Amul plans to expand in Punjab

GoodDot, one of the pioneer in the plant-based meat industry in India, has signed up Indian Tennis Player, Rohan Bopanna, as its goodness ambassador.

The global Indian athlete will be a key part of GoodDot’s ‘Do Good’ mission of creating awareness about the exciting new category of plant-based meats and enabling people to make healthier and more compassionate food choices.

The association will also aim to propagate the message that small changes in lifestyle and food choices can go a long way in making the world a better place.

“I am excited to partner with GoodDot to create a more compassionate world. I truly believe in the philosophy that if it's good for the planet, it's good for you. I have been fortunate to represent my country on the global stage for over two decades now. Amongst other things, it comes down to staying fit, and eating right is the foundation for staying fit to that end,” shared Bopanna.

Rohan Bopanna has been a member of India’s Davis Cup team since 2002 and has a Grand Slam title and four ATP Masters 1000 titles in his long career. The Bangalore-based player is the oldest and the highest-ranked Indian player in Men's Doubles. The veteran, who is still going strong at 42 years old, has also represented India at the 2012 and 2016 editions of the Olympics. Recently Rohan was a semi-finalist in the 2022 French open doubles.

“We are proud to have Rohan represent GoodDot on a global level. His qualities of hard work, dedication, and a deep commitment to excellence resonate strongly with us. We look forward to this exciting partnership in spreading global awareness about GoodDot,” added Abhishek Sinha, Co-Founder, and CEO, GoodDot.

Founded in September 2016 by Abhishek Sinha and Deepak Parihar, GoodDot aims to provide the world with delicious, affordable, and cruelty-free meat alternatives. The company manufactures and sells textured vegetable proteins using vegan ingredients and produces all kinds of plant-based options for mutton, chicken, fish, egg, and other meats. The main objective of GoodDot is to create a world full of compassion and affection toward animals by revolutionizing the way one eats.

The company has recently launched its products in Canada, Dubai, Nepal, South Africa, Mauritius, and Singapore and is planning to launch in the US and European markets soon. Select GoodDot products are available across 19 cities including Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Noida, Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Gurugram, and Indore.

The products are also available online on Amazon and Swiggy. The company is also providing its products to premium hotel properties of Raffles, JW Marriott, Leela, Radisson, Sofitel, Novotel, etc.

Sustainable packaging manufacturer Yash Pakka has appointed Satish Chamyvelumani as the CEO of its Compostables Division.

He will spearhead the brand in the global food service ware market while the company establishes franchised production facilities for manufacturing and distributing its indigenous products worldwide.

The company is already a visionary leader in this space through its brand CHUK, which provides unique compostable food serviceware and delivery solutions made with natural elements such as sugarcane fibre.

“Gradually, industries worldwide are making conscious efforts to innovate product development and packaging and making it sustainable to effectively reduce their carbon footprint. At Yash Pakka, we assist companies through innovative, durable and affordable options. Now, as we gear up to expand our presence in the global market, we are delighted to have an industry veteran like Satish to take the reins of business growth in his hands,” shared Ved Krishna, Vice-Chairman, Yash Pakka Ltd.

Over the past few years, discussion and focus on environmental protection and carbon footprint reduction have increased exponentially. Several industry stakeholders such as e-commerce giants and food tech companies have started taking conscious measures to switch from single-use plastics to more sustainable packaging materials.

“I am thrilled to commence a brand-new innings with Yash Pakka and help companies and stakeholders to make informed and purposeful decisions concerning environmental protection. We will work harder than before to make Compostable food packaging solutions as the preferred option in this conventional and outdated ecosystem,” added Satish Chamyvelumani, newly appointed CEO, Compostables Division of Yash Pakka.

Global leader in protein supply Tyson Foods is saying thank you once again to its frontline and hourly team members by giving them approximately $50 million in year-end bonuses for their efforts over the past year.

For team members in the U.S., these one-time bonuses will be based on tenure, range from $300 to $700, and be distributed starting this month.

