FirstMR Business Analytics (F1rst) - a business associate of Giract, Switzerland - hosted a conference on Processed Indian Traditional Foods in New Delhi recently. The event, which was supported by the ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI), witnessed the participation of over 60 representatives of the food and beverage industry, in addition to representatives from the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, the Indian army’s food inspection department and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

1. Conference factbook
Processed IndianTraditional Foods
International conference
ConnectionTradition, Inspiring innovation, Shaping tomorrow
September 16, 2016
The Park Hotel, New Delhi, India
Organized by Supported by

2. Director’s Note
Dear Participants,
Processed foods have witnessed incremental attention in recent years due to FSSAI regulations,
technology developments, social changes and many more macro developments. Processed Indian
traditional foods, encompassing food service and packaged foods, has been part of this trend with
an increasing contribution within the food industry. We are in the initial stages of growth in the
traditional processed food industry. Many PITF companies started their journey with a few brave
entrepreneurs but with lack of access to key resources.Today, thanks to growth in technology,
social issues, etc. true “unicorns” are made in India. Although the issues faced by these companies
are much more challenging than other sectors, global and domestic demand has changed the
dynamics of this industry in recent years.The globally increasing population of Indian origin and
domestically increasing affordability are the key contributing factors. More than 30,000units are
engaged in PIT providing employment to over a 1 million persons, directly and indirectly. We
estimate the market size of this segment to be about USD 5 billion with key sectors such as Dairy,
Snacks, Spices, Ready to eat/cook foods, meal preparations and much more within the processed
foods industry. Each sector has its own distinctive issues like affordability, packaging, processing
technologies, ingredient price stability & availability, shelf life, fresh taste, nutrition, taxation,
human resource, technology, innovation and much more. Growth and significance of this sector is
visible in rural and urban markets.
We have tried to bring together relevant people from the industry, academia, government and
students to this conference where they can share ideas and express opinions related to processed
Indian traditional foods and brainstorm about scope & challenges.This is a platform where all of us
should look forward to contribute in our own small way towards the betterment of this high
potential food segment, which in turn can benefit the Indian end-consumers. At F1rst, we are
committed to addressing each of the key issues through series of events and take a collective step
towards growing the PITF market, which is close to millions of hearts.
. R.Badrinath
Director
badri@firstmr.com

3. Active Participants

4. WelcomeAddress Mr. R Badrinath Director F1RSTMR
India on the Global Map- Future
ofTraditional foods
Dr.V. Krishnakumar Managing Director Giract, Switzerland
Keynote speaker Dr. Ajit Kumar Vice-chancellor NIFTEM, Haryana
Academic research in India and
the road ahead
Dr. Usha Antony
Professor, Centre for Food
Technology, Department of
Biotechnology
AnnaUniversity, Chennai
Indian Traditional Foods-
Nutritionally efficient or
deficient?
Dr. K. Bhaskarachary Assistant Director
National Institute of
Nutrition, Hyderabad
Creating a brand out of
traditional Indian Foods –The
NaturalWay
Mr. Mithun Appaiah
Vice President & Head - Sales
distribution & Marketing,
India & International Markets
iD Fresh Food (India) Pvt.
Ltd., Bengaluru
Indian Traditional Foods-Growth,
Scope and Challenges
Dr. Himanish Das Head QA and R&D MTR Foods, Bengaluru
Changing face of Indian
Traditional foods-making
presence in Industry
Ms. Rouble Kataria VP - Innovation &Training Haldiram Snacks Pvt. Ltd.,
Indian Traditional food- How
appealing is it globally?
Mr. Gurpreet Singh Head-International Business
Bikanervala Foods Pvt.
Ltd., New Delhi
Yoga & Food Mr. Nilkamal Singh Senior Scientist
Patanjali Research
Foundation, Haridwar
InvestorsViewpoint on Indian
Traditional Food Industry
Mr. Subhadeep Sanyal Principal Omnivore Partners
Vote of Thanks
Mr. Bibekananda
Chelleng
Head-Sales and Marketing F1RSTMR
Agenda

5. Dr.V.Krishnakumar
fromGiract, started the day with his take
on what a “Processed IndianTraditional
food” was and why this is such a lucrative
market to be in.

6. Dr.Ajit
Kumar
from NIFTEM, seeing the
impressive gathering of food
industry representatives decided
not to use his premade
presentation. Instead he chose to
speak from his heart.
He gave a very personal and
impassioned appeal to the industry
to address all challenges. He
mentioned how Indian foods were
popularin all parts of the world. He
mentioned how we could look to
the vedas for inspiration in
developing foods which were
suitable for the climate and
environment of this country

7. Dr.Usha
Antony
fromAnna University, spoke about
the research work being done in
her lab around “koozh”, a
traditional fermented porridge
from the south and “idli batter”.
There was a barrage of questions
from the participants about the
different processing conditions she
had employed for the batter and,
most interestingly from Sriprakash
of Ingredion – if an instant version
is being developed!

