Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA) and LIT Alumni Association (LITAA) jointly organized a Webinar on “Opportunities in Food Sector in Vidarbha” on Facebook & Youtube platforms, on 28th Feb.
The contents of this webinar were designed with a view to propel the economy of our own Vidarbha region further, while also taking into consideration the ever-growing demand of the Food Processing sector in every part of the country & all across the world. The purpose of this undertaking was to guide the aspiring and budding entrepreneurs, existing industry owners & traders and share the varied perspectives about the feasible food processing projects that’d be uniquely Vidarbha so that they come forward & invest to become successful industrialists.
The past couple of years have seen a skyrocketing growth in demand for Ready-to-eat, Ready to cook, Ready to Process products. The webinar had luminaries like Dinesh Garg, an alumnus of LIT and a Food Consultant of National repute having vast experience in standardization & modernization of Potato flakes Processing & re-inventor of the very famous Alu Bhujia albeit in a packaged format! Based out of Delhi, he is also known for establishing the canning technology for traditional Indian sweets such as Rasgulla, Gulab jamun etc. He guided the participants about fruits & vegetable processing for the local available varieties, various ethnic snacks, namkeens, savories etc.
He explained an array of Food processing opportunities along with product wise investment matrix, average ROI & raw material wise growing areas of Vidarbha. He appealed that the opportunity presented by the local availability of Dal ,Vegetables, Fruits, Rice, Masalas, etc. can be converted to wonderful products by adopting various food processing technologies including advanced technologies for which process infrastructure like Plug & Play is abundantly available. He also opined that farmer cooperatives should form groups with prospective investors for mutual benefits and benefit of the region.
The program also saw knowledge sharing from another luminary Deepak Khedkar who is also an eminent member of LIT Alumni Association and the Managing Partner of Pack-supp Solutions LLP. He was also the Ex-Joint Director Indian Institute of Packaging, Delhi.
He explained the potential of Ready to eat /Cook processing foods, Beverages like Oranges Drinks, Mahua Wine, Namkeens , Dairy, Bakery , Organic/Forest produce from forests , He also explained the concept of One District One Product as enlisted by the central Government.
He further stated that the Food industry can flourish in Vidarbha only by way of awareness, proper selection, timely financial assistance, Infrastructure etc. He also advised participants to synergize the potential private investment with the rural sector. He stressed that apart from Processing Technology, entrepreneurs need to focus on supply chain management, marketing & brand building, Value for money products, Food Safety & use of Proper packaging solutions for enhancing shelf life, aesthetics & appeal of the product to the market. MSME projects ranging from investment of Rs.75 lakhs to 30 Crores were discussed by both the expert speakers.
In the inauguration of this event, VIA Vice-President Dr Suhas Buddhe along with Chairman LITAA, Madhav Labhe welcomed guest speakers and explained about the concept and ideas of the forum. Dr Suhas Buddhe emphasized that this initiative of VIA is a step towards promoting economic growth of Vidarbha from the perspective of food & food processing.
LITAA Chairman Madhav Labhe concluded that VIA can initiate the cluster development in food sector so that common equipment facilities alongwith e-marketing platform can be shared by entry level aspirants for achieving sustainability.
CA Girish Deodhar, Chairman, VIA – MSME forum made opening remarks and further concluded that Food Processing sector can captivate many Medium & Small Scale entrepreneurs with minimum investment and grow further.
Utkarsh Khopkar, Secretary, LITAA and Dr Sugandha Garway Jt Secretary, LITAA introduced the guests and worked hard towards ensuring the success of the program along with coordinator Girish Deodhar who also jointly moderated interactive sessions. Vote of Thanks was proposed by Sunil Mundada, Member Executive committee, LITAA. The webinar proved to be a roaring success and saw participation from hundreds of food industry enthusiasts.
