As the world woke to the recent global food crisis, it realised its economic and social value in maintaining the global pyramid of stable growth. It's no wonder that food and food processing industry in India have assumed special significance in the light of the facts. It was to serve the interest of food processing industry that a three-day exhibition titled ‘International FoodTec India 2008’ was organised at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from October 6 - 8, 2008.
Spread over an area of 5000 square meters, the show had around 150 exhibitors from countries like Germany, Taiwan, China and France. Build on four pillars of processing and packaging, food ingredients, beverage technologies and cooling & refrigeration; the show displayed a complete range of the industry.
India is already the second largest producer of food in the world and is fast expanding its presence in the world market. The popularity of Indian food in other countries can be gauged from the fact that it registered an impressive growth of 193 per cent during the last half decade.
India's processed food export improved from US$ 6.98 billion in 2002-03 to US$ 20.51 billion in 2006-07. But the feel good factor probably ends here. It is to be noted that despite being one of the largest food producers in the world, India processes a meagre 1 per cent of food on her own soil and the larger volume is carried away by developed countries.
The show which is being organised by Koelnmesse GmbH, an international event organiser, catered to the booming Indian food industry and covered diverse areas including process and packaging technology, automation, quality management, environmental and biotechnologies, control and regulation systems, analysis and hygiene etc.
Speaking on the success of the show, G Vamshidhar of Koelnmesse said that the show received an encouraging response from all quarters, especially foreign companies that see a huge potential in India's growing food processing industry. "The participation from foreign countries was very impressive. As we are a leading organiser of events on food industry at the international level, we made sure our exhibitors get their due benefits out of this show," Vamshidhar said.
"Our show is different from other shows on food as we bring an international approach to the show, with more emphasis on technological innovations and their migration to India," Vamshidhar elaborated. The show is expected to generate more than 7000 trade visitors and has also announced the venue of its next show, which will be held in Mumbai.
KK Menon, MD of FAM India, a leading solution provider for food, was of the opinion that anyone who is in the business of food needs to have their presence in India, which is predominantly an agricultural country. "People are acutely aware of the fact that India is changing and there is more emphasis on hygiene, cleanliness and safety which has opened new vistas for growth and development," Menon said.
Menon believed that the show not only helped in providing an opportunity to manufacturers and suppliers to showcase their products and find prospective buyers but also gave them an opportunity to interact with people and exchange views and opinion about its products.
Sanyam Sharma who represented Ishida India, a 115-year-old company with 70 per cent market share in food processing was of the view that the festival season of Navratra and upcoming Dussehra were responsible for low-turnout at the show. "The response was moderate and there were dearth of serious buyers. People who mostly visited our stalls were from academia, research and some govt officials," said Sharma.
Sharma suggested that good promotional activities could have gone a long way in making the show a well attended one. "Nonetheless, the organiser's decision to organise the show in Delhi was well-thought of as North India has a good potential for food processing industries being close to major crop-producing states," Sharma explained.
Sanjay Singh of Fabcon, a company, which is into process & material handing systems, however was happy with the response he received at the show. A first time participant to the show, Singh received more than 50 visitors a day, which was close to his modest expectation. "The encouraging part of the show was that most of the people who visited our stalls were genuinely interested in our products. We expect to convert at least 10% of these enquiries into real business," Singh believed.
