IndiaNews. FOOD & FOOD INGREDIENT REVIEW February March 2004 CONTENTS. Alcoholic Beverages. Food Industry Overview. Aquaculture. Dairy, Meat & Poultry

Transcription

1 FOOD & FOOD INGREDIENT REVIEW February March 2004 CONTENTS p.1 Editorial p.2 Extracts from India Opens Its Doors And Its Cupboards To Food Imports Food Industry Overview p.3 Methyl bromide & import permit norms worry importers India to lobby for ad valorem duties at WTO EU team arriving to check control systems p.4 India, Singapore move towards FTA French team visits Bengal p.5 Profits still elude food industry South Asia to have uniform food norms Aquaculture p.6 US Commission approves dumping duty on Indian shrimps Opinions differ over US decision impact p.7 Transgenic fish species developed Seafood exporters to do origin tracking Dairy, Meat & Poultry p.8 Danish food firm sets up shop Amul to roll out super premium ice creams French cheese to vanish from Indian tables Britannia s low fat cheese p.9 Indian dairy sector attracting global players Skimmed milk powder shortage Gujarat milk procurement price up NDDB focus on productivity p.10 Government launches Clean Milk Programme Amrit Foods targets new markets with its UHT milk Schreiber Foods buys 51% in Dynamix Dairy Mother Dairy ice creams in UP, Punjab p.11 Hatsun to sell milk in Kolkata Finally, Baskin Robbins sees profits Dairy industry in expansion mode, says CII report p.12 Bird flu tremors Losses of poultry trade in January Poultry sector s kitty brims with export orders Indo-Saudi poultry venture expanding Alcoholic Beverages p.13 Champagne Indage wine in small packs Radico Khaitan plans fast growth p.14 UDV downsizing UB may sell IMFL rights of Marco Polo p.15 SABMiller warns of beer shortage Moving from table grapes to wines Shaw Wallace, Radico go slow on RTDs New white wine from Grover p.16 From Sikkim to Assam and Orissa Launch of Jacob s Creek wine Radico to uncork vodka and gin SABMiller completes integration with Shaw Wallace Breweries Ecco Domani wines in India p.17 Kingfisher beer for Australia McDowell on lookout for regional brands Alcohol from sorghum Contents continued on next page IndiaNews is published every 2 months by: GIRACT 24 Pré Colomb, 1290 Versoix Geneva Switzerland Tel Fax info@giract.com

2 FOOD & FOOD INGREDIENT REVIEW February March 2004 CONTENTS (Continued) Non-alcoholic Beverages p.18 JPC recommends more regulation for soft drinks JPC wants cola drinks to carry caffeine warning JPC indicts cola companies p.19 Coke banned from using groundwater in Kerala Kinley plant in Kerala hit by agitation Coke may hand over Kerala plant Coke to pump in $70 million Vanilla Coke being introduced p.20 Pepsi plans to hike capacity Godrej widens fruit juice range Pepsi to bring Gatorade Mount Shivalik to launch Red Bull p.21 Godrej launches Sofit soya milk Ladakh Foods plans a plant in Monglolia p.22 Coconut water based sports drink Amoretto promoters may sell stake Tea p.22 Tea auction centre planned in Dubai Iced teas fail to cheer p.23 Organic tea doubts persist while early adapters shine Iraq orders cause worries Drought affects southern tea p.24 Indian tea finds ground in America, Australia Tea prices yet to pick up Bugs threaten Assam tea p.25 South Indian tea estates brew brands Dilmah launches fruit flavoured teas Tata Tea mulling options to enter China Change of hands at Tata Tea Coffee p.26 Tata Coffee focus on value-added segment Rains fail Kerala and Karnataka coffee p.27 Tatas eyeing China instant coffee market India bullish about coffee export to Russia Footfalls rise at Barista US market yet to learn about Indian coffee p.28 Coffee exports may fall Rio a new coffee chain Indian coffee impresses US roasters Plan to hike coffee acreage in Orissa Food Service & Retailing p.29 Shrinking outlets Marrybrown takes kiosk route Domino s Pizza to open more outlets p.30 Pizza Hut to scale up Big Mac plans kiosks Meal in the mail Yo! China diversifying Bombay Store to expand in the South p.31 International retailers eyeing India Organized retail to triple by 2010 Study sees 220 malls by 2006 p.32 Indian retail groups Food Bazaar targets Rs. 5 billion turnover RPG plans a Giant step p.33 Small cities see retailing boom Piramal Enterprises ventures north p.34 ITC in rural shopping malls foray Landmark plans hypermarkets p.35 Shoppers Stop bullish on growth Shoppers Stop to opt for malls over stand-alones Centre probing Metro over retail trade row Snacks p.36 Parle challenges Britannia s cookies Lotte joins hands with DS Cookie Man increasing presence p.37 Cadbury hopes to regain sales with new packaging Cadbury offers sweet snacks Cadbury testing coconut flavoured Perk Agro Tech moves on to snacks Culinary Items p.38 Orion to enter fusion foods export market Cooking pastes from ITC Campco ships areca nut to Kabul p.39 New honey-based products Campbell soups Mango custard powder from Weikfield Prego pasta sauces launched Solae plans production unit Contents continued on next page Vol GIRACT 2004

