Indraneel Chitale, Director , Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale
During the lockdown and pandemic period there was a high demand for packed and branded food items in the country. The Mithai industry was on the losing side because 95 percent of sweets are sold loose in the country. How you are handling the growing demand for packed sweets?
I think our investment into automation and packaging infrastructure paid dividends in an unforeseen manner in this case. While there was a limitation to the range of the products available, the packaged products in both namkeen and mithai category saw a greater than normal pickup that sustained its momentum into the festive season. This prompted us to create additional infrastructure amidst the pandemic to cater to this demand. We will soon be further expanding our facilities to package more range and volumes.
Many companies have launched their product in the retail market after introducing the best packaging variants with good shelf life. Do you think now the time has come for all modern manufacturers to look beyond their showrooms?
If manufacturers are not looking beyond selling in their own stores, they are losing out on a big opportunity. The market dynamics have changed and the manufacturer’s mindset too needs to adopt to that. If they are not having a multi-channel sales approach, the loss is theirs as the customer has a choice and they are not in it.
Many mithai & namkeen companies introduced automatic processing lines and food safety systems in their factories. What measures you are applying for safe and hygienic mithais & namkeens?
Automation has always been a trademark for Chitale Bandhu. We have been able to automate most of our key products that includes burfis, katlis, pedas, laddoos, gulabjamuns. While that definitely helps add speed and consistency, it still doesn’t overcome the issue of workers mindset, sensitivity and food safety awareness. This skilling and training and knowledge upgradation is also equally important. Only when a total safety based approach is employed by the manufacturers is when the food safety is elevated.
It’s been observed that more than 200 new showrooms of mithai were inaugurated across the country in FSNM membership before Diwali. What are your efforts in this direction?
We too have followed this trend and have made forays into other cities in Maharashtra including Mumbai. We plan to increase our express stores network further and hope to add 20 new stores in the coming year.
In the lockdown period and thereafter during the unlock process there was an acute shortage of labour in the food factories. What measures you are applying now to reduce manpower dependency?
Fortunately, we did not suffer from this problem having had a good automated setup. The lockdown further improved our confidence on investing into systems and processes that bypass human dependency.