 4 075/4 250

(4 050/4 225)

Amrit 730 (730) Green bean

(per quintal)

Food Grains Green dhal 6250/6450 (6150/6350)

Wheat Green bean 7 100/7 400 (7 100/7 400)

Chakki Atta Shakti

Bhog (10kg)

190 (190) Masoor (per quintal) 4900/5000 (4900/5000)

Roller mill atta

(per 40kg)

770/790 (780/800) Masoor dhal 4600/4700 (4600/4700)

Sooji (per 40kg) 915/925 (915/925) Toor (per quintal)

Dara 1 380/1 385(1360/1 365) Gram 2 600/2 650(2575/2625)

Desi 1 975/2 225(1 950/2200) Dhal 4 300/4 400(4 300/4 400)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 40




(INR)


(INR)

Gur & Sugar Saffron (per g)

Sugar (per quintal) Irani 130/130 (130/140)

Simbhaoli 3 890 (3 890) Kashmiri 180/197 (180/197)

Shamli 3 880 (3 880) Baby 200 (200)

Ramala 3 760 (3 760) Red Chillies

(per quintal)

Sugar Ready 3 900/4015

(3 900/4015)

Pala 4800/5300 (4800/5300)

Gur & Khandsari

(per quintal)

Phatki 2900/3 400 (2900/3 400)

Gur peri/Dhaiya 2 800/2 900

(2 800/2 900) Turmeric (per quintal)

Khandsari 1 950/2 000

(1 950/2 000)

Polished 11 700/13 000

(11 700/13 000)

Shakkar 3000/3 100

(3 000/3 100)

Nizamabad finger 11700/11800

(11700/11800)

Spices Erode finger 13 000/14000

(9 500/10 500)

Black Pepper

(per kg)

Dry Mango

(per quintal)

Common 152/153(152/153) Khapta 5 550/6 500

(5 500/6 500)

Attom No. 12 170/175 (170/175) Nizamabad 19 000/22 500

(18 000/22 000)

Cardamom Brown

(per kg)

Cumin seeds

(per quintal)

10 500/11 000

(10 700/11 200)

Jhundiwali 430/431 (430/431) Betel nut (per kg)

Kanchicut 475/515 (475/515) Zini 85/96 (85/96)

Cardom small -

Chitridar 900/1000 (900/1000) Bold 107/108 (107/108)

Bold 1090/1110 (1070/1090) Coriander (per quintal)

Extra bold 1150/1175 (1125/1150) Common 4 400/4500

(4 200/4 400)

Cloves (per kg) 280/350(280/350) Green 6 500/8700

(6 500/7 000)

Cinnamon (per kg) 77/78 (77/78) Carom seeds

(per quintal)

Nutmeg (per kg) 460/480 (460/480) Jawara 11 500/13 000

(11 500/13 000)

Mace (per kg) Jamnagar 12 500/15000

(12500/15000)

Cochin Red 715/765 (710/760) Tamarind (per quintal)

Yellow 780/925 (780/925) Ranchi 1 650/1 750 (1 650/1 750)

Vol. 1-10 © GIRACT 2010 41




(INR)


(INR)

Tamarind

(per quintal)

Robusta (per 50kg)

Guwahathi 1 100/1 400 (1 100/1 200)

Cherry 2 100/2 125 (2 100/2 125)

Jagadalpur 1 800/2 000

(1 800/1 900)

Parchment 4 500/4 525

(4 500/4 525)

Seedless 2 800/4 200(2 800/4 200) Dry Fruits

Methi Seed

(per quintal)

Kismish (per 40kg)

Common 3 500/3800

3 500/3 800

Indian yellow 3300/3600 (3300/3600)

Best quality 4 200/4 800

3 600/4 100

Indian green 3 800/5 900

(3 800/5 900)

Dry ginger

(per quintal)

Kandhari special 12 000/20 000

(12 000/20 000)

Common 16 000/16 500

(16 000/16 500)

Almond (per 40kg)

Best quality 18 000/18500

(18 000/18 500)

California 12500 (12400)

Poppy seeds (per

kg)

Kernel California (kg) 425/427 (428/430)

Turkey 310 (290) Pistachio (per kg)

Uttar Pradesh poppy 250/260 (250/260) Irani 900/950 (900/950)

Dry pomegranate

seed (per kg)

Hairati 1 400/1 450

(1 400/1 450)

Shimla 180/185 (180/185) Peshawari 1 525/1550 (1525/1550)

Solan 145/150 (145/150) Apricot (per kg)

Chironji (kg) 300/350 (260/330) Common 6 000/8 000

(6 000/8 000)

Tea (per kg) Mumbai apricot 9 000/11 000

(9 000/11 000)

Assam 170/200 (170/200) Dry dates (per quintal)

Coonoor 110/130 (110/130) Red 3 100/3 700

(3 100/3 700)

Siliguri 120/170 (120/170) Rangkat 3 000/8 000

(3 000/8 000)

Kochi (per kg) 110/130 (110/130) Chilgoza (per kg) 800/850 (800/850)

Coffee Walnut (per kg) 150/200 (150/200)

Arabica (per 50kg) Walnut kernal (per kg) 330/550 (330/550)

Cherry 2 675/2 700

(2 675/2 700) Coconut powder

(per 25kg)

Parchment 5 675/5 700

(5 675/5 700)

Best 1 400/1 550(1 400/2 000)

ChinaNews

FOOD & FOOD INGREDIENT REVIEW

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