Globalization of food supply chains - impact on the Indian food supply chain

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Globalization of Food Supply Chains – Impact
on Food Security
By
Zubin Poonawalla
India is today the largest producer & consumer of quiet a few
products– pulses, wheat,potato, onion, tomato, banana,mango –
the list is endless. Yet, we are alsothe largest importersof many
food products.Processed food is one of the fastest growing export
commodity fromIndia. We need to integrateour food supply
chain with theglobal food supply chainsto ensure food security.
The Indian food processingindustry accountsfor 32% of the
country’stotal food market, 14% of manufacturingGDP, 13%of
India’sexports & 6% of total industrialinvestments. The Indian food
industry ispoised for huge growth, increasingits contribution to
world food tradeY-o-Y. In India, the food sector has emerged as a
high-growth & high-profit sector dueto its immensepotential for
valueaddition, particularly within the food processingindustry.
The total food production in Indiais likely to doublein the next
decadewith the country’sdomesticfood market estimated to reach $
258 Billion by FY16. To achieve this growth, we need to re-imagine
our food supply chains – from transport, warehouses, cold storage &
handling.
It is estimated that 40% of the food we producein Indiais wasted.
Wewaste as muchwheat in a year as what Australiaproduces. This
wastage can be attributed to poor supply chain. We need to
incorporatebetter practices – a simple thing like usingreusable
plastic bins to transportproduceinstead of gunny bags. By this way
we can reducefood damagein transit.
A major challenge to our food supply chain is Track –N– Trace. The
ability to trace the ingredient right down to the farm where it
originated. Indianeedsto implementwaysto ensuresuchvisibility if
it has to increase its exports. This is a mandatory requirementin
developed countries. A second major challenge is integration among

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the variousentities in the supply chain. Each entity has to realize
their role & be honest & sincere in disclosing any lapses from their
end, which has the potential to compromisethe quality of the
product.
To help the industry, thereare a number of voluntary food safety
certification systemsavailable. The core principlerunningthrough
them all is a rigorousimplementation of the available tools. Yes – the
tools to ensuresupply chain performance – includingtemperature
controllers on transportation vehicles, temperaturemonitoring
systems in storage rooms& security cameras – is available today. We
need to take a rigorousapproach to usingthe tools.
And if by some miracle, we are able to increase our domestic
production, wewillbe in a position to exportfood products. Which
again means integrating with global supply chains. Either way, this is
one challenge we need to meet.