R ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, JULY 30
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is organizing the 15th edition of Foodpro – India’s biennial event on Food Processing, Packaging & Food Technology from 9th –11th August 2024 at Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam, Chennai under the theme “Accelerating Growth Scale for food Industries”. The event will showcase the broad spectrum of opportunities, technologies and solutions available for food processing and allied industries. The Government of Tamil Nadu is the Host State for Foodpro 2024.
Foodpro 2024, is an event on food processing, Packaging, Technology, Food Ingredients, Traditional Foods, cold storage, refrigeration and transportation. The three-day exhibition will have over 250 domestic and international exhibitors, sectoral conferences, B2B meetings, product launches and presentations and around 25,000 visitors and traders attending the expo. A Conference on Food Processing Technologies and Conference on Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory Compliance is also planned.
Around 25,000 senior personnel representing CEO’s, Industry leaders & senior executives of leading manufacturers of processed & packaged foods, technology providers, Post-harvest Technology, Processing equipment manufacturers, Producer companies, food safety solutions provider, Exporters, Retail chains and Government agencies would be participating in the 3-day Expo. Display of products at the exhibition include; Food Processing Technology & Machinery; Retailing & Vending Systems; Hotel & Kitchen Equipment; Health / Wellness Products; Bakery Equipment, Machinery & Technology; Ingredients, Fragrances & Flavours; Packaging Machinery & Technology; Refrigeration & Cold Chain System; Processed & Packaged Foods, Dairy & Milk Processing Technology; Refrigerated Transportation Solutions; Ready to Eat Foods, Snack Foods Segments, and traditional food items, including Millets.
The other highlights of Foodpro are the seven panel discussions, theme address, technical sessions with over 30 speakers from both the government and industry experts sharing their expertise.
Addressing reporters, B Thiagarajan, Foodpro Expo, Chairman – CII Foodpro Expo 2024 & Managing Director, Blue Star Limited said, “The Food Processing sector in India is growing at an average annual growth rate of 5.35 percent between 2015-16 and 2022-23. In 2022-23, the sector accounted for 7.66 percent of the GVA in manufacturing at 2011-12 prices,”.
“In terms of employment, the sector employs almost 2 million workers in nearly 41,500 registered units. With a market size of US$ 866 billion in 2022, the food industry will play a vital role in the economy’s growth. The domestic food market is projected to grow by over 47% between 2022 and 2027, reaching US$ 1,274 billion,” added Thiagarajan.
“CII Foodpro is an ideal platform for all stakeholders in this sector to showcase their products & technologies, the latest trends and to deliberate on the challenges and opportunities for the development of the sector,” said Srivats Ram, Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu & Managing Director, Wheels India Ltd.
“Currently, India is the largest producer of milk, pulses, banana, mango, pomegranate, papaya, lemon, okra, ginger and non-food crops like cotton and jute, the second-largest producer of rice, wheat, fruits and vegetables, tea and one of the leading producers of eggs and meat in the world. India produced 304.4 million tonnes of cereals, 296 million tonnes of pulses, 351.9 million tonnes of horticulture, 230.6 million tonnes of milk, and 138.4 billion eggs during 2023-24,” added Srivats Ram.
Replying to queries, N M P Jeyesh, Regional Director, Southern Region, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII – Southern Region) said, for the first time around 30 Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs) are taking part in the exhibition. Of the total number of 250 registered exhibitors, 65 % to 70 % are from Small and Medium Enterprisers and 20 per cent of them are women entrepreneurs, he added.
The three-day Foodpro would also feature the 4th edition of “ColdStoRe India” – An exclusive and focused event on Cold Storage, Refrigeration & Transportation; 4th edition of “T-Food” – A Traditional Food Festival & Expo; The 2nd edition of “Food Packaging Expo” focusing on end-to-end packaging needs for the food products and “Food Expo” to showcase wide variety of ready to eat food products from around the world.