3 FOOD & FOOD INGREDIENT REVIEW February March 2004 CONTENTS (Continued) Sugar p.40 Sugar industry has reason to smile India likely to import sugar Maharashtra hikes sugar export subsidy Sugar sector targets 6 billion litre ethanol output p.41 Simbhaoli upgrades production Bajaj Hindusthan set to become no. 1 Sugar trading website slips into limbo Oils p.42 Soyameal suffers bird flu, but recovers soon after Oilmeal exports up 62 per cent p.43 Good overseas demand for groundnut kernels Groundnut oil exports may touch 3 billion Pakistan to buy soyameal Bumper summer oilseeds crop expected p.44 Malaysian vanaspati worries domestic producers Indian oil market swinging to Brazil, Argentina, US moods Soya oil base import price hiked Bunge plans brand buyouts p.45 Castor oil price shoots up Ruchi expanding in West Bengal New packaging for oil tins Ruchi Soya in expansion mode Spices & Flavours p.46 Sharp fall in ginger exports Dandi salt goes off the shelves Red seaweed cultivation in AP Support price for chillies in AP p.47 Experts differ on vanilla prospects Taste Buds from cinema superstar Geographical indications suggested for Kashmiri saffron Cardamom output suffers p.48 New system to check dye in chilli HLL launches spice powder Chilli exports may turn hot Tatas plan to launch cooking soda p.49 Domestic Prices Foodgrains p.50 Indian Wheat a threat to US, Australia Court orders government to challenge wheat patent; govt. says not necessary p.51 Spare wheat for exports unlikely Wheat, rice availability for exports. Record grain output in Heat wave threatens wheat crop p.52 Seven new wheat strains Bt transgenic rice varieties developed Scientists develop new pest-proof rice p.53 Kohinoor basmati on amazon.com Boost to basmati crop KRBL acquires rice mill in Punjab Non-availability of ships hits corn exports p.54 India unable to meet global rice demand India, Pak join hands for promoting basmati Fruits & Vegetables p.54 Made in India vegetables for Japan Mangoes to China p.55 Drought may hit Maharashtra grapes output Drought hits coconut availability Coconut shortage in AP p.56 J&K Government helps apple growers FAO fund to develop apple crop Cashew imports up; exports down p.57 Walnuts from Jammu and Kashmir Biotech p.58 ICAR to develop transgenics of 14 crops Icrisat launches agribiotech incubation fund Project to isolate drought tolerant genes KCP Biotech to scale up operations p.59 Biotech Park in Bangalore Two billion biotech fund likely Biotech firms setting up R&D hub in India Asian federation of biotech bodies formed Major Food Companies p.59 Nestle net profit up 30.5 per cent p.60 Dabur to focus on South India Dabur joint venture in Pakistan HLL to sell starch business Vol GIRACT 2004

