With the increasing capability of processing and storing food for long term usage, the food processing industry is booming in an effort to meet the demands to today’s fast paced life. Compared to the traditional methods of cooking food, it is becoming easier to retain the nutrients of processed food better than ever before and hence new and advanced ways of processing food are coming up which are not just making the preparation process easier but keeping the rich nutrients intact for a longer period of time. This has in turn boosted the demand for
packaging industry as well.
We are seeing more and more processed food in the shopping cart of customers in grocery stores. With increased disposable income, higher standard of living, and urbanisation, there is clear change in the consumption pattern. Ready-to-eat products are in high demand owing to the ease with which they can be consumed while providing the necessary nutrition.
Studies in this field have contributed to the enablement and customers have become more aware of the food they are consuming, weighing their options by comparing nutritional value of food products.
As per a report by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) data, food products made by processing of crops comprised in excess of half of total production of processed items in 2014. The report pointed out that its share increased from 52.6 per cent in 1990 to 58.4 per cent in 2014. At the second place were meat products which were 26 per cent of the total processed food production. These two categories were followed by milk products.
“Changing demographics, fast paced lifestyle, low work-life balance and changing consumption pattern has led to growth of lifestyle diseases in India. Close to two thirds of the disease burden in India is due to lifestyle diseases with National Health Policy 2017 for the first time recognizing the shift in epidemiology of diseases,” says a Deloitte report.
Having a large working population, India is gradually becoming one of the biggest markets for processed food and is expected to keep growing in the next five years. Owing to its considerable self-reliance in agriculture, the country has come a long way in terms of providing food security to its people. Now, the government has taken its endeavour to the next level where it is trying to achieve more than self-sufficiency and is looking to generate better income for the farmers. A testament of the degree to which the emphasis is being laid on food processing is the fact that it has been identified as one of the priority areas under Make in India programme.
