FoodPro 2011  -

Food Pro, is a prestigious biennial event organized by CII towards its commitment to further strengthen its pioneering role in developing the Food Processing Industry in India. The 2011 edition of the event, Food Pro 2011, was held at Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai, from 21st to 23rd October, 2011. The 3-day affair attracted participants and eminent speakers to the Seminars on topics related with Food Processing and Packaging and the simultaneously held exhibition saw more than 175 exhibitors putting up stalls and displaying their products and services, which was formally inaugurated by Mr. K Rosaiah, Governor of Tamil Nadu. More than 30,000 business/trade visitors are estimated to have visited the event this year. Foodpro as an event has emerged as a platform for interface between the food technology sector and the food industry. Its cross-over concept covered everything from manufacturing and processing of foods, packaging, storage and retailing with a process orientation and cross-sector approach. Foodpro 2011 focused more on the current trends in food processing, innovation through modern technology which was reflected in the products exhibited and the concurrent events. This year, TCIL’s participation was under the aegis of Tinplate Promotion Council (TPC), which had a stall representing all its members. The TPC stall displayed a good range of cans to showcase the TINPLATE advantages and was quite a hit with the visitors. Amongst the stalls put up, there was a good presence of machinery manufacturers and a fair sprinkling of confectioneries, chocolates etc. Some of the prominent visitors to our stall were

• Mr P Dasgupta – Group Leader, Packaging Development, Foods – Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Bangalore. It was a casual visit. On our evincing interest to meet him up later, he readily agreed to.
• Mr Upul Karunarathne from Sri Lanka – by self-admission, engaged in the business of Food Processing in Sri Lanka. Reportedly requires large number of cans of various SKUs, which are currently being procured by Thailand. Mr Karunarathne had, subsequently, mailed us his requirements which we have sent across to our various fabricator-customers. We shall follow up.
• Mr BG Baalaganeshbabu, DGM-Marketing, Narasu’s Coffee, Salem, TN – Desired information on coffee cans – sources and costs.
• Mr P Ponnudurai – Managing Director, LION Foods, Chennai, TN – Desired details of cans suitable to pack dates.  Lion Dates is very popular in South India.
• Mr Santosh Kumar L.D. – Quality Assurance Manager, Britannia Ind, Bangalore
• Mr Cyriac Njavally – Regional Manager, WIPRO (Cochin Cocoa Product), Bangalore – enquired about suitable cans.
• Mr Bharat Kundal – Associate Vice President, Karnataka Operations – The Global Green, Bangalore. They are into big time gherkin exports and currently sources cans from Shetron.
• Mr C Couppoussamy – Manager – The Pondicherry Coop Milk Producers’ Union, Puducherry – enquired about availability of quality containers for ghee.
• Mr Shanmuga Priyan, J – AGM (Comml), Hatsun Agro Product Ltd, Chennai, - enquired about ghee cans.

In a nutshell

We had visitors with enquiries for cans to pack cookies, mango pulp, sweets, Ghee, Sea food, beverage cans for tender coconut, Rasgulla, Mushroom, Dry fruits etc. In addition to the above we also received enquiries for secondary packaging to be used for liquor bottles & medical kit. The event provided a good opportunity to interact with senior officials from familiar big corporate houses like Hindustan Unilever, Cavin care, Hatsun Agro, Sri Narasu’s Coffee, Britannia etc. The event also provided an opportunity to meet various stakeholders from diverse fields related to food processing industry. It helped us to discuss various solutions with potential customers to meet their packaging needs and to explore the possibility of business with them.

Going by the profile of the visitors to our stall, majority of them were confectioners from TN and nearby places. There were a great deal of awareness and interests shown for decorative and designer containers. One striking feature of the enquiries was on “see-thru cans” for confectionery products. The requirements are large and if see-thru cans can be worked out at attractive prices, the prospects look good. Other end-uses which showed up were Mushroom, gherkins, coconut water, sea-food, meat, spices etc. People from Mango pulp industry based at Krishangiri, Chittor, Vellore, Erode & Bangalore visited our stall and enquired about OTSC cans. Most of the pulp producers were taking cans from our customers like Shetron, Raja Crown, Aravind cans, Karivardhan Engineering works, HTW, Evergreen Drums etc.