ITC food Yippee To Enter 1000 crore club by 2020

Snacking startup BRB Chips has unveiled a revolutionary new snacking product – BRB Popcorn Chips.

This tasty and healthy snack combines the universal appeal and benefits of popcorn with the crunchiness and convenience of chips.

Introduced for the first time ever in India, BRB Popcorn Chips are aimed at millions of popcorn lovers who enjoy munching on the good old popcorn while watching movies in a theatre or during those Netflix binge sessions.

“In just 2 years since our launch, we have received a tremendous amount of consumer love from all over the country and from people of all age groups and backgrounds. We want to repay their faith and love by continuously pushing the envelope on product innovation to upgrade the Indian consumers’snacking game to the next level,” shared Anuj Krishan, Co-founder & CEO, BRB Chips.

It comes in four different flavours- Golden Butter, Salted Caramel, Salsa, and Cheese & Olive.

This new product range is available to order from the company's D2C website and on Amazon.

In addition, the company has partnered with India's fastest growing 24x7 convenience commerce platform with retail and online stores – The New Shop – as its launch partner for BRB Popcorn Chips.

"In 2021 alone, we sold over half a million packs of BRB Popped Potato Chips, that's over 30 tonnes of chips manufactured and over 1.3 million individual servings,” he added.

The company is planning to invest a significant sum of around USD 2 million over the next one year in marketing, production capacity and in developing its distribution network for the new snack offering.

Owing to the innovative popping technology, BRB chips have 60% less fat compared to the regular fried potato chips and have only about 110 calories per serving. Even when compared to baked chips, BRB has around 30% less fat.

Founded in 2018 by former BIRA 91 co-founders Anuj Krishan and Tanmoy Mukherjee; and Abhishek Agarwal, former business unit head at oil and gas services major Schlumberger, BRB Chips is targeting the missing ingredients in the packaged snacks space in India.

Sustainable packaging provider Bambrew has raised pre-Series-A funding of $2.35 Million led by Blue Ashva Capital and Supack Industries.

The round also saw participation from Mumbai Angels and notable angel investors.

The latest infusion of funds will be utilized to build India’s first tech enabled platform for sourcing green packaging, increase the supply capacity,expand in multiple cities, invest in R&D of new sustainable materials and further strengthen theteam.

“People and businesses are having increased awareness of the perils of Single Use Plastic (SUP) usage.We are elated to see the changing consumer behaviours to consider alternatives.  This strengthens our vision and belief to reduce the usage of SUP and help make our planet a better place for the current and future generations,” shared Vaibhav Anant, Founder, Bambrew.

Over past 2 years, the company has seen 50x growth and envision further higher growth scale in the upcoming year.

This latest infusion of funds will help them increase their footprint and supply capacity across metros like Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata, as well as global markets including the US, Europe, and the Middle East.

“Single use plastics have been widely used for various applications, even though their negative environmental impact has been well understood for decades. There are simply two parameters that have driven this choice: price and application. Previous attempts at sustainable packaging have failed on one or both of these parameters. We are proud to work with the Bambrew team to deliver sustainable alternatives at scale that are not only environmental friendly but also cost competitive and multi-application,” added Satya Bansal, Founder at Blue Ashva Capital.

Founded in July 2018 by Vaibhav Anant,Bambrew is solving the world’s biggest problem of Single Use Plastic and has proudly replaced more than 1,000 tons of plastic from the supply chain.

Closed Loop Partners announced an additional $10 million commitment from the NextGen Consortium’s Founding Partners, Starbucks and McDonald’s, to continue the Consortium’s work: identifying, accelerating and scaling commercially viable, circular foodservice packaging solutions, shared a McDonald’s statement.

The Coca-Cola Company increased its commitment to now participate as a Sector Lead Partner, paving the way for sustainable packaging solutions for its broad customer base.

JDE Peet’s, Wendy’s and Yum! Brands will continue their participation as Supporting Partners in the Consortium, and the Consortium continues to invite other brands to join the effort.

Since 2018, the NextGen Consortium has made significant headway in advancing sustainable packaging innovation and recycling infrastructure to help end foodservice packaging waste, with an initial focus on redesigning the single-use hot and cold fiber cup.

“Through NextGen, we’ve made great progress in growing more sustainable packaging solutions, and there is a lot more work to be done. Faced with increasing climate risks, eco-conscious customers and a resource-constrained world, the foodservice industry must double down on its efforts and band together to strategically tackle the mounting waste challenge,” said Kate Daly, Managing Director of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners.

With the additional $10 million in funding, the Consortium will expand its efforts, including and beyond the fiber cup, to strengthen the sustainable packaging ecosystem.

“Starbucks’ work with the NextGen Consortium has been an important part of our ongoing efforts to reduce single use cup waste, part of our larger goal to reduce waste sent to landfills by 50% by 2030,” said Michael Kobori, Chief Sustainability Officer at Starbucks.

