Prahlad Patel to inaugurate FICCI’s food conference

In the past, the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti has been highlighting the importance of alternative protein sources in combating climate change, malnutrition and food security. He has spoken how food service providers in India should cater to key clusters rather than employing a mass approach.

The 14th edition of FICCI will focus on the rise of eCommerce and rapid digital acceleration. The seminar aims to help delegates understand the digital potential for the food processing industry.  As the food consumption patterns and preferences have changed, food companies have revamped the overall distribution strategy with adoption of digitisation and new technologies. ECommerce and digitisation have the potential to play an integral part in the overall retail landscape. Recognising this shift, this session will focus on how consumers are rapidly adopting new platforms, brands and retail models to have convenience.

In addition, there are focussed start-up sessions on the future of food: key emerging trends which are shaping the future of the Indian market. The face of the Indian food industry is changing with the rise of health consciousness among customers and  increased demand for convenience. Many startups are coming up with brands and positioning strategies and are trying to revive the old traditions of India in a new format, packaging and taste that the consumer today demands. This session would focus on key consumption trends that are happening in the global and Indian market landscape and the new opportunities and business models that are emerging.

Speakers will focus on sustainability, importance of nutrition wellness and the dynamics of consumers pertaining to the food sector.  They will focus on chalking down the roadmap towards the future of sustainability and enriching the environment and the underlying opportunity for building sustainable food systems. This session will also focus on identifying health conscious food patterns and key trends in the Indian market and how awareness, acceptability and trust are driving health and wellness foods.

Some of the key speakers at the summit include; Hemant Malik, the CEO of Food Division at ITC Limited; Prashant Peres the managing director (India and South-Asia); Kellogg’s India; Sanjay Sharma, CEO of MTR Foods, Vivek Chandra the CEO of consumer business, LT Foods; Geetika Mehta, the managing director of Hershey India; Tarun Arora, CEO of Zydus Wellness Products; Srinandan Sundaram, the executive director - Foods & Refreshment of HUL Gautam Sharma, managing director, Indo Nissin Foods and Kalpesh Parmar, country general manager, Mars Wrigley.

The objective of the FICCI conference is to provide a platform to the industry stakeholders for the discussion on key policy issues pertaining to the food sector and discuss the growth of the sector. Over the years this conference has evolved and established itself as a forum for discussion for policy formulation of the food processing sector and a mood reflector of the food processing sector.

The knowledge partner for this year’s edition is Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and a report on Tapping India’s food processing potential – A call to action shall be released during the convention.

Some of the key industry partners for this year’s edition are Mondelez International, ITC, Coca-Cola, MTR, Hindustan Unilever, Cargill, LT Foods, IFF, Kellogg’s, Abbott, and Marico.

Given the future growth potential and importance of the food processing industry in India’s economic and social outlook, FICCI is organising the 14th Edition of FICCI FoodWorld India conference at the Lalit Hotel, Mumbai with the support of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

This annual flagship event of FICCI in the food processing sector is steered by FICCI's Food Processing Committee.

PrintWeek and WhatPackaging? magazines are the media partners for the conference.