CHALLENGES FACED BY FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY IN INDIA

And how those challenges can be overcome....

Current trends suggest that a focus on eating more fruits and vegetables has the potential to increase in the future. Not only to be sold in retail and consumed as raw and / or home cooked, fruit and vegetables continue to find use in plethora of Indian and continental fast and snack / street foods like pizza, burgers, sandwiches, rolls, tikkas, crispers, dosas, cutlets, salads, ice creams, bakes, chutneys, curries, soups and fries etc.

Food service industry is facing many challenges. Increased pressure on raw material costs, food safety, quality and hygiene, excessive wastages, poor product shelf life, shortage of skilled manpower are some of the most frequent problems these food businesses face. Dilemma is how to juggle rising food costs and still maintain a quality, safe and consistent product to customers which is also convenient to chef’s who can focus on their core functions. Events like Commonwealth games in India, increased awareness on food safety and globalization shall continue to increase survival and operational pressures on food industry thereby increasing costs further.

Our business shall supply whole and semi-finished raw material and finished products to the food service industry, food processing / manufacturing companies, retail chains, National and Multinational fast food chains, catering services, traditional retailers and cafeterias etc.

Cheap labor is so far perceived to reduce costs but have conversely raised end food product and quality costs because of long chain of intermediaries and poor infrastructural support for a product category which is highly perishable and requires special handling, processing and packaging skills. This is the labor food "payoff". Chefs and house wives tend to work harder or longer hours but this is a short-term solution resulting in 'burn out' from long hours. Until now there have been few suppliers in India have tried to address these issues simultaneously.

Our state of the art facility, when established within or near a sea of raw material availability and cheap skilled labor accessibility shall develop a product range and "ready to use" category that can assist and reduce both labor and food costs while ensuring food safety, quality, hygiene and convenience. These products were piloted and rolled out elsewhere for few clients and have proven to be very effective in combating food / labor costs and wastage. Projected benchmarks included 30% reduction in end food costs and up to 20% savings on labor cost and there is room to improve on these figures.

Involvement of the middlemen in the supply chain increases the prices of goods without adding much value to them. India has six-seven intermediaries in the fresh produce supply chain compared with two-three in developed countries. These intermediaries play a vital role in linking farmers with consumers in the traditional supply chain, but their long chain and lack of infrastructure result in inefficiencies that raise costs by up to 3.5 times of the farm-gate (paid to the farmer) price. Our well established network, both on farm side and wholesale market side, shall ensure that best quality raw material is sourced at the best prices of the day. It is estimated that raw material cost for this business for us shall be 10-12% cheaper. This saving would offset additional cost of processing, packaging and refrigerated transport. Elimination of wastage and extended shelf life through technological intervention and cold chain shall ensure that users save on their end food cost to pay for balance processing cost and our margins. This coupled with cheap and skilled labor availability at Azadpur and almost zero delivery time & cost till raw material reaches processing plant (remember we shall be located zero Km from Azadpur – Asia’s largest wholesale fruit and vegetable market) at best quality and at cheapest price – a win win both for you and us

Connect with us immediately and know how Vegfru can add value to your food business and in what proportions. We'll build similar units for you too, if desired.