8. Dr.Bhaskarachary
from NIN, peppered his speech with
copiousamounts of data and wit. It was
highlythoughtprovoking.
At the end it seemed, he had with facts
and figures proven to the industry
gathered at the venue, that nutrition was
not an afterthought but a primary driver
of product development suited to India.

9. Mr.Mithun
Appiah
from iD fresh foods.
Being a start-up with rapid growth,
consumer trust was one of the primary
motives for both product development
and positioning for ID foods.
A clean label did not stop the company
from going one step further in its
communicationwith consumers.Trust
stores, set up by the company at various
locations, helped to communicate the
“trust” concept further.

10. Dr.Himanish
Das
from MTR quoted some
interesting numbers and
takeawaysfor the Indian market.
The unorganized sector of the
sweets market was estimated to
be big by various sources and
therefore offered a large potential
for penetration.

11. Ms.Rouble
Kataria
from Haldiram’s had a vivacious
energy and decided to walk
around with a hand mike instead
of using the podium.She gave her
definition of traditional foods.This
was particularly required since we
had some discussions the previous
evening at a stakeholder meeting
for the PITF student promotion
program, on which thesis topics
could be evaluated under this
theme for the bursaries and the
awards.

12. Mr.Nilkamal
Singh
from Patanjali was almost a wild card
compared to the speakers from the food
industry, but he turned out to be
extremely informative and offered a
different perspective to food product
development.
He emphasized the need to do rigorous
research on all the current Indian foods,
and get them past the scientists, before
they could hit the market.

13. Mr.Subhadeep
Sanyal
fromOmnivore partners, started off with
saying that they do not invest in
“herd mentality” businesses.
F1rst believes that industry has to keep
this in mind when looking to develop new
products – such products can be short
lived!

14. In conclusion
The conference could have been extended to even two or
three days and we would have unearthed even more
opportunities and challenges facing this sector. But, even just
addressing the current set will take considerable thought and
concerted effort. Little drops make an ocean, and I
personally felt that even very small steps taken in the right
direction will definitely push this sector towards greater
growth.We are not looking for completely removing all non-
Indian matrices from the market.The potential is huge and
each sector can grow without cannibalizing the market share
of other sectors, at least for the next ten years. In the next
edition of the conference, I hope to see some of the action
points above already implemented and to identify new
challenges and unearth new opportunities. I thank you all for
your active participation. I will definitely stay in constant
dialogue with all of you in the coming days, and work
towards achieving higher growth.See you at our next PITF
conference in 2017. Jai Hind.
Kaushik Shankar
Director, Research
Kaushik@firstmr.com

15. HL Agro Products Pvt. Ltd Hexagon Nutrition Pvt Ltd
National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and
Management
Global Consumer Products Pvt. Ltd.
DSM Nutritional Products India Pvt Ltd Agco Trading (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Sayaji Industries Limited BMS Starch Pvt Ltd
Food Inspection Dept, Indian Army Patanjali Research Foundation
Paramesu Biotech Pvt. Ltd. Nestle India Ltd.
Dharampal Satyapal Limited PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation ADM Agro Industries India Pvt Ltd
ITC Limited Nestle R&d Centre India Pvt. Ltd.
DKSH Haldiram Snacks Pvt. Ltd
Sam Higginbottom Institute Of Agriculture, Technology And
Sciences
Roquette Riddhi Siddhi Pvt. Ltd.
Saffron Media Pvt Ltd Ingredion
Kaveri Foods Omnivore Capital Management Advisors Private Limited
Firstmr Business Analytics Private Limited Asian Spices
DuPont Nutrition And Health Anna University,Chennai
MTR Foods Private Limited GIRACT, Switzerland
National Institute of Nutrition,Hyderabad Tata Chemicals Limited
Sunflakes Food Products Pvt. Ltd. Srikrishna Milks Pvt. Ltd.,
Mambalam Iyers Food Products Pvt Ltd. Defence Research and Development Organisation
iD Fresh Food (India) Pvt. Ltd. Ministry of Food Processing Industries of India
Heartfelt thanks to our Participants

16. F1rst’s
Processed IndianTraditional Foods
Research Promotion Programme
#IndianFoodsPhD
Sponsored by:

17. Thank you!