The love and trend for food and beverage have considerably multiplied on the worldwide front over the period of time and the trend is changing day by day. Over the past few decades, the food and beverage business has seen majestic growth and is projected to expand to a magnificent extent.

 

The retail sales for attire, white product, and footwear are decreasing globally and area units replaced by the food and beverage industry.

 

The change in the demand for beverages by native people as well as by tourists is due to globalisation and cultural diversification. This makes the food and beverage industry is more competent and more innovative with their products. The indeed required critical thinking makes the market more diverse in terms of creativity in beverages and selection of the ingredients. Just thinking of the above discussion one more important term strikes the mind -Functional Beverages.

 

Ready-to-drink beverages that are non-alcoholic and comprise non-traditional ingredients are referred to as ‘functional drinks’. Functional drinks comprise a couple of common ingredients like minerals, herbs, some raw fruits or vegetables. The health-related advantages offered by functional drinks are far more than the daily organic process intake.

 

Improved heart health, system strengthening, improved psychic energy, improved bone health, steroid and alcohol management, and different health-related advantages associated with eye health and vision. Dairy, increased fruit drinks and juices, ready-to-drink tea, energy drinks, functional milk, soy beverages, and sports and performance drinks are the foremost common forms of functional drinks.

 

The global functional beverage market is estimated to reach $208 billion by 2026, expanding at a CAGR of around 9% during the forecast period, 2020 – 2026. The growing shopper inclination towards the consumption of functional beverages is principal because of the rising demand for non-alcoholic beverages. Functional drinks are being most popular over effervescent drinks and fruit juices by shoppers.

 

For gaining a footing within the market corporations are springing up with new innovations. For varied blessings of functional beverages, the shoppers are willing to pay a premium that is one every of the most important blessings of functional beverages. Some facts and figures about the UAE retail sale revenue.

 

As reported by Euromonitor, in 2018, UAE retail sales value of soft drinks reached $5.1 billion. From 2013 to 2018, UAE retail sales of soft drinks grew with CAGR of around 5.7%. The largest category in this group was bottled water, juice and carbonated water. It is also worth mentioning that Ready to Drink (RTD) coffee had the highest CAGR of 22% between 2013 and 2018.

 

'The Arab Beverages Conference returns to the UAE following a great success last year, the conference offers networking opportunities and promotes discussion among hundreds of participants from the beverage industry and it supporting industries from all around the world. The Arab non-alcoholic beverages industry is now one of the fastest-growing industries in the Arab world, playing a vital role in the Arab countries economies, catering to over 300 million consumers in the Arab region alone, with a production volume of over 10 billion liters per yea' stated the chairman of the Arab Beverage Association Monther Al Harthi.

Indian exporters have shipped out around 17 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugar in the October-December quarter of the current sugar season 2021-22 as compared to 4.5 lt in the same period last year, an increase of around 277 per cent. According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), the apex trade body, another 7 lt was in the pipeline for exports during January 2022.

 

Indian exporters have contracted have already signed about 38-40 lt of sugar for exports, but a decline in global prices have forced them to take the wait-and-watch approach. Global raw sugar prices have slumped to a five month low at around 18 cents per pound amidst news of expectedly better upcoming season 2022-23 (April-March) in Brazil.

 

'Indian mills are still waiting for the opportune time and are in no hurry to enter into further export contracts beyond 38-40 lt which have already been signed so far,” ISMA said in a note on Monday.

 

More number of mills in operations

This is even as sugar production in the country till from October 1 to January 15 registered a six per cent increase at 151.41 lt as compared to 142.78 per cent in the same period last sugar season. The increase is mainly on account of more number of mills in operations this year at 504 as compared to 487 in the same period last year.

 

In Maharashtra, sugar production has increased to 58.84 lt till mid-January this year as against 51.55 lt in the same period last season, an increase of 14 per cent. However, in Uttar Pradesh the production is trailing last year’s levels at 40.17 lt as compared to 42.99 lt in the same period last season.

