New Delhi. Food Processing Industries Secretary Anita Praveen has asked food companies to be a little more responsible. Praveen said on Wednesday that whenever a food consignment is returned due to quality concerns, it brings a bad name to India. Addressing industry body FICCI’s ‘Foodworld India 2024’, she asked the industry to supply high quality products to domestic and foreign markets while meeting international quality standards. The secretary highlighted that the food processing sector is important for the Indian economy and provides huge employment opportunities. Praveen said that the food processing sector plays an important role in improving the income of farmers.
He said India is a huge market for processed food and hence many global companies are interested in entering this sector. “We should become the supplier and not let someone else do it. It is the responsibility of our industry to ensure that the supply is maintained not only in quantity but also in quality,” Praveen told the senior management of food companies participating in the event. The secretary regretted that the country’s share in the global export market of food as well as processed food is very low. He asked the food companies to focus on export markets without compromising on the quality of the products.
He said India should serve not only the NRIs but all the consumers globally. Talking about quality, Praveen said, “We understand that sometimes we get a bad name across the world. It is not only in the case of some residue being left sometimes… but also in the case of not having the quality up to the mark. We also get into this problem when we do not deliver what has been promised to the consumer on the other side. We get a bad name when we return the consignment.” He said the industry needs to be a little more responsible on this aspect.
“We have to ensure that whatever goes out of our country does not go as your company’s product but as a product from India. If the country is defamed, it is not good for us,” the secretary said. “We need to work in this direction that if it goes out of India, the products should be really very good… We need to maintain this kind of quality,” he told food companies. Recently, some spices of some major companies – MDH and Everest – faced quality issues in Hong Kong and Singapore. S Vijayrani, regional director (north) at food regulator FSSAI, asked the industry not to compromise on safety and quality as well as nutritional value. She also urged food companies to promote millets and other nutritional food products.
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