Local F&B industry shines at Indian trade fair

For the first time, Sri Lanka took part at the ‘Annapoorna World of Food India’ Trade Fair held in Mumbai, India to showcase Sri Lanka’s processed food and beverage industry. The participation was organised by The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

Two pavilions were organised to facilitate Lanka Canneries Ltd., Sunshine Tea (Pvt.) Ltd., Edinborough Products (Pvt.) Ltd., Edna Chocolates (Ceylon) Limited, Expolanka (Pvt.) Limited, Sunshine Packaging Limited and CIC Holdings PLC to promote a wide range of products under the Sri Lanka pavilion.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce had an information counter at the Trade Fair to channel many trade enquiries received from business partners not only from India but also from various other countries such as Canada, Germany, USA etc. More than 5,000 buyers visited the trade fair to source products from 160 exhibitors at the Trade Fair.

Upekkha Samaratunga, Hon. Consul General for Sri Lanka in Mumbai was the Chief Guest to inaugurate the Sri Lanka pavilions. Parallel to the event, the Sri Lanka Consulate General organised a B2B session for the participants in association with All India Industry Association at the World Trade Centre.

“All stakeholders received positive responses at the trade fair and we intend to participate at the Annapoorna Food Fair in September 2013 as well. Our participation at the event made several inroads to enter the Indian market encouraged by the large number of positive responses received,” said Lilakshini de Mel, Senior Assistant Secretary General of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce commenting on the event.  

With a population of more than 1.2 billion and food constituting a major part of the consumer’s budget, this sector has unmatched prominence in India. As a result of rising disposable incomes, the overall Indian food consumption market is forecast to climb to US$ 344 billion in 2025, with compound growth at 4.1%.

Growing incomes, falling poverty, changing lifestyles and companies racing to capture India’s middle and upper middle class consumers will cause the food market to dramatically evolve in the near future.

Annapoorna World of Food India was organized by Koelnmesse YA Tradefair Pvt. Ltd., an Indian subsidiary of Koelnmesse GmbH, Germany and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). As a pure B2B fair, Annapoorna — World of Food India offered the Indian food industry a unique platform for information, contacts and ordering.

This unique combination on one hand makes the trade fair interesting for purchasers from all sales channels, such as the wholesale and retail trade, importers and trading companies and on the other hand, the fair also addresses experts from the out-of home market, such as catering companies, hotels, resorts, restaurants and food service suppliers.

As a pure B2B trade fair presenting a broad range of foods and beverages, Annapoorna –World of food India offers an outstanding platform for acquiring information, placing orders and networking. Among the top visitors to Annapoorna World of Food India 2012 were buyers from Reliance Retail, Aditya Birla Retail, Hindustan Unilever, Lavazza, Indigo Airlines, Hyper City Retail, Future Group, Taj Group of Hotels, Marico, etc.