“Over the last three years, the NextGen Consortium has demonstrated that working together as an industry helps accelerate sustainable change, and is paving a clear pathway forward for the industry to scale packaging solutions that can benefit the planet and the communities we serve,” said Marion Gross, Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer at McDonald’s North America.

Individual waste mitigation efforts by Founding Partners Starbucks and McDonald’s further bolster the Consortium’s work to accelerate sustainable packaging innovation, foster more robust recovery opportunities for packaging, and develop, enhance and optimize emerging reuse models.

McDonald's Corp on Thursday announced that in 2020, approximately 80% of guest packaging sourced for McDonald’s restaurants came from renewable, recycled, or certified sources.

It also said that 25% of McDonald’s restaurants in 30 largest markets offer guests the opportunity to recycle packaging waste.

The US-based burger chain said in its annual sustainability report that in 2020 99.6% of the paper bags, food wrappers, napkins, cup carriers and other fiber-based materials it used to package meals for customers came from recycled or certified sustainable fiber sources, up from 92% in 2019.

Also Read: मैकडॉनल्ड्स का कहना है कि इसकी 80 प्रतिशत पैकेजिंग रिन्यूएबल, रिसाइकिल्ड सोर्स से है

Looking at the impact of sustainable and recycled products and packaging, many restaurants across globe are working to reduce environmental harm from packaging, including using more recyclable or compostable materials and letting customers reuse cups or bowls.

“We have achieved an 8.5% reduction in the absolute emissions of our restaurants and offices towards our 36% reduction goal, and a 5.9% reduction in supply chain emissions intensity towards our target of a 31% reduction (from 2015 baseline),” it added.

It also said that McDonald’s achieved 98% to 100% on our 2020 responsible sourcing goals focused on our priority products – beef, soy for chicken feed, coffee, palm oil, fish and fiber. 

Farm-to-fork supply chain start-up WayCool Foods has signed a three year MoU with Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, to develop antimicrobial food packaging material by using biopolymers.

The objective was to develop an economically viable and biodegradable packaging that would retain the freshness of fruits and vegetables longs, leading to a reduction in food wastage across the supply chain by 20 per cent, the statement said.

It is also planning to invest Rs two million over a period of three years of this association.

Also Read: Supply chain Start-up WayCool Foods raises $7.8 million in debt

"The association with IIT Hyderabad to co-develop a sustainable alternate packaging solution further supplements our in-house research and development and innovation efforts",  said , Vignesh Kumar Manogaran, EVP, WayCool Foods.

WayCool distributes its wide range of fresh produce and staples to nearly 20,000 retail outlets, as well as institutional clients.

"Biopolymer is an environmentally friendly food packaging material.We are happy to collaborate with WayCool Foods to develop this unique solution to enhance product shelf-life and also reducing the overall carbon footprint related to food packaging", added Mudrika Khandelwal, The Cellulose Group (Head), IIT Hyderabad.

The packaging material would enhance the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, the statement said.

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.

फूड सेफ्टी एंड स्टैंडर्ड्स ऑफ अथॉरिटी (FSSAI) जल्द ही खाद्य पदार्थों के लिए नई पैकेजिंग लेकर आएगा। ये निर्णय रंगीन और काले बैग जैसी ढीली पैकेजिंग, एल्यूमिनियम कोटिंग के साथ डिस्पोजेबल कंटेनर और मिठाई के डिब्बों में रखी चीजों को दूषित होते देख लिया गया है।

खाद्य नियामक ने फूड पैकेजिंग पर एक नेशनल सर्वे किया जिसमें पता चला कि करीब 80 प्रतिशत खाना रंगीन कैरी बैग में, 59 प्रतिशत काले कैरी बैग में, 24 प्रतिशत से ज्यादा एल्यूमिनियम कोटिंग के डिस्पोजेबल कंटेनर में और 21 प्रतिशत मिठाई के डिब्बों में पैक किया जाता है और इन सभी में कैमिकल पाए गए।

इस खतरे पर रोक लगाने के लिए FSSAI पैकेजिंग के नए तरीकों के लिए पूरी तरह से तैयार है। कहा जा रहा है कि ये रीसाइकिल्ड प्लासटिक से बने पैकेजिंग मैटेरियल पर रोक लगाएगा।

FSSAI के चीफ एक्जीक्यूटिव पवन अग्रवाल ने कहा, 'पैकेजिंग के नए तरीके भारत में खाने की सेफ्टी को एक अगले स्तर तक बढ़ा देंगे। असंगठित क्षेत्रों में इस नई पैकेजिंग को लाना थोड़ा मुश्किल हो सकता है इसलिए हमने इन नियमों को लागू करने से पहले पर्याप्त समय दिया है।'

अग्रवाल ने आगे कहा कि पैकेजिंग का मुख्य उद्देश्य खाने को माइक्रो-बायोलोजिकल, कैमिकल, फिजिकल औप दूषित वातावरण से बचाकर सुरक्षित रखना है। फू़ड बिजनेस को 1 जुलाई 2019 से नए नियमों का पालन करना होगा।

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will soon come up with new regulation on food packaging. The decision was taken after observing that loose packaging like coloured and black carry bags, disposable containers with aluminium coating and sweet boxes have emerged as major contaminants of packaged food.

