National Workshop on the ‘Packaging of Ethnic Foods’ to be held in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad, DeshGujarat

The Indian Institute of Packaging is organizing a National Workshop on the ‘Packaging of Ethnic Foods’ on Tuesday, 20 January at Metropole Hotel, Near RTO Circle, Subhash Bridge Corner, Ahmedabad.

The main objective of this workshop is to disseminate information about the trends and technology in the packaging of ethnic foods, create awareness about the importance of packaging and also to promote the export market with the use of innovative packaging design & development, standardization, etc.

The workshop will be addressed by Dr. N. C. Saha, Director Indian Institute of Packaging, along with other faculty members and experts from the industry.

Dr. N.C. Saha, Director IIP stated that there is a need to develop alternative packaging system which would be easily acceptable in the market for various commodity items. The most promising of these require using the mathematical models capable of predicting the shelf life of the packaged product in its real conditions of use. If using conventional methods, one has to first produce the actual packaging, store it in environmental conditions that simulate the real storage and distribution conditions and then test the quality of the packed product at regular intervals.

The Indian economy based primarily on agriculture is showing tremendous growth for the last few decades in terms of production of food grains, fruits, vegetables and cash crop.

At present India is the second largest producer of food after China and the world’s largest producer of cereals and milk, second largest producer of rice, wheat, sugar, fruits & vegetables, third largest producer of cotton and seventh largest producer of fish including inland & marine fish. Hence India has come to be known as the Food Factory to the world.

Despite being second largest producer, the country is witnesses 40% loss of fresh produce of fruits and vegetables due to improper harvesting, lack of storage facility, mishandling, transit loss and more importantly unsuitable and unscientific packaging. Due to rising disposable income, the Indian food market is expected to touch USD 258 billion by 2015 and USD 344 billion by 2025 registering compounded annual growth of 4.1%.

Spending on agri-products is expected to touch USD177 billion by 2015. Milk and milk products are expected to increase their overall share in spending to reach a size of USD49 billion and spending on meat and marine products is expected to touch USD32 billion by 2015.

Increased income levels, cheap credit facilities, higher disposable income have resulted in greater spending and consumption among consumers. Increased mobility, exposure, increased aspirations and availability of a wider range and products, have also contributed to shifts in spending orientation.

Initially food expenditure was concentrated around basic food items like food grains, vegetable oils and sugar; there is now an inclusion of fruits & vegetables, eggs, meat, beverages and processed food in their repertoire – contributed both by increased availability and affordability. There is an increasing trend of a shift from food security to nutritional security and convenience shopping in the recent past. Main sectors comprising of the Indian Food Processing Industry are fruits and vegetables, dairy products, marine and fish, meat and poultry, edible oils, staples, alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages, breads and bakery, confectionery and packaged foods, among others.

Similar seminars were also conducted in other cities like Guwahati, Delhi, Agartala, Tirupati, Goa, Siliguri, Vishakhapatnam, Ranchi, Solan, Muzzaffarpur, Indore, Bubaneshwar etc. to target SMEs and MSMEs located in different parts of the country, Individuals engaged in the manufacture of traditional processed food products, representing these industries are invited to participate in the workshop without any registration fee.

About the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP):

The Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) is an autonomous and apex body for packaging in the country working under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India for the promotion of packaging standards in the country. The Institute set up in 1966 is dedicated in serving the nation and industry to achieve excellence in packaging through its diversified activities that encompass the entire spectrum of packaging. With its headquarter and the principal laboratories in Mumbai, and other regional offices and laboratories, the activities of the institute are in line with those of the world’s premiere packaging Institutes. IIP’s activities includes Training & Education, Organizing Seminars, Conferences & Exhibitions, Awards, Consultancy & Projects, Laboratory testing, Quality evaluation of packaging material and packages, Information & Publication and many more. The institute is closely linked with major international packaging organizations world over like the World packaging Organization (WPO), Asian Packaging Federation (APF), International Trade Centre (ITC), and Geneva and has been working for the overall growth and development of packaging globally. For more information, please visit http://www.iip-in.com/

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