Chennai, is world's second best food city ranked by National Geographic due to its famed food attraction, Chicken 65, widely believed to be of India origin.
Moreover, the city is recognised as second-best financial hub of India. The food industry beholds progressing trends in the city and the district of Chennai which suits such an atmosphere and makes it a destination prone to foster food businesses.
To further boost the food industry in the state and bring various segments of food processing industry under a common platform, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has being organising FoodPro exhibition every year. The international business exhibition and conference on food processing, packaging & technology will be held from August 28-30, 2015. The event which is in its 10th edition will take place at Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam, Chennai.
FoodPro 2015 will feature latest technology advancements in sectors like food processing, cold storage and warehousing, logistics and related products. Ashutosh Deshpande, director, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Regions stated while sharing details of the event, “The theme of FoodPro focusses on food processing, packaging and technology. A special focus on food safety is implemented in the current edition. The volume of exhibitors has grown by 35% from previous edition and 26 new product launches are about to happen. The event has been supported by 26 sectoral associations.”
India being the third-largest producer of agricultural and food produce, the ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI) and Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE), act as a catalyst in the integrated development of India’s agriculture and food sector and these have extended support to the event.
A large number of Indian and international companies will be present at the exhibition, spread across 60,000 sq ft area and expected to be visited by 10,000 plus business visitors. “230 exhibitors are expected to participate at FoodPro 2015. 10% of them are international participants from Canada, China, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Malaysia, Spain, Korea and many more.”
Exhibitors’ Profile
Food Processing Technology & Machinery; Retailing & Vending System; Hotel & Kitchen Equipments; Hospitality Products & Equipments; Bakery Equipment & Machinery, Technology; Ingredients, Fragrances & Flavours; Packaging Machinery & Technology; Barcoding, Inks & Materials; Refrigeration & Cold Chain Systems; Processed & Packaged Foods; Ready-to-Eat Food; and Snack Foods.
The three-day event will witness more than 500 structured business to business meetings, expected to take place during the course of exhibition.
Though, all sectors in food processing industry are expected to grow at a much higher rate compared to manufacturing sector, few sectors identified below have potential to grow at a much faster rate.
Areas on which the event
targets growth
n Integrated Cold Storage Facilities
n Pre-Processing and Pre-Cooling Facilities near Farms
n Modernisation of Agriculture Markets, Warehouses and Abattoirs
n Efficient Handling Facilities
n Mega Food Parks
n Fruits and Vegetable
Processing
Sharing about the conferences in the event, Deshpande stated, “The one-day conference will focus on the theme ‘Future of Food Processing Industry: Tips for Growth.’ The objective of the conference is to promote and provide technology based knowledge sharing among the stakeholders of the agro and food processing sectors.”
He added, “The conference would be highlighting the expanding role of emerging technologies, global food industry trends and functionality in this domain with emphasis on applications and benefits of emerging technologies, with a market focus.”
Sessions 1 to 4
The Session 1 of the conferences will have CEO's Panel Discussion on future of food processing industry. The discussion will have industry CEOs like Piruz Khambatta, managing director, Rasna; Navas Meeran, chairman, Eastern Condiments Pvt. Ltd; Mayank Jalan, managing director, Keventer Agro; P Ravichandran, president, Danfoss Industries Ltd; Girish Aivalli, managing director, Rural Agri Ventures Pvt. Ltd; Arbind Das, managing director, Godrej Tyson Foods Ltd; and Siraj Chaudhry, managing director, Cargill India.
Ajit Kumar, VC, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, and others from the industry will be throwing light on recent advances in food processing technology in Session 2. It will be followed by Session 3 - latest trends in storage, handling and packaging technology. Session 4 will focus on food safety and consumer awareness.
Some 250 CEOs, industry leaders and senior executives of leading manufacturers of processed & packaged foods, technology providers, post-harvest technology, processing equipment manufacturers, producer companies, food safety solutions providers, and exporters are expected to attend the event. Retail chains and government agencies are also expected to be present at the conference.
The event expects that the conference will strive to develop strong linkages within the agro food processing industry for national benefit and profitable private sector enterprises through the overall development of technology levels of industry members. “The event will help both the seller and buyers from the industry to network and make business. This platform will help Indian companies to explore global and Indian developments in the food processing, packaging & technology sector,” Deshpande stated, while pointing out the benefits of the event to the industry.
The conference proposes to initiate this through creating linkages between corporate entities and agro-SMEs, and producers’ groups through formal and informal networking activities during and after the conference, which will be facilitated by the conference secretariat. The conference will focus on fostering new business opportunities and technology platforms for small agro enterprises and doing so enabling them to benefit from the growing market opportunities in the agro food system, domestically and internationally.
