Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI): India’s agri-exports are growing at a healthy pace, and there is a need to focus on the processed food sector as it holds huge potential to boost the country’s outbound shipments.
The council’s three-day IndusFood expo started on January 8 in Hyderabad. It was inaugurated by Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, and Srikar K. Reddy, Joint Secretary in the Ministry.
Agrawal said there is a need to create global brands in the food and beverage industry. “Ideally, we need to create 50 brands, and then we will be able to do our job well.” We must think globally and build brands.
“It is important to pay serious attention to how to promote Indian cuisine abroad,” TPCI said, and though India is doing well on the agri-export front, its share of processed food exports is less than 1 percent.
“We must aspire to increase our share in the global market to 10 percent.” Mohit Singla, Founder Chairman of TPCI, said IndusFood has been able to bring institutional buyers from the remotest corners of the world, like French Guinea, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Reunion, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, St. Maarten, Syria, Togo, and Turkmenistan.
This year’s exclusive focus is on millet. India is globally regarded as the land of vegetarian food, with a huge variety of products. “So, we have also been focusing on plant-based proteins,” Singla said. India’s food and beverage exports are currently valued at USD 42 billion.