Food Processing Industry's Major Challenge is Controlling the Food Waste, Can Technology Help Here?

Despite the fact that India is counted among world’s major food producing countries, only 10% food gets processed leaving a lot of wastage, while raising this concern Union Minister of Food Processing Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal highlighted this data.

While inaugurating the first SIAL Food India exposition at Pragati Maidan, she said, “With modern technology in food processing coming to India food wastage will reduce substantially.”

Participants from 109 countries exhibited thousands of products, showcasing the scope of food processing industry.

The role of technology is extremely important in almost every aspect of the food processing sector. From the automation of food processing processes to packaging to logistics and supply chain, every angle of the production revolves around technology.

Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, “The expo shows that the world has realized the opportunities that India presents in food processing. As the number of food shows increases, it will result in more modern technology and tie-ups of companies with our local farmers and producers which will result in greater opportunities and more employment for the youth as food processing is an employment generating sector.”

The Minister visited various stalls and encouraged woman entrepreneurs to avail several benefits and subsidies available for women. She also encouraged the exhibitors to source raw materials from rural and tribal areas.

Modern technologies such as advanced robotics for food processing sector as well as ERP, CRM to manage the data all are contributing towards ensuring the waste. In an interaction with Mr. Kunal Singal, managing director of Eazy ERP says, “We as an ERP and a complete IT solutions provider are focused towards ensuring transparency of data. This ultimately contributes in giving better control of the business to the business owner. We are privileged to work with some leading food processing companies and have developed a unique level of understanding of this sector. Hence our solutions have become very appealing to a food processing sector.”

In the overall food processing unit, ICT solutions are becoming a major game changer be its operational efficiency, transparency, and clarity.

As a matter of another fact, MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) holds the majority of the Indian food processing sector. This sector has its own issues and challenges. Hence, Ministry of MSME, Government of India has a well-defined focus towards food processing sector.

Though there have been many significant efforts are getting made from policymakers and subject matter experts, the ultimate challenge of the food processing sector remains focused on controlling the food waste of the country and increasing the profitability.