 

In Karnataka, the third largest sugar producing State, output has increased to 33.20 lt as of mid-January this season as compared to 29.80 lt in same period last season. ISMA further said that the second advance estimates of sugar production for the 2021-22 season would be released by the end of January.

 

India's exports to China have increased about 34 per cent to USD 22.9 billion in 2021 from USD 17.1 billion in 2019, according to data from the commerce ministry. Imports, on the other hand, rose 28 per cent to USD 87.5 billion in 2021 as against USD 68.4 billion in 2019.

 

According to the data, the trade deficit has increased to USD 64.5 billion last year as compared with USD 51.2 billion in 2019.

 

Trade experts have stated that India's exports to China have increased at a faster pace than that of its imports from China in 2021 when compared with the normal year of 2019.

 

Khalid Khan, vice-president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said the huge export potential is there for Indian exporters in China.

 

'Our exporters are doing quite good in China. We can push our exports further,' Khan said.

 

The share of raw material, intermediate goods and capital goods imports from China increased in 2021 as compared to 2019, whereas imports of consumer goods have fallen from 14.7 per cent in 2019 to 10.4 per cent in 2021, another expert said.

 

Further, in 2021, the US has taken a top slot as India's merchandise trade partner with a value of USD 112.3 billion. America was followed by China (USD 110.4 billion), UAE (68.4 billion), Saudi Arabia (USD 35.6 billion), Switzerland (USD 30.8 billion), and Hong Kong (USD 29.5 billion).

 

'There is a shift in the growth pattern of trade in 2021 with respect to 2020. In the post-COVID-19 period, India's merchandise trade with all other top trading partners except for Hong Kong and Singapore have registered growth higher than that of the growth registered with China in 2021 over 2020,' an expert added.

 

Addressing the National conference on Agriculture for Summer Campaign 2021-22 today through video-conferencing, Union Agriculture Minister, Shri Narendra Kumar Tomar said that summer crops not only provide extra income but also create employment opportunities in between Rabi and Kharif for the farmers thereby increasing crop intensity. The Government has taken new initiatives through various programmes for cultivation of summer crops such as pulses, coarse cereals, nutri-cereals, and oilseeds. Though more than half of cultivated area in summer season is under pulses, oilseeds and nutri-cereals, the farmers with irrigation source are growing rice and vegetables during the summer season. He highlighted that area under cultivation of zaid crops including rice has increased progressively 2.7 times from 29.71 lakh hectares in 2017-18 to 80.46 lakh hectares in 2020-21.

 

The objective of Zaid conference is to review and assess the crop performance during the preceding crop seasons and fix crop-wise targets for summer season in consultation with State Governments. The Minister assured full support to ensure supply of critical inputs and facilitate adoption of innovative technologies with a view to enhance production and productivity of the crops. The priority of government is to increase production of oilseeds and pulses where large imports are required.

 

Speaking on the new varieties developed by the ICAR, Shri Tomar said that States should use new varieties of seeds for better production of summer crops. The Minister also asked States to plan in advance for their fertilizers needs and provide estimates to the center so that fertilizer department can provide sufficient fertilizers timely. He also suggested that States should increase the use of NPK and liquid urea and reduce the dependence on DAP fertilizers.

 

Regarding training to the farmers, Agriculture Minister asked Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) to jointly conduct the essential training for the small and marginal farmers so that new technology and knowledge reach the grassroots level.

 

In spite of difficult time due to Covid, country produced 3086.47 lakh tonnes of food grains during 2020-21 (4th Advance Estimates), which will be an all-time record. Pulses and oilseed production has also achieved all time high at 257.19 and 361.01 lakh tonnes, respectively. Production of cotton is being estimated at 353.84 lakh bales with which India is set to rise to the first position in the world. On the production and productivity fronts, the horticulture sector has also outperformed conventional food grain crops.

 

Addressing the Conference, Sh. Kailash Choudhary, MoS for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare told the states that special focus is now given to increase production of oilseeds and pulses and make country self-reliant. Regarding the promotion of organic and natural farming, Shri Choudhary advised States to send proposals to certify the entire block or area as organic/natural farming block so that farmers who belong to that area need not apply for certificate individually. He also asked States to provide market for organic farmers.

