FDI in retail and the food security bill to boost India’s cold chain industry; but role of government will be critical

Even after 50 years of independence, India still displays a unique portrait of overflowing godowns and decaying food on the one hand, while a significant part of the country's population goes hungry. India currently ranks a low 66 among 105 countries in the 2012 Global Hunger Index. It’s absolutely criminal that India still has the biggest populace of hungry people in the world when there is really no scarcity of food within the nation. The biggest problem here is not the non-availability but the wastage of food every year. It’s unimaginable that nearly USD 7bn worth of food is wasted in India annually, mostly due to poor or non-existent storage facilities. Out of this, nearly USD 2.5bn is fresh fruits and vegetables which get wasted due to non-availability of cold storage facilities.

The existing lacuna

Two key reasons for these losses are the lack of quality cold storage facilities at the food manufacturer’s end and the lack of refrigerated transport to get the produce to the point of sales. Unless there is a vast improvement in the cold chain infrastructure - from farm harvest to consumption - food problems in India, which is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, will continue to grow.

In the US, the movement of nearly 80-85% of fruits and vegetables happens through refrigerated transport, in Thailand it’s about 30-40%, while in India it is literally negligible!  In India, out of the nearly 100mn tn of fresh produce, less than 5mn tn is currently transported through refrigerated freight or reefer trucks, out of which 2mn tn is being exported.

Even if you consider surface storage, currently India has very limited integrated cold-chain infrastructure, with only ~5,400 stand-alone cold storages having a total capacity of ~23.6mn MT, according to ValueNotes’s latest industry report - Integrated Cold Chain Industry in India. This is less than half the amount of cold storage facilities that the country actually needs. In order to reach that target, an investment of more than USD 10bn is required by the year 2016 to stay abreast with India’s growing fruit and vegetable production levels.

Role of the Centre

The Indian government is taking steps to improve the cold chain infrastructure, by recognizing the cold chain industry as a sub-sector of infrastructure in the previous union budget, and creating an additional budget to construct new cold storage facilities. In addition, the private sector is being encouraged to develop the cold chain industry further, by implementing the latest and most effective refrigeration technology solutions available today.

The Centre has planned to construct two cold storage units in the state of West Bengal for which work has already started. These greenfield projects at Jangipur and Jalpaiguri are expected to cost USD 22mn and USD 19mn respectively. These units will be under the PPP model (public private partnership) where the centre is expected to provide USD 8mn for each project, while the balance funds would be brought in by private players. More than 50% of the cold storage facilities in India are currently concentrated in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, while other states struggle with investments from the Centre and private operators.

For private players the high level of initial capital required to construct a cold chain unit continues to be the biggest challenge. But if the government pitches in with a clear plan and promotes more PPP initiatives in this filed, we could see a momentum growth in the cold chain industry in India.

The Future

With a large number of global food and retail chains targeting the India markets, I feel that the need for retaining the quality of both fresh and frozen food has increased, and there is a crying need for adoption of superior technology by the storage facilities. FDI in retail is just around the corner and is likely to be implemented soon. The government is also promoting the food safety and security bill which would further demand storage and cold chain facilities in order to reduce the amount of food wastage.

I know that the cold chain industry in India is still in a very nascent stage, but with the expected future development in road and rail infrastructure, along with the changing lifestyle of the Indian consumer, I think there is a huge potential for the cold chain industry in the country.  According to ValueNotes, the cold chain industry in India is expected to see a growth of more than 20% CAGR over the next five years. But for this to happen, the government will have to play a very important catalyst role.

Perils of conducting a ‘Voice of Customer’ Study In-house

Voice of Customer study is a very powerful technique that defines a detailed set of customer wants and needs, organized into a hierarchical structure, and then prioritized in terms of relative significance and satisfaction with existing alternatives. It gives the organization an opportunity to listen, learn, and more significantly to take action. 