“This is yet another way for us to say thank you and show how grateful we are for our frontline teams’ efforts to keep each other safe, our company strong and our world fed over the past year,” said Donnie King, President and CEO, Tyson Foods.

Tyson Foods has also invested more than $500 million in wage increases and thank you bonuses for frontline workers over the past year.

With average hourly pay of more than $18, plus the value of medical, dental and vision insurance, vacation and other benefits, the average total compensation for hourly team members has increased to more than $24 an hour, or an annual value of more than $50,000. This does not include overtime, an option many team members choose, or other incentives. For example, as part of the company’s efforts to protect its U.S. workforce against COVID-19, the company paid $200 to frontline team members who were fully vaccinated.

Tyson is looking at other ways to better support its frontline workforce. In addition to pay increases and signing bonuses, it is offering more flexible work schedules at some facilities and, starting January 1, 2022, paid sick leave. The company has opened seven health centers to give frontline team members and their families easier access to high-quality healthcare at, in most cases, no cost. Tyson is also addressing childcare needs. For example, the company recently launched a pilot to offer access to high-quality childcare for late-shift workers at its Amarillo, Texas, beef production complex.

“Tyson wants to be the most sought-after place to work, period,” said King. “Our frontline team members tell us higher pay is important, but that’s only a part of the story—they also want more flexibility and more say over their time. In rural parts of the country, they don’t want to have to drive miles to see the doctor. Everything we’re doing is because our team members are the heart of our business and its future success.”

Tyson also provides training and development opportunities so frontline team members can further their career and personal goals.

Prakritii Cultivating Green ties up with bigger hotel chains around India who have now started considering Eco-friendly and Sustainability disposables as key ingredients to their success going forward.

The ongoing pandemic has given leverage to the brand as hotels are now trusting branded eco-friendly disposables companies than common mom and pop stores.

The organic dinnerware company is currently working with hotel chains across their location such as Radisson, Hyatt, Taj Exotica, Taj Sats, Ginger Hotels, First Fiddle F&B Pvt Ltd, Social (Impressario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt Ltd), Imperfecto, Shangri-La and many more.

“People have realized to live sustainably and the need to promote the eco-system but it all begins with implementation and execution of the choice. The idea is to consume what you need and leave for others. The hospitality chains are demanding innovative solutions to replace plastic. Therefore, they need to develop an internal culture of sustainability. The longevity of businesses today and in the future will depend largely on how human-centric and eco-friendly we can make them,” said Vaibhav Jaiswal, Director & Co-Founder of Prakritii.

With a Pan-India presence, the company is serving more than 50 hotel groups.

Prakritii helps the hotel chains to reduce styrofoam plastic and developed more than 100 different designs which increased the utility of the plates. Now, it’s not just tableware but also used as a packaging tool by packaging houses and corporates who support their cause.

“Eco-friendly alternatives are important for the hospitality industry which is making responsible choices. Hotels are shifting to no-plastic disposables in today’s context,” added Amardeep Bardan, Co-Founder of Prakritii .

SOLO, one of India’s foremost and celebrated premium stationery brands has launched- TopCare, a product line dedicated to healthy and sustainable food packaging and cooking.

The group has launched Food Wrapping as well as Baking and Cooking Paper.

After years of research, SOLO introduced TopCare to put an end to the rampant use of fatal aluminium foils which leaches into our bodies.

Solo TopCare's products are natural, organic and 100% food healthy. The products are made out of the wood pulp, promises safe disposal with products being biodegradable, recyclable as well as compostable providing TopCare to Mother Nature. 

The food packed in the paper remains fresh and will not have any hazardous effects on the body. All products are certified as per American, European and Indian food safety standards.

"SOLO TopCare plans to cater to both the HORECA and to the end consumer.  Adoption of TopCare will be a small step towards making purchasing decisions radically that will not hamper the environment and health,’ said Ashutosh Gupta, Director for Filex Systems Private Limited.

The raw materials are subsequently processed under the most hygienic conditions and with careful monitoring systems in place across production, packaging and transportation stages.

