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Food and hospitality on a single platform
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
March 01 , 2015
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The 30th edition of India’s top food and hospitality event Aahar 2015 is all set to commence on March 10, 2015.
The event, known to bring businessmen from food and hospitality sector on a single platform, will showcase products and offerings from segments such as food, wine, food additives, beverages, ingredients, equipment and machinery over a period of five days. Though not officially, the event’s focus would remain aligned with the Government of India campaign Make in India, it was reliably learnt.
This year, the organisers have increased the space further up from last year’s 44,000 sq m of gross area. Also, this year, the organisers are using almost 45,000 sq m of gross area under the Aahar event with 22,000 sq m of carpet net area. The organisers say that around 800 companies from 22 countries will be participating. Out of them, Japan, Korea, Denmark, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tunisia are new participants. Last year, 776 companies participated, while a year before 676 participated.
“The focus will be Make in India wherein there is an increase in participating countries to 22. It is an opportunity for suppliers, buyers, opinion-makers, and consultants to meet and discuss business possibilities. It’s the most reasonable way to get business,” explains V Kumar, in-charge general manager and financial advisor, India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), which is organising the event.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union minister for food processing industries, will be the chief guest at the inaugural function. The show will be open for business visitors every day while public would be allowed only on the last day from 2 pm to 6 pm.
The fair will comprise two concurrent exhibitions - Food India covering food, processed food, food additives & beverages, and Hospitality India covering hotel and restaurant equipment and supplies and so on.
The fair is being supported by ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI) and bodies like Association of Resource Companies for Hospitality Industry (ARCHI); Hotel and Restaurant Equipment Manufacturers Association of India (HOTREMAI); Food and Hospitality Support Association of India (FHSAI); Forum of Indian Food Importers (FIFI); All India Food Processors’ Association (AIFPA); and Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA); are its associates.
“Aahar is a major food and hospitality event in the world. This year, we have seen active participation from China which has asked for largest area of 150 sq m followed by Japan with 120 sq m of area. Aahar means business and we would be expecting an engaging event for five days,” states Kumar.
Plan for Aahar 2015 —
Hall 15,18 (Upper) & 18 (Lower)---Food, Food Ingredients and Additives
Fruits and Vegetables; Dairy Products; Bakery & Confectionery Products; Organic and Health Products; Meat and Poultry Products; Processed Foods; Non-Alcoholic Beverages; Food Ingredients; Fine Food; Food Preservatives; Chocolates.
Hall 18 (Foyer)--Alcoholic Beverages & Cheese
Alcoholic Beverages; Cheese.
Hall 7D, 7E, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12A &14 --- Food & Beverage Equipments
Bakery and Confectionery Equipment; Kitchen Equipment; Kitchen and Food Service; Kitchenware Equipment – Crockery/ Cutlery/ Chaffing Dishes; Food and Beverage Equipment; Food Processing, Packaging Equipment and Machinery; Poultry, Farm Equipment and Supplies.
Hall 2,3,4,5 & 6,7ABC & 7 FGH --- House-Keeping
Building, Construction, Air Conditioning; Laundry & Interior and House-Keeping; Air & Water – Pollution Control Equipment & Accessories; Festival Products; Furniture and Interior Decoration; Gardening & Lighting; Gifts and Presentation; Guest Room Products; Health Club/ Sports/ Fitness Equipments; and Fabrics, Textile, Made Ups.
Culinary Show
According to a report on Aahar 2014, it was the largest fair so far in terms of participation. The area covered was 44298.85 sq m as against 41666.84 sq m in Aahar, 2013. 776 exhibitors including 48 from 18 overseas countries such as – Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, UAE & USA. Some 23,586 business visitors including overseas business visitors visited 2014. More than 94% of participants indicated that their objectives were achieved. This points to high level satisfaction in the exhibition. Some 90% exhibitors were satisfied with the participation, according to organisers.
Like previous year, wine will also be part of the event with many countries like France, Sweden, Japan, and Poland bringing in their wines. There will be wine-tasting sessions along with culinary competitions in the event, according to Kumar.
Kumar explained that the satisfaction level amongst participating companies was quite high and we would see more than 90% of repeat participation. Amit Lohani, convenor, FIFI, states, “Aahar is definitely the largest show for the food and hospitality industry in the country not only in size but also in terms of visitor profile. It is quite elaborate and extensive as a B2B exhibition. There is no other exhibition in India which covers both equipment and food.”
He adds, FIFI has been witnessing year-on-year growth in participation at Aahar. We have 1,500 sq m of exhibition space at this edition. Last year, it was 1,100 sq m. Almost 52 companies will be part of FIFI expo. This includes three international pavilions of Australia, Tunisia, and Afghanistan. The agriculture minister of Poland and ambassador of Poland in India will be visiting the FIFI pavilion on the first day.”
Lohani informs, “Unlike other supporting industry associations, FIFI is an NGO and our endeavour is to provide an overall experience of international expo to our members and visitors. FIFI will be providing Wi-Fi facilities, free coffee/tea, and a lounge for exhibitors and visitors.”
However, he has one suggestion, “Aahar has to turn up as a knowledge platform. That unfortunately is not happening. The organisers should try to emulate other international exhibitions in this context. The facilities have to improve so that the expo can attract CEOs of Walmart, Flipkart, etc. to the event.”
Nirmal Khandelwal, president, HOTREMAI, observes, “Aahar earlier used to be just a food show but since 1982, it has grown to a great extent including complete hospitality sector as well. The number of participants has immensely increased over the last few years and the fair now sees participants and visitors from all across the world.
This year the fair has booked approximately 22,000 sq m of exhibition space and the hospitality sector has majorly contributed with around 18,000 sq m of space.
Khandelwal adds, “We have been associated with Aahar for quite some time now. Our members have always shown interest in participating in the most important food & hospitality fair of the country. Also, a lot of new members have been added to HOTREMAI to exhibit in the show.”
HBI Staff – New Delhi
Around 300 chefs from hotels and restaurants across north India will participate in the Culinary Art India 2015 event of ICF (Indian Culinary Forum) organised in partnership with ITPO at the fair.
As per organisers, the five-day event will recognise excellence in culinary art in India. Renowned chefs from across India and abroad will participate in the event as guests and juries. Chef Oliver Esser Soe Thet, president, Myanmar Chefs Association, will be presiding as the chairperson of the jury in this year’s competitions.
Competitions will be broadly in Display and Live cooking at the Culinary Art India. Individual Artistic display will be held in 3-tier wedding cake, artistic pastry and bakery showpiece, fruit and vegetable carving, butter or margarine sculpture, and so on. There will be competitions in cold display like plated appetisers, three-course set dinner menu, desserts, authentic regional Indian cuisine, etc. Besides these display competitions, there will be live cooking competitions in the five-day event.
“The prime objective of Culinary Art India is to establish a professional platform where culinary professionals across India can display their individual and combined skills, creative talent, learn, share experiences, partner and network in a purely businesslike and competitive environment. It will also give youngsters an opportunity to come up with new and innovative ideas,” said chef Vivek Saggar, organising secretary, Culinary Art India, 2015.
Overview of the Indian food processing sector
India's exports of Processed Food was Rs 31551.99 crore in 2013-14, which including the share of products like mango pulp (Rs 772.97 crore), dried and preserved vegetable (Rs 742.74 crore), other processed fruit and vegetables (Rs 2,266.66 crore), pulses (Rs 1,746.34 crore), groundnut (Rs 3,187.69 crore), guargum (Rs 11,734.51 crore), jaggery & confectionery (Rs 1,136.91 crore), cocoa products (Rs 570.80 crore), cereal preparations (Rs 2,855.01 crore), alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (Rs 2,393.54 crore) and miscellaneous preparations (Rs 2,183.81 crore).
The Indian food processing industry is primarily export-oriented. India's geographical situation gives it the unique advantage of connectivity to Europe, the Middle-East, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Korea. One such example indicating India's location advantage is the value of trade in agriculture and processed food between India and the Gulf region.
Retail, one of the largest sectors in the global economy (US$7 trillion), is going through a transition phase in India. One of the prime factors for non-competitiveness of the food processing industry is because of the cost and quality of marketing channels. Globally more than 72% of food sales occur through super stores. India presents a huge opportunity and is all set for a big retail revolution. India is the least saturated of global markets with a small organised retail and also the least competitive of all global markets.
(Source: APEDA)
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