The Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India) [AFST(I)] is organising a one-day Entrepreneurship Summit for small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the food industry organised on October 13, 2012 at Peninsula Grand Hotel, Andheri, Mumbai. Around 80 delegates from all over Maharashtra is expected to be a part of this summit.
This summit will focus more on the challenges faced by SMEs and how to address them in terms of capital (finance as well as human) and regulatory compliance. At the summit the speakers will speak on topics like the current food industry scenario, advantages of being an SME, regulatory environment, banking/finance options and human capital. There will be discussions and Q&A sessions with experts.
The speakers at the summit will be from industry, the government, banking and senior food regulatory experts. The summit will be beneficial for budding and existing entrepreneurs, SME owners, consultants, service providers to SMEs in food industry. The delegates who will be participating for the summit would have to pay a sum of Rs 2,000 by cheque in favour of Mumbai chapter, AFST(I).
Prabodh Halde, workshop convenor and vice-president, AFST(I)-Mumbai chapter, informed, “Since the summit will be focussing on the challenges faced by SMEs and how to address them in terms of capital (finance as well as human) and regulatory compliance it will be beneficial for all those delegates who will be attending this event.”
S S Ghonkrokta, director (enforcement), FSSAI, and K D Yadav, president-elect, AFST(I), will be the chief guests for the opening ceremony. Nilesh Lele, director, Enel Advisors, will put forth his views on food industry outlook and success strategies. Santosh Jadhav, relationship manager (medium enterprises), State Bank of India, will discuss the role of banks in growth of the Indian food industry. Harsha Almad, an MBA in human resources from the United States, will speak about the importance of human capital in today's world. Deepa Bhajekar, managing director, MicroChem-Silliker, will share, “My success story - Small player to industry leader.” Udayraj Prabhu, vice-president, supply chain, Sodexo, will deliver a lecture on the advantages of being an SME. A lecture on value chain competitiveness will be delivered by Punit Gupta, country director, TechnoServe. There will be a panel discussion on challenges faced by entrepreneurs in food industry. The panelists are Mahesh Zagade, commissioner, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Maharashtra; Priya Parab from Vihaan Natural Healthcare; Baggi Aswani from Cloud Cafe, and Nitin Nagrale, director (procurement), Sofitel. Nilesh Amritkar, secretary, AFST(I)-Mumbai chapter, will be the moderator for this panel discussion. Zagade will facilitate distinguished members of the AFST(I)-Mumbai Chapter. Prabosh Halde will compere the event, and Rashmi Motey, treasurer, AFST(I)-Mumbai chapter, will propose the vote of thanks.
