The
global processed food industry has just touched the $10-billion mark,
and is growing at a decent pace — well ahead of other manufacturing
sectors.
By contrast,
India, boasting a population of almost a fifth that of the world, is
reported to have a ‘marketed’ food business worth only Rs 700 crore,
if the value of output by primary processing sector with very low value-addition
is also taken into consideration. The size of the Indian food industry
is estimated at 70,000 to 80,000 units that are involved in some form
of processing of one material or the other.
India is
the second largest producer of fruit and vegetables in the world. Both
in fruit and vegetable, 30% of total production is lost at various post-harvest
stages.
In India,
only 2 to 3 per cent of the fruits are processed as against 78 per cent
in Brazil, 76 per cent in Argentina, 65 per cent in the US and 54 per
cent in China. More than half the units in the country's processed food
industry sector are already closed, more than 20 per cent are at the
stage of closure, while the rest are just limping along. Most of the
process industry operates only for 120 days to 150 days in India. The
rest of the time, it is idle. Idling cost is very high, as the fruit
processing industry has not yet been provided seasonal industry status.
|
The
estimated product-wise break-up is as follows:
|
|
Fruit
|
Tonnes
|
|
Mango
|
60,000
|
|
Banana
|
6,000
|
|
Guava
|
5,000
|
|
Papaya
|
1,000
|
|
Others
|
4,000
|
Indian
fruit basket
The fruit
juice and pulp industry has made considerable progress in the last decade.
The industry has started contributing significantly towards global trade
in tropicals. Although no precise data is available on domestic production
of processed tropical fruits, it is estimated that the total production
of fruit juices and concentrates annually is around 80,000 tonnes. The
figures for processed food are negligible compared to the total world
market. When India is the second largest food producer in the world,
why is that its share in the international food processing industry
is not increasing?
Even the
Indian mango is losing its position as South Africa, Mexico, Argentina,
Brazil and even Kenya have recognised the fruit's potential and have
gone actively into mango cultivation and processing.
| The
world market for processed fruit is largely divided as under: |
| Orange
|
76
per cent
|
| Pineapple
|
10
per cent
|
| Apple
|
7
per cent
|
| Banana
|
6
per cent
|
| Strawberry,
mango and other foods |
2
per cent.
|
| Indian
share of mango falls in this last 2 per cent. |
Problems
uncanned
There
are some common problems between buyers and sellers. Importers of mango
pulp and mango concentrate from the international market have consistently
expressed their concern about the following:
