The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) pushed for the development of a technology-based infrastructure for the country’s entire cold chain, from warehousing to transportation, in order to fully utilise the enormous potential of the agro/food processing sector and the need for logistics services therein.
Dr. Nirav Thakker, Executive Committee Member, FFFAI and Moderator of the Session, stated during a Panel Discussion on “Optimising the Cold Chain / Strategies for Enhancing Warehousing & Transport Logistics” held during “ANUTECH 2023” event on September 7th at Bombay Exhibition Centre (NESCO) that the cold chain industry in India is emerging very quickly with a prospect of 14.37 percent CAGR in the next 5 years.
He emphasised that the automation of techniques, which is being widely implemented in the warehousing sector in particular to support the storage & distribution of the food, need to be further augmented including the end to end cold chain. The Panel discussion was jointly organised by FFFAI and the organiser of the Trade Fair: Anufood India, International Exhibition on Food & Beverage Trade and Retail Market in the Indian subcontinent.
Other panellists participated in the discussion were P.A. Bamane, Asst. Manager APEDA; Dr. Karuna Dhale, Asst. Director (tech.), FSSAI and Chaitaly Mehta, Director, EKF Logistics.
Speaking at this event, P.A. Bamane provided a detailed explanation of the role that the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) plays in improving the cold chain and transport logistics through infrastructure development, quality assurance, and capacity building for increasing the exports of agricultural and food products from India.
Dr. Karuna Dhale discussed the function of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in terms of Quality and Compliance as well as other trade facilitation initiatives to quicken EXIM clearances. She pledged her full support and described the different training initiatives the FSSAI is doing to raise awareness.
Chaitaly Mehta highlighted various challenges being faced in handling clearance and transport of the perishable cargo as part of the food supply chain with specific examples. She also showcased how her organization has been successful in overcoming these challenges and providing required services to the exim trade.
Moderator, Dr. Nirav conveyed gratitude to FFFAI Chairman Shankar Shinde for guiding in organising this important Panel Discussion jointly with ‘, the organiser of Anutech Food India.
Commenting on the importance of the event and the panel discussion Shinde highlighted that as the world’s leading information and procurement platform, “ANUTECH” combines all technological solutions along the entire value chain – and that for all sectors of the food and beverage industry. This international event offers all cross-process future technologies.
According to him, currently the focus of the Government of India is to increase the agro export and especially the processed food from India, which necessitates a robust end to end cold chain system utilising contemporary technologies to prevent wastage and compete with the world in terms of quality and price. He also stated that FFFAI is in close cooperation with the government and other organisations in setting up the required cold chain infrastructure. Moreover, FFFAI is engaging the trade through sensitizing its members about the potential/business opportunities in this sector.
