Indus Knowledge Hub, a novel initiative to fuel knowledge-driven collaboration unveiled at IndusFood at Hyderabad

• More European Supermarkets are now familiar with Ingredients for Traditional Indian Cooking such as Garam Masala, Haldi, Turmeric, and Chaat Masala than before: Indian Food Products Importers in Europe

• Indusfood able to bring institutional buyers from the remotest corners like French Guinea, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Reunion, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sint Maarten, Syria, Togo and Turkmenistan: Mohit Singla, Founder Chairman TPCI

More European Supermarkets are aware of Indian food and ingredients than before. They are more families with ingredients used in Indian Traditional Cooking such as Garam Masala, Chat, Cardamom, Turmeric, Coriander, Fresh Curry Leaves, Tamarind, Red Dried Chillies etc and others said Rajiv Sharma, an Indian Importer of Food Products in Italy. 

Participating in a panel discussion on "F&B markets trends & opportunities in the European Union", Rajiv Sharma, chief executive officer of India Trading in Italy said only a few retailers knew what Garam Masala, Haldi, and Mirchi Powder were. 

Now not only are families with these Indian traditional food ingredients, but they also discovered the medicinal properties of our food. They also stock these products and notify Indian customers whenever fresh stock arrives.  

We earlier used to supply these ingredients to 50-plus retail outlets. But now we supply well over 300 stores and their number is increasing. Unlike the UK and the USA which are more mature markets, Italy, Spain, and Portugal are relatively growing markets for Indian food items. 

Earlier we used to request them to give one shelf space for Indian food products. Now they come to us asking for the stock. The demand is building for Indian products. Nearly two lakhs Indian diaspora live in Italy alone. 

Now the Indian diaspora need not look for substitute items for their cooking. They can find whatever Indian food items they want in Europe. The market is huge and is expanding, Rajiv added. He along with Palvesh Patel, Capital Health, UK; Naman Jain, managing director of Gheetal KB Products and Rahul Bhargava, managing director of Jumbo International participated in the panel discussion.  

Naman Jain said, what you sell in India will not sell in Europe. You need to be more quality-conscious and strictly adhere to European norms which are very stringent. You need to portray our value. You must add value to the products. He gave an example of the Passive Cooking Concept introduced by a Pasta company in Europe. It is a technique and alternative method of cooking pasta that saves energy and reduces carbon emissions. To follow this, one has to turn off the stove after 2 minutes of active cooking, cover the cooking vessel with a lid and wait for the right cooking time. Also, the packing has to be eco-friendly. Europe now prefers more natural food products than processed food, he added. 

The panel discussion was organized on Tuesday along with a few others on the sidelines of IndusFood, the largest integrated F&B trade show in South Asia and the biggest edition of IndusFood, which kicked off at Hitex in Hyderabad on Sunday morning. They were organized as part of the Indus Knowledge Hub, which was unveiled during the show by the TPCI-Trade Promotion Council of India.    

The Indus Knowledge Hub is a novel initiative to fuel knowledge-driven collaboration, Indus Knowledge Hub will involve a series of exciting seminars and panel discussions, wherein global leaders in the space will share best business practices, opportunities, challenges and growth prospects for Indian F&B players.

A Master Class on the Future of Modern Trade, a success mantra by leading global F&B retail brands was held. Krishan Kumar Tiwari, Category Manager, Noon, UAE; Talal Alkhaled, Business Development Officer, AK Modern Gen. Trade, Kuwait; Sridhar Moosapeta, chief operating officer, Khimji Ramdas, Oman addressed the master class. They observed that the future is bright for companies with futuristic products. A Market Intelligence series of seminars on the USA and Asia too was held.

It is the first time the Trade Promotion Council of India, a notified trade body in the Foreign Trade Policy and approved by the department of commerce, Government of India is organising this show outside Delhi at Hyderabad.  

The show has attracted 1300 major international buyers from 80-plus countries. Neary 600 Indian companies with export-oriented products put up their stalls. The three-day event is expected to negotiate aggregate business deals worth US$ 1 billion+.

One of the major features of this year is the presence of mainstream buyers in large numbers, which has so far been a critical challenge for Indian exporters. 

Indusfood has been able to bring institutional buyers from the remotest corners like French Guinea, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Reunion, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sint Maarten, Syria, Togo and Turkmenistan, shared Mohit Singla, founder chairman TPCI said. 

The IndusFood 2023 which is currently on at Hitex in Hyderabad will conclude on Tuesday