Organizations need to decide whether they want to conduct a VOC just for compliance or they want a really unbiased understanding of their customer needs. Many times when organizations do the VOC studies in-house, they face various challenges, such as executives trying to influence the feedback and biasness in the findings. The primary challenge of doing a VOC in-house is the preconceived notions organizations have about their customers which eventually infect the quality of the customer feedback. 

I think to get an unbiased and accurate VOC study done, it’s essential to involve a competent third party agency who can always present a correct and honest picture of the customer feedback. Follow the  link ( http://www.valuenotes.biz/perils-conducting-voice-customer-study-in-house ) to read my new blog on the perils of doing a VOC in house. 

Please feel free to share your experiences if you have conducted a VOC study in-house or through a third party agency. What were the challenges that you faced and how did you overcome them? We would love to hear about it.

Electronic ballasts: Master blasters of the Indian control gear industry

With incandescent bulbs dying a slow death, the Indian electronic control gear industry is set for a surge as all other alternate lighting sources like CFLs, HIDs, etc use either integrated or external ballasts. 

Currently the overall control gear market in India is estimated to be ~INR 12bn (excluding integrated ballasts) and is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~16% from 2011 to 2015. Historically magnetic ballasts have been the most popular category of electronic control gear in India and currently account for more than 60% of the overall control gear market. On the other hand, electronic ballast market currently accounts for less than 40% of the market but is expected to account for more than 65% of the market by 2015 (CAGR of more than 20%) with advancement in technology and government support for replacement of all magnetic ballast.

To read the entire article visit: http://blog.valuenotes.biz/electronic-ballasts-master-blasters-of-the-indiancontrol-gear-industry

Jhoom Jhoom Jhoom Baba

When a simple old man in white kurta-pyjama and a Gandhi cap stood up against corruption in India, the entire nation stood behind him. Anna Hazare found support from the masses as well as the classes. But when Baba Ramdev stands up to corruption, how come he doesn’t get the type of support that Anna got?

If you really consider the difference between Anna and Baba, Anna is as an affable straight forward honest social reformer who has transformed Ralegaon Siddhi from being a village afflicted by drought, poverty and illicit liquor to a model village where he carried out programs like tree planting, terracing to reduce soil erosion and digging canals to retain rainwater. He has no political aspirations, no religious followers and no hidden agenda. His organization does not even accept donations. His simple Gandhian principles struck a chord with Indians when he took up the crusade to fight against corruption. The educated lot, especially people form the middle class and college students put their hand up in his support, as social network sites went into frenzy. Anna even had support from eminent citizens such as social activist and a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Kiran Bedi, Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Arvind Kejriwal and former Law Minister of India Shanti Bhushan who stood solid behind him.

And then we have Baba Ramdev on the other end. The one eyed bearded Baba runs a multi crore yoga and Ayurveda empire and flies around in a private jet. He has soared to celebrity status on television with crazy ideas and huge ambitions. He has hordes of religious followers and now his empire is expanding to far away locations like Scotland. There was a current news in the papers, where one of his associate claimed that the last balance sheet filed by Baba Ramdev was for more than 1,000 crore Rupees. Not to mention his political aspirations, where he has his own party called Bharat Swabhiman and wants to field candidates in all the 543 Lok Sabha seats.

So it’s not surprising that the educated rational Indian feels that the Baba is a distrustful attention seeker whose crusade against corruption is nothing but a sham to garner more publicity. His campaign appears to be a RSS-BJP backed strategy to corner the government. People do not want him to hijack their mandate for personal gains. I think it’s high time these self proclaimed gurus realise that you can’t take the common man for a ride anymore! Baba Ramdev should stick to his “Jhoom Jhoom Jhoom Baba” routine on Astha channel. Not everyone can be Anna Hazare . . .

Fish Fry

Sorry to disappoint all you fish food lovers; what I mean by Fish fry is baby fish :)

Continuing my fascination with fish keeping, the next step for me was fish breeding. I had heard from many people about the joy of watching tiny fish which have been born in their own houses. Wanting to experience that, I got a pair of loaded (pregnant) Mollies and introduced them to a new smaller tank (8 gallons). I kept them alone so that they won’t be stressed out by other fish.

