Trends In The Food Processing Industry In India

By Author: Neel Rao
Total Articles: 107
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India has a large domestic market for the food processing industry with a population of 1.3 billion people and also exports produce. While farmers may grow the food, it needs to be processed with machinery before it can be consumed by humans. With both labor shortages and consumer expectations of higher standards of processing, the usage of machinery for food processing has been rapidly rising.

There has been much growth in food processing plants. The food processing industry in the country can be primarily divided into the following segments:

• Foodgrains, flour, spices, and baked products together called food retail
• Dairy and dairy products
• Fruits and vegetables including processed and canned products
• Fisheries
• Poultry and meat processing

In recent times, several trends have emerged and these have been driving the market of food processing machinery. These are listed below.

Demands Related To Equipment
In the contemporary food processing sector, manufacturers and co-packers have to come up with a vast array of product packages. This has led to a rapidly ...
... rising demand for packaging equipment that is versatile in its functions. The constant up-gradation of equipment has become a necessity.

Automation
Among the several trends that have emerged, automation is undoubtedly the most important. The expenses that companies have to make on hiring labor are rising sharply. Automation has naturally emerged as a cost-efficient replacement and even helps to cut various costs. Adapting automated processes also helps the companies meet the demand for innovative products. The demand for automation in packaging machinery is particularly high.

Streamlining Of The Production Process And Machinery Design
The food and beverage companies in India are trying to implement several improvements. These include reductions in the changeover tines and the number of line workers. Production rates need a boost and clean-ups need to be simpler. To achieve these, the manufacturers need access to more efficient machines.

Optimising The Operation And Maintenance
The companies producing food and beverage items have to optimise their equipment for the sake of reliability and efficiency. As this helps to curtail the costs, it keeps the businesses competitive in the market. With the demand for optimised machines constantly on the rise, several of the manufacturers are offering highly tailored product options with their standard design products. It is easy to expand these machines later on or to carry out maintenances.

Ease Of Cleaning
The food and beverage companies end up spending significantly large amounts of money on cleaning their equipment. If a piece of equipment is left in an unhygienic state, various microbes can potentially develop and cause damage. This is why a growing number of companies are looking for equipment that would be easy to clean. This not only helps to save on the expenses but also reduces the time necessary to carry out maintenances.

Many of the food and beverage companies are also on the lookout for analytical tools that would prove to be useful in preventive maintenances. The demand for equipment that offers adequate cleaning and sanitation measures for parts such as refrigeration units, shields, cooling and drying fan equipment is likely to rise sharply. For cleaning the interior surfaces of tanks, pipes, and pumps, a CIP (Clean In Place) is one of the most useful pieces of equipment. This approach does not require disassembling of equipment parts.

The demand for such cleaning equipment would rise even further by 2025 due to the stricter implementation of regulations regarding food hygiene and rising customer expectations on hygiene. All in all, there will be much demand for manufacturing equipment in the food processing industry, especially for industrial process fan equipment.

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