4 Food & Food Ingredients Review Editorial One year back, when we started IndiaNews, there used to be little news on food retailing. A lot of water has flown down the Ganges since then. While preparing this issue, we were so overwhelmed with retailing news that we had to exercise restraint on this section to ensure balance. Shopping malls are springing up across the country at a fast pace. A few hypermarkets have started operations. Many more are in the pipeline. One does not know whether the rush to retailing will be sustained or a few months later we would write about it as a gold rush that ended in shattered dreams. Food service industry is just learning that small is beautiful. Restaurateurs have learnt the hard way that small format outlets yield higher profits than large ones. Such small outlets are known by many names kiosk, take-away, small dine-in, express or delivery point. Every major food service chain is rejecting big formal outlets and opting for one or more of these smaller operations. This should well have been expected. Population pressure on land is higher in India than in almost every part of the developed world. India has one of the most expensive real estates in the world, as far as property in prime spots is concerned. One cannot copy North American formats to a thickly populated country like India a country, which is unique in more ways than one. India is a country where every year is a drought year and every year is a flood year. Every monsoon, some parts of the country are flooded, while some others face drought. No one can predict which parts will face drought and which ones will be inundated. Last year, a vast majority of the country had normal or excess rains, but some parts, in particular South India, had less than normal rains. This has affected coconut, coffee, tea, grapes, sugarcane and some other crops grown in the region, while rest of the country prepares to face the problems caused by bumper crops of foodgrains, oilseeds etc. Drought has affected sugarcane production, but this has proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Indian sugar industry, which was reeling under the impact of over-production for the past many years. India may turn into a sugar importer from being an exporter up to just a few months ago. Yet, the sugar industry is all smiles. Tea industry faces two problems one caused by drought, while the other caused just after rains. South Indian tea production is depressed due to drought. On the other hand, tea industry in Assam is affected by helopeltis or tea mosquito bug. In a country, where droughts are so frequent, it should not surprise anyone that there are attempts to isolate drought resistant genes and use such genes to improve drought resistant of crops. GM crops and biotech may be dirty words in Europe, but India sees GM as a big hope for the future. Indian Council of Agricultural Research is developing transgenic varieties of 14 crops and is also developing transgenic fishes. Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture is analyzing land races and soil bacteria for isolating drought resistant genes. In the midst of all this activity, the opposition to GM seeds marketed by multinational companies continues. A public interest litigation in Supreme Court against a wheat patent granted to Monsanto is a case in point. Probably, the problem in India is not much as with GM crops, but with the credibility of multinational corporations. So, if a government-owned research institution introduces transgenic seeds, there are no protests. But if a multinational does the same, there are cries for caution. (Continued on next page) Vol GIRACT

5 Food & Food Ingredients Review Editorial The mistrust against multinationals borders on animosity in some states where communists are a significant force. This is clearly the case in Kerala, where Coca-Cola has been facing one problem after another. One does not know how many of these problems are a result of the company s misdoings and how many stem from the deep-rooted hatred in the heart of communist activists against multinationals. None of this hatred can be seen in other Southern states, let alone the rest of India. For example, Pepsi is set to promote cultivation of Eucheuma cottonii (Kappahycus), a red seaweed, by members of women s self-help groups in coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh. Even within Kerala, though there are protests against Coke, Kerala farmers are not averse to listening to experts from the US about global prospects of vanilla. Kerala and Andhra Pradesh were worried when US International Trade Commission gave preliminary approval to impose anti-dumping duties on shrimp imports from six countries including India. This could seriously affect aquaculture farmers and fishermen in coastal states of India. Just as we were putting the finishing touches to this issue, news has come in that India has emerged as the top importer of Californian almonds replacing Japan (ET 29 Mar). This would have been unimaginable a few years ago. India is slowly arriving on the global scene sometimes as a large importer, sometimes as a low-cost exporter; sometimes pleasing international food companies and at other times causing so much trouble that they wish India would just vanish away! Wishes and jokes aside, India is not going to disappear. India has a population of one billion people and its economy is growing at a steady and healthy rate. Can a food company afford to ignore India, except, of course, by burying its head in sand? Extracts from India Opens Its Doors And Its Cupboards To Food Imports By Jeffrey Phillips, MTO International Trade Representative After years of isolation, India has slowly begun opening its doors to the world market. In a key policy shift, the second-largest country in the world has been removing many licensing and quota restrictions on agricultural imports since Even with trade liberalization, exporters still have to deal with India's varied and dated food sector laws, particularly those pertaining to additives and colors, label requirements, packaging, weights and measures, phytosanitary regulations, and other regulatory issues relating to production and distribution. (Extracts continued on page no. 60) Vol GIRACT

6 Note: The contents and editorial page given above are excerpts from IndiaNews published by GIRACT. The excerpts have been published by Hindustan Studies & Services Ltd. at the website with due permission from GIRACT. For further details about IndiaNews, please contact or Vol GIRACT