 

Addressing the States Secretary, Department of Fertilizers said that adequate and timely availability of fertilizers would be ensured. He also gave estimated availability of fertilizers for Kharif 2022. The total availability of Urea is likely to be 255.28 (LMT), of DAP 81.24, of MOP 18.50, of NPKS 76.87 and of SSP 34. Secretary, DARE and DG, ICAR highlighted the latest technological advances made for cultivation of summer crops.

 

National and state wise targets for pulses, oilseeds and nutri-cereals were set for the summer 2021-22. Compared to 40.85 lakh hectares under these crops in 2020-21, an area of 52.72 lakh hectares will be covered during 2021-22 in the country. Pulses will cover 21.05 lakh hectares while 13.78 and 17.89 lakh hectares will be brought under oilseeds and nutri-cereals, respectively. Pulses and oilseeds will be promoted through Targeted Rice Fallow Area sub-component of NFSM and NFSM (OS&OP). These will also be supported as inter-crops in Sugarcane and Oil Palm.

 

A presentation by Joint Secretary (Crops and Oil Seeds) highlighted the rain fall situation, region wise live storage of water in major reservoirs, season wise estimated area coverage under different crops, trend and area coverage under Zaid/summer, Existing support programmes for summer crops and State wise area projected for coverage under Zaid/summer crops 2022.

 

During the conference ‘Working manual on Indian Seed Certification’ was released. Presentations on PM KISAN e-KYC and presentation on Farmers’ database were also made during the conference for the benefit of the States. 

 

Secretary (Agriculture) Shri Sanjay Agarwal and other senior officers from DA&FW, ICAR and officers of different State Governments participated in the National Conference through video conferencing. An interaction session was also organized with Agriculture Production Commissioners and Principal Secretaries of all the States in four groups to share the achievements, challenges and strategies to be adopted in respective states for increasing area coverage, production and productivity during summer/Zaid season in agriculture sector.

India Honey Alliance (IHA), a collaboration of the entire honey value chain across the country, is conducting 'Hive to Home 3.0' - an informative and interactive webinar where the experts will share their insights on the various Government schemes, scientific and technical information and initiatives to promote beekeeping in India.

 

This is the third webinar from IHA which will focus on bee-keeping and related issues faced by beekeepers. The virtual session is scheduled on Friday, January 28, 2022, and is open to the general public by registering on the India Honey Alliance Website.

 

Deepak Jolly, secretary general for IHA, said, 'To achieve IHA’s vision of the ‘Golden revolution' in the country, there is a dire need for increased collaboration across the value chain. Beekeeping as an industry is not much talked about and it is time that we all work together towards developing and promoting beekeeping across the country. This webinar will again bring forth valuable insights from experts towards providing solutions for issues faced by the beekeepers, the initiatives taken by Government towards promoting beekeeping and the best practices that we can adapt for the larger benefit of the industry and the beekeepers.'

 

The webinar will feature talks by eminent experts such as Scientists, representatives from Government bodies, Industry experts, Beekeepers and NGOs/ welfare bodies. The speaker panel will include Pankaj Prasad, additional MD NAFED; Dr Naveen Patle, ED-NBB; Dr Lakshmi Rao, assistant director, CBRTI; Sitaram Gupta, founder Samridhh Bharat Abhiyan; Ajay Saini, bee-keeper and entrepreneur; and will be moderated by Vinit Singh, foremost Honey aggregator from Bharatpur.

 

Namrata Khanna, director, India Honey Alliance, said, 'Working closely with all the key stakeholders across the honey industry is extremely essential towards achieving our long term vision of making Indian honey the most preferred honey in the global and the domestic market. Beekeepers are the focal point for all developmental programmes envisaged by the India Honey Alliance and they play an instrumental role in shaping the future of the honey industry in India. While our first two webinars focused on 'The Journey of Honey', from collection to processing and the testing techniques and the benefits of honey for all of us, this one will specifically focus  on beekeepers and measures to promote beekeeping.'