Mollies are live bearers and give birth directly to babies rather than laying eggs. Mollies have been known to snack on their own babies, and so to avoid that I added a lot of plastic plants to the tank to create a lot of hiding places for the baby fish.

In a week’s time I was surprised to find my tank full of baby fish, I counted more than 25 to 30 fry. I realised that the fry kept on swimming upwards towards the surface of the tank to avoid being eaten by their own mummies! So I added a few fresh leafy vegetables to the tank which float and create lots of hiding places for the fry.

It’s been a month now, and there are still about 10 fry left in the tank. It has been really fascinating to watch their grown and needless to say they have been the star attraction in the houses since the last month.

This is a picture of the Mamma Mollies



Here is the 4 day old fry



The fry after a month’s time

My name in today's paper :)

The following article appeared in today's hindustan Times - Cafe.

Monogram Thieves

Aalap Deboor, Hindustan Times, August 11, 2010

Whenever Aniket Pargaonkar (32) noticed luxury cars without their monograms, he assumed that they had been stolen. He knew that these logos made their way straight to the black market and were sold at a lesser rate than the originals. But last week, he was in for a rude shock. He discovered that the logo of his Tata Indica had been stolen. “They'd come after my car, an Indica! Usually, you’d think they'd go after a luxury car whose logos are expensive,” he says. High-segment cars such as the BMW, Skoda and Mercedes have routinely been targets of monogram theft in the city. Their rear and front logos are jemmied loose using screw drivers and pointed tools, and are then sold for cheaper on the black market, possibly back to the owners themselves. Of late, even Tata and Fiat cars have been spotted missing their monograms.

The police started looking into the matter when complaints from car owners began steadily increasing. They soon discovered that a number of adolescents and college students were behind the racket.A source from the Mumbai police said that college students pay street urchins anything between Rs 200-500 to remove the monograms, and sell it in the grey market for much higher. “These incidents have been reported the most in western suburbs, where there are many expensive cars. Most people just opt for a duplicate monogram as it costs much less,” the source said. In extreme cases, the police make arrests and take the accused to court.

Automobile mechanic Suresh Shirke had two kids come up to him a while back to try to sell him monograms of a Skoda Laura. What’s surprising, Shirke says, is that they belonged to affluent families and were doing this for easy money. “One was eight, the other 12. I informed the police and called their parents, and they were let off with a warning,” he says. Asked if he stocks the logos, Shirke says, “If I buy one from the black market, I’m part of the chain that sells these,” he adds.

Pargaonkar installed a new monogram from an authorised Tata showroom for Rs 60. He didn’t lodge a complaint since a new one was priced so low. “An original monogram cost me Rs 60, I wonder how much the thief would have made for stealing mine and selling it on the grey market!” Pargaonkar says.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Monogram-Thieves/Article1-585059.aspx

Customer harassment by Vodafone

I just faced a real horrifying incidence while trying to close my father-in laws account with Vodafone. I had earlier called their customer care number (which is charged from now on by the way!!) and requested them to close the account. After taking all the verification, they tried to convince me why not to close the account. But when I clearly told them that I was not interested in continuing, they asked me to send a mail requesting them to close the account from the ‘Registered Email Id” for that number.

The Email ID that has been registered with that number is my wife's number as my father-in-law is a senior citizen and not computer literate. Accordingly I sent them an Email from the registered email ID on the 22nd of July. But to date they haven’t closed the account and I got a bill for the whole last month, even when the number hadn't been used at all.