RI Bureau

Gadre Marine Export Pvt Ltd, the largest Surimi producer in India and the third largest in the world, has roped in Vikas Khanna an award winning Indian chef as their brand ambassador.

Since he is one of the few Indian chefs with global presence, and is a pioneer in the F&B industry, Vikas Khanna is a strong personification of Gadre’s brand identity and exemplifies the same values that are attached with the brand.

”I can never get enough of seafood and through this association I've explored some interesting recipes which will change the way we eat seafood especially with an upcoming innovative products from Gadre,” shared Chef Khanna.

Gadre Marine Export was originally a processing and packaging unit of frozen marine products such as shrimps, squids, cuttlefish and other fin-fish.

In 1994 however an unprecedented and bold step was taken, India's first and only Surimi manufacturing plant was set up in Ratnagiri. Gadre Marine since then became the third largest Surimi** manufacturer in the world and also started Indian operations for the frozen sea food category.

Talking about the association Arjun Gadre, Owner, Gadre Marine Export Pvt. Ltd comments, “Vikas Khanna is one of the most versatile chefs in the country with an expertise in sea food. We are extremely delighted about this association and couldn’t have thought of any one better to represent the brand Gadre and our products”

The brand is all set to launch its new campaign – "What The Fish" for the packaged Frozen food products with Vikas Khanna for the year 2015 - 16.

Through this campaign the brand plans to engage with its target audience on various levels from Television commercials to digital activation.

Khanna has also created a range of fun, easy to cook recipes with Gadre Seafood that are perfect for a quick snack or meal with your family. These recipes will be accessible through the website and the Webisodes of the brand.

With this association the brand aims to change the perception about frozen seafood in India and create more awareness about its specialties.

By Sunil Pol

Pescafresh, one of the leading fresh seafood brands in India, is planning to tap the online space by launching a mobile app and the e-commerce website.

“Pescafresh is giving the Indian consumer a fresh look at ordering excellent quality seafood 365 days of the year, with minimal seasonal lags by introducing our ecommerce website and the mobile app this June. With our quality product, this launch allows us to have a huge competitive advantage and our accelerated growth is proof that this model will work for our consumers. The brand continues to ensure that the same quality and brand promise is strengthened with this new offering,” said Sangram Sawant, CEO, pescafresh.

The digital space of the brand will be featured with integrated online payment component capability which will help it attain the larger expansion goals to supply the most convenient way of ordering fresh seafood.

The launch of the website and mobile app will further reduce the time lag and ensure that Pescafresh patrons can now order at their leisure and have ready menus through ‘Favorite lists’, ‘Catch of the Day’, ‘Offers and promotions’, etc at the tip of their fingers.

The brand- which presently serves over 20,000 households in Mumbai through their home delivery centres while being available across all the modern retail format- claims to have built on the International Good Manufacturing Practice benchmarks of HACCAP, which involves technological intervention and scientific approach to ensure that the same quality standard of a highly perishable product like seafood is maintained.

By Nusra

Cargill India, the Indian arm of Cargill global, is working on a new corn milling plant at Karnataka which will be functional from October this year.

The group which has tied up with global farmers and brought them to India to work in the food processing sector which is one of the fastest growing industry in the India with almost 60 per cent of Indian focusing on agriculture.

“We have started working with the farmers globally; there are about 5000 farmers and families who are now engaged in improving farm practices, farm meals and this interest to work with the farmers comes from our investment and stake in that area,” shared Siraj Chaudhary, MD, Cargill India.

The global agri major is presently selling vanaspati and edible oils under different brands -- Nature Fresh, Sweekar, Gemini, Rath and Sunflower Vanaspati.

Cargill India has an annual turnover of about Rs 9,000 crore and is targeting at a production of over 300,000 tonnes modified starch for the consuming processed food and pharma industries.

“We are also managing the agri supply chain including the corn supply chain, feed millers, wheat supply chain for food and we also work closely with the dairy and poultry industry,” added Chaudhary.