Food Consultants in Pune

Increased opportunities for growth of food business in Pune:

Pune popularly known as the cultural capital of Maharashtra is also the 2^nd largest city in the state. Besides being known for its IT industry and education, the food processing industry in Pune is also gaining momentum. Pune is eyeing for the development of this sector by focusing on agricultural yields in order to benefit the economy. At present, Pune is brimming with opportunities for national as well as international players to launch their products and expand their food businesses. The food processing industry is a rapidly growing sector and Maharashtra has more 45,000 agro-processing co-operatives, making it India’s leader in agro-industry.

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Pune has a strong base for agricultural, horticultural and dairy produce. The principal crops cultivated in this region include rice, wheat, pulses, jowar, bajra, sugarcane, sunflower and groundnut. Pune’s climate is very good for horticultural crops and floriculture. The region is ideal for the growth of fruits and vegetables like bananas, mangoes, oranges, grapes, onions, tomato, brinjal etc. Pune district is also famous for its dairy farming as it has about 11, 478 Primary Dairy Cooperative Societies. The appearance of poultry producing centers in the district is creating scope for contract farming in poultry. The district also has a winery in Narayangan that produces sparkling wine from the locally grown Thompson seedless grapes.

Fruit and vegetable production (2013) in the state of Maharashtra
Source: Niftem

Scope of Food Business and Food processing industry

The food processing industry in Pune is a rapidly emerging market. The regions in and around Pune have huge scope for processing of grapes, pomegranate, oranges, tomatoes, sugarcane and milk. Over the years the food industry here is growing and expanding the scope by focusing on nutraceuticals, wine processing, ready-to-eat food products and prebiotic & probiotic foods. The industries in Pune comprise of small and medium-sized business that are involved in the production of various food and beverage products. Projects like the Pune Food Cluster development project is driving to enhance the small-scale food processing units and promote the products developed by them. Through this cluster initiative, more than 500 food processing industries are given an opportunity. Projects like such have boosted the food processing units in Pune, making it a hub for food and agri-business. Initiatives have been taken by the Central and State government to support the food industry.

National Scheme: The National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP) is providing a Centrally- sponsored scheme for the establishment of food grain storage systems in the country.

State Initiative: The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation has established wine parks and 8 food parks. The facilities include warehousing, advanced and tetra packaging, cold storage and food testing.

Challenges

The main challenge faced by food processing industry in Pune is procurement, inadequate quality and supply of raw materials. There are not enough cold storage facilities in Pune which lead to losses in fruits, vegetables and other perishables. The technical constraints experienced by this sector are lowering the processing conversion and productivity rates from this region.

Food industry in Pune

Pune’s food processing industries are overcoming its problems by structured and focused planning. This is attracting potential industrialists and companies to start their business venture here in Pune. The food industries in Pune develop and produce a range of food products including pickles, jams, squashes, processed spices, and papad. Pune has several big food companies that are running successfully. They are Weikfield Products Company Pvt. Ltd, Gits Food Products Pvt. Ltd, Rasoi Magic Foods India Ltd, S V Foods, Chordia Food Products to name a few.