Today I once again called up the cust care. Now they tell me a new story, the request they said was made from a 3rd party email .. it seems!! The Email ID does not have the name of my Father-in law in it!! Now they want me to send a request from my father-in-law’s personal email Id. I told them that he is a senior citizen and not computer literate. On that the ridiculous solution they gave was to create a new Email ID in my father-in-laws name and then send a cancellation request to them!!! I mean how ridiculous is that? When you have registered an email ID for that number and you have been sending your bills on that I, why can’t you accept a cancellation request from that ID?

This is just a way to harass the customers who want to close their accounts. When you need a new number they’ll send their agents to your house and goody talk you into believing that they are their for all your needs, but when you want to close the account, they show their true colours!

My Fishy Affair

I’v been meaning to write about one of my favourite hobbies for quite some time now. Well, if something excites me as much as food, it’s got to be Fish! Not on my plate but in fish tanks. Just watching them peacefully swim through the water, relaxes me and takes me into another world.

For pet lovers in a place like Mumbai where space and time is a big constraint, fish can be the ideal pets. Unlike other pets, such as dogs, fish don’t expect a big chunk of your time, they don’t need to be taken for walks, they don’t need to be toilet trained, they are not noisy, they don’t bite or spread diseases and they don’t cost you much. Also its easier to take care of fish when you are on holidays, as you have options of holiday food which lasts for 4-5 days or you can request your nice neighbour to just put in some food everyday in case of longer vacations.

I’v really begun to enjoy keeping fish since the last 8 months. I bought a 135 gallon tank (28”x18”x15”) at first with an acrylic hood, under gravel filter, external power filter, coloured gravel, and some plastic aquarium plants. This cost me around Rs. 4,000 (one time expense). I got some hardy fish to start with such as Goldfish, Red Cap Orandas, Shubunkins, Plecos (Sucker Cat Fish), a Betta (Fighter Fish) and honey Gouramis. Gradually I’v added a pair each of Silver sharks, Red tail Sharks, Golden Angels and Golden Apple Snails. Fish cost anywhere from Rs 30 to Rs 30,000 depending upon their breed and size. Most popular home aquarium fish like Goldfish and Angels cost around Rs 100 to Rs. 500 a pair.

The most important fact about keeping fish is to keep the tank water clean by doing regular water changes. Water changes are usually done once in 2 weeks, where about 25% of the tank water is removed and fresh water which has been treated with chlorine remover is added. This takes about 15 to 20 mins at the max and is very easy to do by using a gravel cleaner (Rs 100). Fish can be fed once or twice a days depending upon the quantity and size of the fish. Fish can be fed different types of food such as fish flakes, fish pellets, freeze dried worms or even fresh vegetables from your kitchen such as cucumbers, tomatoes or broccoli. Most fish like Goldfish eat vegetables, while Fighter fish are carnivorous and have to be given dried worms. Fish food is not costly and ranges from Rs 50 to Rs 100 a bottle.

These are some pictures of my tank



A close up of the tank



My beautiful Golden Angel pair. I entered this snap in a monthly photo contest conducted by a fish enthusiast’s forum and actually won :)

Trip to Malshej Ghat

We had gone to Malshej Ghat last weekend which is a small hill station, 150 kms from Mumbai. Surrounded by tall Sahyadri Mountains and lush greenery, Malshej ghat transforms into a perfect heaven during the monsoons. We stayed at the Flamingo Resort there, which is owned by MTDC. The rooms and food arrangements were pretty good and the climate there was just incredible. As soon as you open the windows of your room, cool moist clouds rush in. You feel as if you are living in the sky. Everywhere you see there are beautiful waterfalls rushing down the mountains on to the roads.

We had an amazing time getting drenched in the waterfalls and the rains. There is not much to do at Malshej Ghat, apart from enjoying the beautiful scenery and the waterfalls, so make sure you go there only during the rains. Also try to avoid the weekends, as it will be full of wild crowds guzzling beer on the roads and dancing. So a better plan is to go there on a weekday if possible to get maximum enjoyment. Also other nearby attractions are the Shivneri fort, which is Shivaji maharaj’s birth place as well as the Levyadri and Ozar Ashtavinayak temples.