With 31% of retail food supply uneaten, IIP's NC Saha highlights food wastage at Make in India

"The 'Make in India' mission is to be considered as a mantra by the packaging industry to become a manufacturing hub in India," said Dr N C Saha, Director, Indian Institute of Packaging, Mumbai. He was speaking at the Make in India Week in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Dr Saha further added that though packaging industry is not considered as a core sector, it has been indirectly impacted by 'Make in India' mission. 'It is a well known fact that any of the goods among the core sectors will be unable to grow without packaging.'

The Indian packaging industry has been constantly adapting to the changing needs of its consumers. With growing purchasing power among urban Indians, the demand for good quality packaging will offer greater scope for automation in the industry. Moreover it is already embracing modern technologies and processes to stay ahead of the game. Case in point is active, intelligent and smart packaging, modified atmosphere packaging(MAP), retort packaging etc.

With a turnover of $24.6 billion and a growth rate of 13% to 15% annually, the Indian packaging industry is expected to reach $32 billion by 2020. At present, the Indian Packaging Industry is ranked 11th in the world.

A large part of this will come from just using the amount of food produced and making it reach the people who need it. Dr. Saha offered the following data points to substantiate his argument.

1. Over 800 million people in the world are unable to meet their daily calorie needs and more than 2 billion people suffer from nutritional deficiencies. Yet over one third of the food we produce is never consumed.

2. 31 % of retail food supply goes uneaten. Reducing food wastage is the biggest challenge that food processors, retailers and consumers face across the world.

3. The growth of food packaging sector has nearly doubled to 13.7 per cent during the last four years.