The SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) caters to several industries and food processing industry dominate the Indian economy to a greater extent. This SME industry has been on the edge since the explosion of businesses in the 1990’s as liberalization ushered in. The food processing industry under the SMEs flourished with the introduction of the food packaging technology and the improvement of the storage facilities in the cold storage units in the Indian market.
The emergence of retail food chains, the acceptance of packaged food and the emergence of the food courts in the urban India has contributed greatly to the food processing unit of the SMEs. In addition to these, with modernization and impact of the western culture, the trend of eating outside too has accelerated the growth of the food processing industries in the Indian economy. With increasing population of the packaged food consumers in India, the overall market size of the food processing sector has also widened.
The Indian food market under the food processing sector is estimated at over US 39.71 billion dollars (9.1 lakh crores INR) and accounts to about two-third of the total retail market of India. The food processing SMEs comprise the following units:
- Spice trading
- Food chains and restaurants
- Beverages
- Snacks and confectionery
- Dairy
There is unlimited scope for the food processing sector under the SMEs in the domestic as well as the international business areas. The current net worth of the food processing unit under the SME is expected to observe a whopping rise in the upcoming years with an approximate figure of US 65.4 billion dollars by 2018. Food processing unit of the India’s SMEs account for 31% of the consumption basket of India and will continue to grow in the future times.