Figures show India’s wealthy are flocking to organic food

By RJ Whitehead, 23-May-2013

This week’s figures come in spite of organic foods being at least one-third more expensive than traditional foods, suggesting that parents are more concerned about their children's health and maintaining a safe diet.

Vegetable buying led the pack of organic segments with 68%, followed by fruits (52%), fruit juices and pulses (51% each), foodgrains (50%) and milk (45%).

Boon for industry

Rawat said this increase in organic consumption will come as a welcome relief for the country’s food industry after regular headlines about poor diet, obesity and diabetes hitting the press in recent months.

The central government is also in the process of promoting organic crops, fruits and vegetables through a range of schemes including the National Horticulture Mission, Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and schemes of the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority.

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Nestlé quashes rumours of Punjab pull-out

By RJ Whitehead,21-May-2013

Nestlé India has quashed rumours that it will withdraw from its first dairy unit in the country by committing to a Rs250 crore (US$45m) expansion to the Moga plant in Punjab.

Meeting with the state’s chief minister, Parkash Singh Badal, the chief of Nestlé’s local subsidiary, Antonio Helio Waszyk, said the company had already invested nearly Rs250 crore in the plant, while the same amount again would be set aside for the expansion and modernisation of the plant over the next two years.

Since its arrival in India, the company says it has invested  Rs 9500 crore (US$1.7bn) in the country. 

Opposition’s work

Badal said he suspected the rumours about Nestlé’s withdrawal from Moga, which employs a total workforce of 25,000, had come from an opposition party. Waszyk has referred to the plant as the “jewel in the crown” of Nestlé’s investments across the globe.

Waszyk said the company had launched its first Indian unit in Moga and termed it as “Jewel in the Crown” of their investments across the globe. With a 90% local workforce, the Punjabi factory procures milk worth up to Rs700 crore (US$127m) each year from over 100,000 dairy farmers across the state.

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Forest products critical to fight hunger - including insects : New study highlights role of insects for food and feed consumption

Rome, 13 May 2013

A woman selling dried caterpillars
 in Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Forests, trees on farms and agroforestry are critical in the fight against hunger and should be better integrated into food security and land use policies, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today at the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition in Rome (13-15 May).


“Forests contribute to the livelihoods of more than a billion people, including many of the world’s neediest. Forests provide food, fuel for cooking, fodder for animals and income to buy food,” Graziano da Silva said.

“Wild animals and insects are often the main protein source for people in forest areas, while leaves, seeds, mushrooms, honey and fruits provide minerals and vitamins, thus ensuring a nutritious diet.”

Bamboo worms with green onion
at a market in Chiang Mai, Thailand

“But forests and agroforestry systems are rarely considered in food security and land use policies. Often, rural people do not have secure access rights to forests and trees, putting their food security in danger. The important contributions forests can make to the food security and nutrition of rural people should be better recognized,” Graziano da Silva said.

Frittered critters – wild and farm-raised insects
One major and readily available source of nutritious and protein-rich food that comes from forests are insects, according to a new study FAO launched at the forests for food security and nutrition conference. It is estimated that insects form part of the traditional diets of at least 2 billion people. Insect gathering and farming can offer employment and cash income, for now mostly at the household level but also potentially in industrial operations.

An astounding array of creatures
With about 1 million known species, insects account for more than half of all living organisms classified so far on the planet.

According to FAO’s research, done in partnership with Wageningen University in the Netherlands, more than 1900 insect species are consumed by humans worldwide. Globally, the most consumed insects are: beetles (31 percent); caterpillars (18 percent); bees, wasps and ants (14 percent); and grasshoppers, locusts and crickets (13 percent). Many insects are rich in protein and good fats and high in calcium, iron and zinc. Beef has an iron content of 6 mg per 100 g of dry weight, while the iron content of locusts varies between 8 and 20 mg per 100 g of dry weight, depending on the species and the kind of food they themselves consume.

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Unilever has "no plans" to take control of Unilever Hindustan

By Katy Askew | 30 April 2013

Consumer goods giant Unilever has said it is not plotting an attempt take full-control of Bombay-listed subsidiary Unilever Hindustan.

Unilever currently holds a 52.48% share in Unilever Hindustan and the group hopes to raise this to 75% of share capital. This is the maximum level of investment that Unilever can hold under Indian securities and exchange rules while maintaining Unilever Hindustan's public listing.

"We have no plans to take anything further than 75%," a spokesperson for Unilever told just-food this afternoon (30 April).

By increasing its stake in Unilever Hindustan, the company will benefit from an increased share of future profits, the spokesperson continued. "The benefit is to increase our share of the profits that Hindustand Unilever generates. At the moment it is split 50-50 between Unilever and the other shareholders, whereas if we increase our share we would get a bigger part of that."

Unilever has offered INR292.2bn (US$5.44bn) for the 22.52% stake it hopes to take. This represents a premium of around 26% on the Indian business's trading average in the month prior to Unilever's announcement, and a 25% premium on the prior week's average price.

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Fallacy to think Indians are leaning towards healthy foods

By Ankush Chibber,30-Apr-2013

Fallacy to think Indians are leaning towards healthy foods

I chanced upon a press conference at a five-star Mumbai hotels the other day. I had turned up for a meeting with an old acquaintance, but on my way out I saw a board pointing to a conference for a food product launch at the ballroom. Naturally, this was too much of a draw to miss.

Not really. I had two hours to kill and it was 38C in the shade outside. 

Now this food maker was claiming to launch what would be a game-changer in the Indian jams category. The company, which has European roots, was announcing the launch of sugar-free jams straight from its international range. 

I will be honest here and tell you that I had never heard of anything like it—after all, what is jam without sugar? I had never seen them on the shelves and neither had I ever chanced upon anybody who had consumed any. Thankfully, the firm’s representatives were at hand to help me out of my arrogance. 

Sugar-free jams, they said, were just the right product for the Indian jam market, which is currently dominated by just a couple of players. These jams, the official said, have a ready market in India where eating healthy is catching on and people don’t want to compromise on health and fitness. People want to look good and this jam would not augment their love handles like regular, sugary jam does. The new, young Indian, they said, would love this jam.

Hold ‘em healthy horses, please. 

In the last two years of reporting on the food and beverage sector in India, I have heard this statement too often—that Indians are starting to eat healthier foods. This viewpoint comes on the back of a booming economy driven largely by an overworked young workforce that is falling prey to lifestyle diseases thanks to its increasing purchasing power. To fix it, they are all destined to buy healthier foods. 

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Spirulina can better manage blood sugar in diabetes patients

By RJ Whitehead 29-Apr-2013

Indian researchers have found evidence that spirulina can help type 2 diabetes patients manage their blood sugar levels, among other benefits.

Spirulina is blue-green algae also also known as cyanobacteria. It is native to Africa, Asia and Central America and has been studied for its medicinal qualities since the 1600s. It is currently used to enhance immunity against infections such as HIV, allergies, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Although some earlier research studies found positive results in diabetics using the supplement, it has not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for this purpose.

A combination of spirulina and another herbal extract decreased blood glucose, total cholesterol and tryglicerides and improved HDL cholesterol in diabetic animals, according to a study published by ZX Huang from School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangzhou, China in 2005. 

Improved profiles

However, the Indian study, conducted by a team from the MS University of Baroda, revealed that over a two-month period, type 2 diabetes mellitus sufferers developed improved blood sugar and lipid profiles after taking the dietary supplement.

A study group of 25 patients were randomly assigned 2g of spirulina each day over the period of the research. The control and study groups each had similar medical and nutritional profiles.

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