Food
Realities
The food processing industry is in urgent need of Government intervention.
Vimal Paharia says that though technology up gradation is happening,
it isn't reaching the entire industry
Though
the food processing industry has few big players in its sector apart
from Hindustan Lever, ITC, MTR and Dabur, it was only in the year 2001-02
that the government first began noticing smaller new ventures and encouraged
their expansion by providing financial assistance. These incentives
proved to be a major boost for the industry. Furthermore, with government
setting up various policies since the last two years, exports too appear
to be on the rise. Advertising also plays a major role in the growth
of this industry to bridge the gap between the product and the consumer.
But since advertising campaigns are quite a costly affair small entrepreneurs
refrain from venturing out in this arena. Which is why there isn't much
demand for food processed products as it should be, leading to lesser
production and a subsequent increase in cost. If we look at the fruit
processing industry in particular, in India, people generally prefer
freshly bought fruits to that of processed ones. But of late, this trend
too is changingespecially in the restaurant business, which serve seasonal
fruits throughout the year to their customers. But a full-fledged revolution
might take some time since the major cost of fruit processing comes
from packaging and other overhead charges. These fruits are processed
with the latest IQF technology (wherein fruits can be preserved for
almost a year) compared to the blast freezing method that takes almost
8-12 hours. In this case, the quality, flavour, nutritious value too
is well maintained. It should be taken in to account that safety and
hygiene standards in technology are different for different stages of
processing and utmost care should be taken to avoid contamination at
all levels and maintain temperature control. Fruits and its varieties
play a major role too. For instance, in mangoes, though the Alphonso
breed is quite a rage for its sweet taste and ...
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