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi hosted the first India-Central Asia Summit in virtual format on 27 January 2022,  which was attended by Presidents of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan. This first India-Central Asia coincided with the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Central Asian countries.

 

During the Summit, Prime Minister Modi and the Central Asian Leaders discussed the next steps in taking India-Central Asia relations to new heights. In a historic decision, the Leaders agreed to institutionalize the Summit mechanism by deciding to hold it every 2 years. They also agreed on regular meetings of Foreign Ministers, Trade Ministers, Culture Ministers and Secretaries of the Security Council to prepare the groundwork for the Summit meetings. An India-Central Asia Secretariat in New Delhi would be set up to support the new mechanism.

 

The Leaders discussed far-reaching proposals to further cooperation in areas of trade and connectivity, development cooperation, defence and security and, in particular, on cultural and people to people contacts. These included a Round-Table on Energy and Connectivity; Joint Working Groups at senior official level on Afghanistan and use of Chabahar Port; showcasing of Buddhist exhibitions in Central Asian countries and commissioning of an India-Central Asia dictionary of common words, joint counter-terrorism exercises, visit of 100 member youth delegation annually from Central Asian countries to India and special courses for Central Asian diplomats.

 

Prime Minister Modi also discussed the evolving situation in Afghanistan with the Central Asian leaders. The leaders reiterated their strong support for a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan with a truly representative and inclusive government. Prime Minister conveyed India’s continued commitment to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

 

A comprehensive Joint Declaration was adopted by the leaders that enumerates their common vision for an enduring and comprehensive India-Central Asia partnership.  

Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) set a tender on Thursday to buy an unspecified amount of wheat from global suppliers for shipment from 5-15 March and/or 16-26 March.

 

Deadline for offers is Jan. 28 and payment is at sight, it said.

Sugar production in India, the world's second largest producing nation after Brazil, is estimated to increase by 2.90 per cent to 31.9 million tonnes in the ongoing 2021-22 marketing year, according to the first estimate released by the trade body AISTA on Thursday. With estimated production of 31.9 million tonnes plus opening stock of 8.3 million tonnes with mills, the total availability of sugar in the country is expected to be 40.2 million tonnes in the current marketing year, slightly lower than the previous year, it said.

 

However, the supply of sugar in the country would be sufficient to meet the domestic consumption, which is estimated to be at 27 million tonnes in the 2021-22 marketing year, it added.

 

Sugar marketing year runs from October to September.

 

In case of exports, the All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA) said the outbound shipments are estimated to be lower at 6 million tonnes in the current 2021-22 marketing year, as against 7.2 million tonnes in the previous year.

 

'The actual exports in 2021-22, would depend upon the level of domestic sugar prices vis-a-vis international sugar prices,' the trade body noted.

 

According to the AISTA's first estimate, the country's sugar production is expected to be at 31.9 million tonnes in the 2021-22 marketing year, as against 31 million tonnes in the previous year.

 

Out of the total estimated sugar production for this year, mills in Uttar Pradesh -- the country's leading sugar producing state -- are estimated to produce 10.5 million tonnes of the sweetener in the 2021-22 marketing year, lower than 11.1 million tonnes in the previous year.

 

However, production in Maharashtra -- the country's second largest sugar producing state -- is estimated to be higher at 11.5 million tonnes, as against 10.7 million tonnes, while that of in Karnataka -- the country's third largest sugar producing state -- the production is expected to be 4.8 million tonnes, as against 4.7 million tonnes in the said period.

 

Sugar production is pegged to be slightly higher at 1.1 million tonnes in Gujarat, at 1 million tonnes in Tamil Nadu, and at 3 million tonnes in other states, the data showed.

 

'The above estimates of 31.9 million tonnes of sugar production excludes the diversion of sucrose for ethanol production,' AISTA said.

 

It is estimated that 3.1 million tonnes of sucrose would get diverted in the current marketing year for ethanol production from B-heavy molasses and sugarcane juice, it added.

 

AISTA also said the domestic sugar consumption is estimated to increase by 2 per cent to 27 million tonnes in the 2021-22 marketing year, from 26.5 million tonnes in the previous year.

