The shell that sells

The industry finds itself in the midst of a quandary, given the co-existence of conflicting regulations. PV Narayanan provides an overview

Since Independence, India has come a long way and has tapped the tremendous potential of the food business in both the domestic and export markets. The sustained and fruitful Five Year Plans, augmented by the Green and White Revolutions, have turned the country from the state of import dependence to being a potential exporter of food products. Strategically located, India can reach out to the Middle East and the Far East and other lucrative world markets, thereby giving it a competitive edge as a Third World export centre. Due to such advantages, India has the potential to build a profitable business in food processing, which, of course, would have a direct impact on the economy as a whole.

Food processing ranks as the fifth largest industry in India and employs more than 1.6 million people, accounting for 19 per cent of the country’s labour force. It also accounts for 14 per cent of the total industrial output and 5.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product. The approximate turnover of this industry is Rs 14,400 crore, of which nearly 75 per cent is in the unorganised sector.

Over the years, there have been considerable shifts and trends within this industry. Utilisation of technologies, improved infrastructural facilities and availability of the latest information and expertise have augmented the introduction of diverse varieties of value-added products. Typical of these are ready-to-eat foods and beverages, processed and frozen fruits and vegetables, marine and meat products, and Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) products. The liberalised industrial and fiscal policies, introduced in the early 1990s    provided the much-needed catalytic effect to this industry.

The changes witnessed in the recent past are indeed of interest and have a direct influence in the context of improved post-harvest technologies that reduce losses and maximise the available resources. The changes seen include a shift from bulk selling and loose selling to marketing in consumer retail packs, product branding, adoption of improved and quality packaging, increased emphasis on retail display and move to cooperative, departmental and supermarket mode of product marketing. The result is an increasing amount of competitive substitutes and alternate products – mostly branded – and packs with varying convenience features, and forms and varieties suited to a diverse population of goods. Many commonly consumed products like salt, flour, biscuits and confectioneries, edible oils, pulses, cereals, food grains, and spice and spice mixes are examples in this context.

The prevention of losses, long-term storage possibilities, improved marketing and consumer acceptance all are made possible through appropriate and scientific packaging options. It is only recently that packaging has gained ground in India. Constraints due to the non- availability of competitive packaging material and machineries possessing the desired levels of technologies at affordable cost are the primary hindrances in the efficient adoption of cutting edge packaging techniques.

The scenario is gradually undergoing a change. The packaging industry has made excellent strides. A variety of materials and package forms are now produced indigenously. Packaging today has become the index measure of consumer consciousness. The available statistics are indeed revealing. Against the $85 average per capita consumption of packaging by value around the world, India logs a mere $5. Australia and Asia, including the large market of Japan, accounts for only about 20 per cent of the $600-million food packaging industry. This clearly reflects the large potential for packaging.

The relevance of packaging in the food sector is extremely significant. On an average, 50 per cent of the packaging consumption the world over is utilised by the food sector. This re-emphasises the fact that these two industries – food processing and packaging – are supplementary and complementary to each other. This synergy has paved the way for the design and development of machineries for the packaging sector.

.....CONTD

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