The food regulator has conducted a national survey of food packaging material which found out that around 80% of food samples packed in coloured carry bags, 59% in black carry bags, more than 24% in aluminium coated disposable containers and 21% in sweet boxes were chemically contaminated.

In a bid to curb this menace, FSSAI is set to notify new regulations for food packaging that will prohibit packaging material made of recycled plastics.

Pawan Agarwal, Chief Executive of FSSAI, said, "The new packaging regulation would raise the bar of food safety in India to the next level. The implementation of the rules may be a challenge in the unorganised sector and therefore, we have given sufficient lead time before the regulations come into force."

"The primary objective of packaging is to protect the food contents from microbiological, chemical, physical and atmospheric contamination and preserve the food. Food businesses shall have to comply with the new regulations by July 1, 2019," Agarwal added. 

In a big boost to its commitment towards sustainability and circular economy, Uflex Limited has developed a customised formulation that renders barrier packaging for edible-oil re-processable. The country’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and solutions company developed the packaging alternative seeing the huge potential of packaged foods market in the country.

 “Edible oil needs to be carefully protected from oxygen that makes it rancid. Barrier properties in a coextruded film for edible-oil packaging are imparted by Nylon and/or EVOH. However, it is the presence of these two elements that makes the packaging of edible-oil non-reprocessable. We at Uflex have developed a specialized formulation that renders barrier packaging for edible-oil re-processable despite the presence of Nylon and/or EVOH,” said Jeevaraj Pillai Joint President, Packaging and New Product Development at Uflex while talking about this major breakthrough in promoting flexible packaging sustainability.

“Now the edible oil manufacturers need not worry and can easily fulfil their recyclability commitments by using barrier packaging having our formulation. According to data from market research firm Euromonitor International, the edible oil category, which had overtaken dairy to become the largest packaged food segment in our country a few years ago, grew at 25.6 percent to cross the Rs. 1.3 trillion mark in 2017. In fact, edible oil formed over 30 percent of the Rs 4.34 trillion packaged foods market in India. Thus the potential is huge and we are fully braced up to cater to the flexible packaging requirements of all edible-oil players in the country and overseas in a sustainable manner,” he said further.

“We accord prime importance to sustainable flexible packaging solutions and business processes. I am very glad to share that my R&D engineers have been able to develop a specialized formulation that renders barrier packaging for edible oil re-processable. Considering that edible oil category is the largest packaged food segment in our country, one can well imagine the massive global boost India as a Nation will get in terms of sustainability and promotion of circular economy if it is able to reprocess all the barrier packaging for edible oil. This is a great victory for Sustainability. This is a great victory for India.” said Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman & Managing Director, Uflex Limited while Expressing joy over the development.

Government is working on new packaging norms for exports of food items to come over against the concern of food safety and health standards after some Indian food products rejected by many developed countries. The Ministry of commerce and Industry has constituted a standing committee to formulate packaging standards for export of 500 products including fresh fruits, vegetables, tea, spices and coffee.

Ministry official said “The regulations will be in sync with those of developed markets such as the US, Vietnam, the European Union, and Japan”.

A government person said on condition of anonymity “A large amount of contamination can happen during transit if the packaging is not done properly,” said the official. “The government is keen to promote exports of fresh and processed food products and is hoping that these regulations will help in increased business for exporters.”

NC Saha, Director of Indian Institute of Packaging said “The committee has representation from Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), several research institutes and industry associations such as Tea Board of India and Coffee Board of India.  We have already suggested standards for packaging fresh fruits and vegetables and submitted it to the ministry and are working on packaging for spices and tea”.

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has on several occasions refused entry to Indian food items such as spices, basmati rice, fisheries and herbal products.

Russia had also imposed ban on import of rice and peanuts from India on grounds of contamination. Australia had issued an advisory that Indian exporters involved in the exports of processed food products, especially containing milk, have not been following the relevant regulation of imports into Australia, after detection of cases violating the import regulations.

The directorate of food and drugs administration (FDA) has asked food business operators to immediately stop the use of staple pins to pack food articles.

The directorate has received several complaints from consumers regarding the practice adopted by food vendors on the use of staple pins to pack food items in plastic and paper bags, instead of sealing them with a thermal unit or cello-adhesive tapes.

Pins are too small to be readily noticed if they fall into food items and can have a damaging effect when swallowed. Children are more prone to such accidents, the FDA has said in a statement.

"In view of the above and in larger public safety, all food business operators, including supermarkets, malls, provision stores, retailers, fast food joints, hoteliers, kiosks, as well as self-help groups and home-based food packers are hereby directed to immediately stop the use of staple pins, for packaging food articles and should strictly employ better and safe methods for the same, so that consumers are not placed at any undue risk," it said in a statement.

The directorate has also urged consumers to be vigilant while purchasing food articles and insist that vendors don’t use pins while packing.