 

The first estimate has been arrived at after considering the estimated sugarcane production, sugar production, recovery rate and drawl rate achieved so far in the current marketing year, as well as likely diversion of sucrose for production of ethanol from B-heavy molasses, it said.

 

Sugarcane crushing is going on, AISTA said and added that it will come out with a second production estimate for the 2021-22 marketing year by February-end or early March.

 

Bangladesh has emerged as the top destination for exported Indian pomegranates over the last few years. Ease of transportation and relatively relaxed import norms have helped Indian growers take their fruit to Bangladesh even as the share of export to European countries has dropped.

 

Grown mostly in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat, pomegranate has emerged as a major export crop for drought-prone areas of the state. Over the years, Indian exports have become stagnant at around 50,000-60,000 tonnes as concerns over the quality of the fruit eclipsed the growth potential. While the European Union is a major market where the fruit fetches premium prices, the standards governing quality are higher there.

 

Prabhakar Chandane, president of All India Pomegranate Growers Association, said non-availability of export-ready fruit has, over the years, seen European markets slipping slowly out of Indian exporters’ hands. Last fiscal, India had exported 68,502.9 tonnes of the fruit, of which 36,906.77 tonnes had gone to Bangladesh. In the current fiscal, of the 53,524.31 tonnes of the fruit, 31,185.84 tonnes have been exported to Bangladesh.

 

One of the main reasons for the neighbouring country emerging as a major export destination is the ease of transport and the relatively relaxed quality norms. 'Last three years, just before the season, unseasonal rains and attack of mildew have affected our ability to export,' said Chandane.

 

'The fruit can be exported to Bangladesh round the year and thus we can send our produce even when the European season is over,' he said.

 

While exports have taken a hit, registration of farmers who are ready to export their produce have seen a sizeable jump. The Agriculture department registers plots for export and outlines steps to ensure the fruits meet the prescribed residue content. The steps include measured application of pesticides and fungicides, which could be detected in residue levels before exports. This fiscal, 5,000 farms have to registered, of which 1,000 have been registered.

The Centre has set a target to increase area under zaid crops (excluding paddy) — grown between rabi and kharif seasons — by 29 per cent at 52.72 lakh hectares (lh) this year. Of this, 21.05 lh will be under pulses, 13.78 lh under oilseeds and 17.89 lh under coarse cereals.

 

Paddy area in the last summer season was about 40 lh and that may remain in the range of 30-40 lh this year though the government wants diversification from rice, an official said. Summer rice is grown mainly in West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Bihar.

 

Pulses , cereals

 

Among pulses, moong is the most preferred one and the government targets 17.58 lh under summer moong, mainly in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, against 14.45 lh actual last year. In oilseeds, major summer grown crops are groundnut and sesame where the targets are fixed at 7.6 lh and 5.25 lh, respectively. Among coarse cereals, summer maize has been targeted in an area of 8.79 lh against 7.85 lh actual last year.

 

The additional area increase targeted is to come from rice fallows, inter-cropping in oil palm and sugarcane, besides the normal summer areas, the official said.

 

Post-monsoon, the country received 44 per cent more than normal rains at 177.7 mm during October-December and in the first three weeks of January the rainfall was nearly three times higher than average at 31.8 mm.

 

Addressing the annual conference on summer crops, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the objective of the conference was to review the performance of these crops during the preceding three cropping seasons and fix crop-wise targets for the coming summer season in consultation with the State governments. The priority of government is to increase production of oilseeds and pulses where large imports are required, he said.

 

Fertilisers supply

 

Tomar also asked participating States in the conference to plan in advance for their fertilisers needs and provide estimates to the Centre and ensure sufficient quantity of crop nutrients are made available in time. He suggested that States should work towards increasing the use of NPK and liquid urea to reduce the dependence on DAP fertiliser.

 

The Fertilisers Secretary Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi said that adequate and timely availability of fertilisers would be ensured in ensuing season and the government has estimated total availability of urea at 255.28 lakh tonnes (lt), DAP 81.24 lt, MOP 18.50 lt, NPKS 76.87 lt and SSP 34 lt for Kharif 2022.