PotatoPro Newsletter

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December 5, 2007

Check out the Potato Industry in India

Last week I received more information on one of the two (!) large potato conferences next year in India, so I decided this was a good time to pay attention to the fast changes in the Indian Potato Processing industry.

India is the 3rd largest potato producer in the world, after China at #1 and Russia at #2 and before the United States at #4. Potato production increased more than 850% since 1960, due to both increased production area and yield. The per Capita Potato consumption in India has risen from 12 kg/capita/year in the early nineties to over 16 kg/capita now, with a slight decline in recent years (Source: FAOSTAT)

However, the potato processing industry is expanding fast:

The sector developing most rapidly is the snack foods sector, including potato chips. Market leader is Frito-lay with a 45 % market share. Haldiram's has a 27% market share. The market is far from stable: recently ITC , an IT/cigarette company making huge inroad in the CPG market, has managed to get a market share of 11% with its potato chip "Bingo" in just 6 month. Also a dairy manufacturer (Amul) just announced to move into the snack market. Key weapon in this war for the Indian snack market are the Indian flavours.

Here are are  a few more of the many companies operating in the Indian chips and snacks market. Read more on the recent developments on the Indian chips and snack market...

The development of the snack market has also created a growing demand for dehydrated potato products, used as raw material for snacks.

With regards to frozen potato products, India has long been handicapped by the lack of infrastructure for the frozen food distribution chain. Nevertheless, world's largest French Fry manufacturer McCain Foods is active in India since 1995. With the recent completion of the new McCain factory in Gujarat, the production of French Fries in India has been brought to a new level. And for those that want their french fries even more Indian than that: just last month Mandeep Singh, a Punjab farmer turned french fry manufacturer, planned to start the production of frozen fries with his company Satnam Agro Products in Jalandar.

Intriguing aspect of the potato supply chain in India is the strong vertical integration: ITC bought earlier this year the Australian company Technico, that developed technology for rapid multiplication and variety improvement. Also the company Merino Industries (dehydrated potato products among many other products) has its own tissue culture laboratories for multiplication and potato variety development.  Although CPRI certainly has done a good job in developing suitable varieties for processing for the Indian cultivation conditions, the degree of involvement of processing companies in the multiplication and further development offers a lot of promise for the future potato processing potential in India.

Enjoy reading,

Paul van Eijck

Featured Event

India International Potato Expo 2008, Kolkata

The tremendous potential of the potato industry in India will be showcased by this interesting event, which is organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce and backed by important organisations including: Indian Ministry for Food Processing Industries; Indian Ministry of Agriculture; National Horticulture Board; FAO; Indian Chamber of Commerce; CPRI (and many others). All these organisations  support the event and are heavily promoting attendance.

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More Events

Featured Market Research

From our Market research reports we selected the following reports on India:

Savory Snacks in India (updated link to a more recent report)

This Datamonitor industry profile provides a detailed description on the Savory Snacks in India. It includes detailed data on market size and segmentation, plus textual analysis of the key trends and competitive landscape, demographic information, and descriptions of the leading companies.

Savory Snacks in India to 2010 (updated link to a more recent report)

Compared to the previous report, Savory Snacks in India to 2010 provides data (no text) that has far more detail. It includes comprehensive value volume segmentation and market share data.

Foodservice in India (updated link to a more recent report)

Datamonitor's Foodservice in India industry profile is an essential resource for top-level data and analysis covering the foodservice industry. It includes detailed data on market size and segmentation, plus textual analysis of the key trends and competitive landscape, demographic information, and descriptions of the leading companies.

Targeting Profitable Consumer Trends In Brazil, Russia, India and China (updated link to an alternative report, original report no longer offered)

Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) markets have huge potential for the development of a stable consumer society that can be profitably targeted by consumer packaged goods players across the globe.

Featured Product

PW-2050: An Electronic Weigher which calculates Potato Percentage Dry Matter and Specific Gravity. On the push of one button the PW-2050 weigher automatically calculates percentage dry matter and specific gravity of a potato sample.

Read more...

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