Events

India eyes the nutra pie

Ipsita Guha reports the Frost & Sullivan event on fortified foods and supplements.

Food fortification and supplementation gained widespread acceptance during the first half of the 20th century. During that time, supplementation was established as a measure to restore nutrients lost during food processing or to correct or prevent nutritional deficiencies in population. In recent times, an improved awareness about health and wellness is leading to a change in the nutritional behaviour of consumers. Consumers are now showing a growing interest in experimenting with natural, health-enhancing nutraceuticals, which claim to combat a range of disease, such as cancer, osteoporosis and heart conditions. In the milieu of the rapidly growing global nutraceuticals market, Frost and Sullivan organised an event aimed at identifying new opportunities in the Indian market.

The conference on 'Fortified Foods and Supplements: Opportunities in Emerging Markets' was held at JW Marriott, Mumbai. The conference focused on the market of fortified foods and supplements in developed markets, as well as opportunities and challenges for Indian manufacturers supplying to these markets. The one-day summit brought together luminaries from the international and Indian corporate world to discuss strategic issues affecting the nutraceutical industry, with special focus on Indian players. "If you look at the global marketplace, consumers are making more informed choices and paying greater attention to preventive healthcare. Naturally, this has created a boom in the market for fortified foods and nutritional supplements. While the Indian market itself is coming of age, companies in India cannot afford to miss out on the global bloom. This is the time to act if we want a slice of this growing pie," said Anand Rangacharya, Director, Frost and Sullivan.

Dr D V Prakash, Director of Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) talked about the emerging trends and opportunities in the Indian market for fortified foods and supplements. Tom Bruynel, Director, Asia Pacific, DSM Nutritional Products addressed issues related to consumer requirements and challenges for Asian suppliers in catering to the global market for nutritional supplements. He spoke on the global opportunities in aurveda and nutrigenomics and effective utlisation of marketing channels. Sunil Bhaskaran, Managing Director, Indus Biotech, spoke on the emerging trends and opportunities of the industry in developed markets. He also enlightened the audience on the challenges in fortification and ingredients.

According to Barry Doesburg, Market Development Manager, Food, Purac Asia Pacific, the greatest challenge is the fact that innovation is limited by legislation and restriction. He addressed the concerns of the market from a legislative, economic, dietary and acceptance perspective. He also compared the trends in different Asian countries in the past years, which brought out the reasons for growth of the market. Finally, Pathanjali, Senior Vice-President, International Market Development, Sami Labs, spoke on the novel uses of phytonutrients for nutritional application. He said that the Indian market for fortified foods and segments has a huge potential due to the 5,000 years of traditional knowledge, modern technology, highly learned manpower and the developing R&D scenario. The event concluded with the Frost & Sullivan's 'Best Practices Awards' which recognised companies in the food industry.

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