-KH News Desk (cbedit@imaws.org)

Food is a common thread which keeps evolving every single day. Access to quality food is everyone’s need in the society. Over time, The F&B industry has seen massive growth and has been providing a gamut of food to the customers. Innovation is the core element of this growth of the sector. For some it’s quality while for others its a mix of both quality and pricing. Undoubtedly, The F&B segment has immense potential and influence on India’s economy. As per a report by the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India, the HoReCa (Hotels, Restaurants and Catering) industry contributes approximately USD 78 billion annually to the Indian economy, which contributes to more than 7 percent of India’s GDP. HoReCa which includes Hotels, Restaurants and Cafe’s have shown great power. Interacting with us on the greatest four-day culinary event in India called Aahar 2023, where wholesalers, caterers, hoteliers, and restaurant owners gather to showcase their potential, some of the renowned people from the industry share their insights.

Sandeep Singh, Executive Director at Radiant Indus Chem., explains, “In the HoReCa segment the trend is to make life simpler for the chef’s so whether you have gravies as an upcoming segment and the sauces is growing. We are trying to provide solutions where we can give them as close to the product as possible so that their kitchen working reduces. We do pudina chutney, we concentrate on giving them sauces as it enables the chef make his final product quickly. This way we take away a lot of burden from them.”

Fast foods, cafes, and QSRs ( Quick service restaurants) are growing because people are wanting to eat out more. “So, I think that the market is good for the sauces segment and for the HoReCa industry its a positive development. We are expanding our presence geographically pan India. We have been growing up well in the past and we hope to maintain the growth rate in the near future as well. While selecting the sauces the restaurant segment should be careful of the quality, pricing and that’s all that matters I suppose,” further added Singh.

VPS Foods Private Limited, situated at Mundka, Delhi, Delhi, seek out the finest natural and organic foods available, maintain the strictest quality standards in the industry. Manish Sahu, Director, Addme Foods talks about the expectations of the spreads and sauces in the HoReCa segment, he says, “It really depends as the industry is in itself very versatile. It depends on your product what will actually work there or not. For example, the traditional industry which includes products like samosa, tikki and all traditional snacks there tomato ketchup is a mismatch because there’s no product that sync well with such traditional Indian products. We are eating french fries, burgers with ketchup is fine but there’s nothing sort of an Indian chutney or ketchup that can go well with say samosa or tikki. Hence, we are expecting more development in that aspect. Take for instance, Schezwan sauces. They can only go well with Chinese food items like Manchurian, chowmin, etc. While nobody is stopping you from consuming it with roti, but it is clearly a mismatch. There we choose pickles. As far as financial year is concerned nobody can stop us because we have a huge local demand. So, spreads is a competitive market since many diverse companies have arrived on the field and we have been copying a lot of western recipes too. There also the manufacturers are trying to put in Desi flavors as the want us to click their product in our minds.”

Vivek Kumar Goel, from PanchwatiPrayogshala, elaborates, “HoReCa segment is very high. It’s a very big market with a lot of scope if a company perform better by giving standard quality and whatever the need is. When it comes to the shifting trends or taste then we can say that the young generation is preferring more spicy food items but I think that it is not a healthy choice. However, we have to go with the flow of the market. If we talk about cloud kitchen segment then there’s surely a lot of scope and it will grow bigger in the future. I believe that we should be following the younger generation tastes and preferences to grow and expand in the future.”

Nilons, a name synonymous with unmatched quality and commitment to bring you the best range of pickles, instant mixes, spices and ready to cook food was also a part of the expo in Delhi. Deepak Sanghavi, director at Nilons enterprises., shares, “The consumption of fast food and other items is just increasing day by day. The consumers are wanting more varieties and the chef’s are also experimenting constantly trying to innovate and come up with as many varieties of food options as possible. Hence, what we are seeing across is that the market of the sauces, spreads and mayonnaise and the variety coming in is significantly larger. Indians want to try different cuisines so be it Chinese, Thai, Italian or even Indian cuisine itself. So, more varieties and innovation is happening at the moment. Also, the desire of authentic taste so I think that the market is only getting bigger and better. I think that the HoReCa segment is growing rapidly after the Covid has gone and the entire HoReCa is growing 25% to 30% per year. People want at least one meal or snacking out everyday and also many people want to order from outside and get it warm and ready to eat. So, in essence I think that the market is expected to grow faster.”