India’s vibrant food industry via IndiFoodBev

A bumper harvest, full granaries, a buoyant processing and manufacturing industry with a multitude of startups, packed shows and exhibitions – the Indian food scene is hotting up. And it’s this vibrancy and enthusiasm that IndiFoodBev has tried to capture in the May-June issue of our bi-monthly magazine.

A recent report by Reuters, which other media publications have picked up, speaks about India’s full granaries – an indicator of the country’s food security. The report quoting official data says India’s rice stocks in government warehouses rose 18% from a year ago to a record high for the start of June. Wheat stocks, the report says, have reached their highest level in four years on higher procurement from farmers.

The government’s reserves of rice, including unmilled paddy, stood at 59.5 million metric tons on 1 June 1 – way above the government’s target of 13.5 million tons for 1 July, the report said. Wheat stocks stood at 36.9 million tons on 1 June against the target of 27.6 million tons. While that augurs well for India’s domestic demand after disappointing harvests in the past three years, traders and experts feel the stocks should be utilized before the next buying season in October.

A vibrant agri-economy and good agricultural produce provide a much-needed push to the food processing sector, which is witnessing an upsurge in India in recent years. In this issue, we cover the India Food Manufacturing Summit 2025, which brought together leading voices from the food and beverage (F&B) sector to discuss how the country’s manufacturing landscape can evolve to meet future demands. A host of panel discussions centered on sustainability, the need for automation, preservation of food, safe and green packaging, cold chain, and logistics.

We present an overview of India’s growing food processing industry. Different reports offer varying projections. They are all, however, unanimous on the potential and upward trajectory of India’s food processing scene. Spurred by supportive government policies, a slew of startups have ventured into the new and promising territory, driven by the vast agricultural base and rising domestic demand for hygienic food after the Covid-19 pandemic.

A line-up of packed exhibitions such as Aahar, Anuga Select India and Anuga FoodTec India, World Food India, Sial India, or SUFALAM 2025, a startup forum for aspiring leaders and mentors, and India Food Manufacturing Summit 2025, only point to the burgeoning industry.

As part of our efforts to reach out to the industry, we covered most of these shows, which we have reported in our previous issues, as well as in this edition. We report on innovations, industry launches, new products, food processing technologies, industry tie-ups, and agricultural breakthroughs, such as the launch of India’s first genome-edited rice varieties.

We visited food companies for a first-hand experience of how the industry is transitioning to safe and hygienic manufacturing processes. We write about how the food packaging industry is evolving with a focus on sustainable alternatives, a crucial part of which is the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) guidelines for the use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) as food contact material in food and beverage packaging.

At the India Food Manufacturing Summit 2025, experts from across the sector felt India could be a global powerhouse in food manufacturing. However, it requires innovation, partnerships, and a shared resolve to build a resilient, future-ready food ecosystem.

Sunil D’Souza, managing director and CEO, Tata Consumer Products, aptly sums up the mood in a report, “India’s food processing sector remains vastly underleveraged. And we can see the large opportunity it presents for our business to serve our consumers more effectively. Focused investments in infrastructure can catalyze value creation, streamline supply chains, and significantly reduce food loss across the agri-value chain, thereby creating a powerful multiplier effect for agriculture, retail, and export growth.”

FoodTekPack 2025

In keeping with the general trend, IndiFoodBev’s parent company, IppStar, and sister media concern Packaging South Asia, are launching the FoodTekPack 2025 – The Food Processing Technology, and Sustainable Supply Chain Conference, which will be held during the Second Intrapac Exhibition organized by IPAMA at the Greater Noida Expo from 10 to 13 December 2025.

The two-day conference, from 11 and 12 December 2025, aims to cut through the clutter of marketing and sales talk to present a knowledge event for a wide audience of brand owners, product managers, suppliers of food and beverage processing, cold chain logistics, and packaging professionals. Stay tuned to IndiFoodBev for more details.