Transforming The Food Economy
3-5 November, 2017 | Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, India

World Food India 2017

World Food India 2017 provided a platform to explore Indian market across the value chain in food processing and food retail. The idea was to bring together global & Indian leaders across the food value chain and Showcase the strengths of India in the Food processing & allied sectors; Connect domestic and international businesses for possible partnerships and Facilitate collaboration, investment flow and encourage sourcing from India.

The Event was inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi on 3rd November at Vigyan Bhavan. Mr Maris Kucinskis, Hon’ble Prime Minister of Latvia & Mr Serzh Sargsyan, President of Armenia were also present in the event. Hon’ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, was the Chief Guest during the Valedictory Session.

President of Armenia H.E. Mr. Serzh Sargsyan addressing the participants at World Food India 2017

Prime Minister of Latvia H.E. Mr. Maris Kucinskis at World Food India 2017

International participation

World Food India attracted participation from 61 countries. Germany, Denmark and Japan were Partner Countries while Italy and Netherlands were the Focus countries. 7 International Ministers, 9 Ministerial/ Official delegations and 15 business delegations, 11 International Business Chambers participated in WFI

There was significant participation from Japan, USA, France, South Korea, Sri Lanka, among others. 60 Global CEOs including APAC leadership of leading companies and more than 200 global companies participated in the event.

Domestic participation

On Domestic Front, more than 75 Policy Makers including 7 Union Ministers (Finance / Commerce & Industry/ Railways/Surface Transport / Agriculture / DONER), Senior Officials, Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and 25 Ministers from 18 States participated during 3 days.

Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh & Telangana announced their food processing policy during WFI. 27 States participated as Partner or Focus States. 20 State Sessions and a Special session on North Eastern States was held.

Conferences, Sessions & Plenaries:

The mega event hosted 36 Conferences, State and Country Sessions and Plenaries over the three days. 8 sectoral conferences which highlighted the business opportunities, new trends and avenues for investments in these sectors across the food value chain were held.

There was significant international participation with almost 10,000 participants in conferences.

There were two plenary sessions. The first Plenary Session ‘India the Preferred Investment Destination’ featured Hon’ble Finance Minister of India and global & Indian CEOs who spoke about the changed scenario for investments. Secretary DIPP and Secretary Food Processing also made detailed presentations to the participants.

The second Plenary Session on Food Regulatory was led by the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and shared the positive changes in the Indian Regulatory system which is of prime interest to both foreign and Indian food processing players

Two Special Roundtables of global and Indian CEOs were held with Hon’ble Prime Minster and the Hon’ble Finance Minister. The Roundtables provided an opportunity for the CEOs to understand the vision of the highest level of policy makers in the Govt.

Business Networking & MoUs: The participants with business interests has availed the services of Online Meeting Centre to schedule their meetings in advance with Government officials, embassy officials, decision makers of global organizations and other industry delegates. Total 8000 online & offline B2B meeting held during 3 days.

MoUs worth $ 14 billion signed/ exchanges/ announced during WFI
Major countries who have signed MoU: USA / France / Germany /Netherlands / UAE
Major States who have signed MoU : Telegana / Punjab / Haryana / UP

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Govt of India signed / exchanged/ announced MoUs worth US$ 11.25 billion during World Food India 2017. These are expected to fructify over the next three years.

Additionally, World Food India provided a platform to the States to announce & sign MoUs with industry in the food processing sector. The States signed MoUs worth US $ 2.28 billion.

This brings the total estimated investment in the food processing sector in the next three years to Rs 1,21,000 crore (US $ 18 billion).

Investor Portal Nivesh bandhu: A user friendly portal ‘Nivesh Bandhu’ was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister and provides an easy glimpse into investment policies of States, district level resources to encourage informed choice by potential investors as also exchange queries for sourcing.

Exhibition

Spread over 40,000 sq mtrs of area in C- hexagon lawns of India Gate, the WFI Exhibition had close to 800 global & domestic exhibitors.These included industry across the food processing value chain eg machinery, technology & equipment, food processing sub sectors; State Govts, related Ministries viz Ministry of agriculture, Food Safety Regulatory Authority of India, Institutes like NIFTEM & IIPT etc. DONER had a special showcase, so did Farmer Producer Organizations, Women Entrepreneurs, Start ups and GIs. Though the entry was restricted to business visitors, there was a footfall of approximately 75,000 visitors including a significant number of progressive farmers who were invited, at the Exhibition over the 3 days. The Feedback has been very positive. Total 345 number of people registered their feedback out of which it was marked as Excellent by 253 people, very good by 69 and good by 23 people.

The Great India Food Street

An exciting feature of the event was “Food Street” - a lively vibrant zone, that has showcased Indian and foreign cuisines using Indian ingredients, flavours and fragrances, specially curated by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor.

With a footfall of our to 5,000 guests over 3 days, the Great India Food Street was a unique concept that acted as a platform for guests to learn about the globalization of Indian food through interactive chef talks and demonstrations, experience the traditional flavours as well as modern fusion food and give the attendees a wholesome experience about the diverse uniqueness that Indian food offers. The objective of Food Street was to popularize Indian cuisine to international markets and build interest and demand for indigenous ingredients in the global markets.

On 4 November, a very large quantity of Khichdi was prepared at The Great India Food Street.

Projected as the traditional healthy and nutritious super food from India, a Guinness world record was also created by preparing 918 kg Khichdi in a single vessel.

The Khichdi was cooked using Indian ingredients such as ancient grains, desi ghee, different types of grains from across the States of India. It was distributed to 10,000 under privileged children through the Delhi Gurudwara Langar Samiti and the Akshay Patra Foundation.

Key Outcomes

World Food India 2017 has imparted a huge boost to the Indian food processing industry by showcasing the immense investment potential of the sector and helping a variety of stakeholders in the process, thereby boosting the Make in India initiative. It has enhanced India’s image.

MoUs worth $ 14 billion signed/ exchanges/ announced during WFI
Brand World Food India 2017: WFI has established itself as a brand India show. Akin to established International shows, World Food India is now expected to be the preferred platform for investment, sourcing and doing business. To be scaled up further, WFI is envisioned as a biennial show and the 2019 show could have two distinct sections – Sourcing and Investment.
Investor Portal Nivesh Bandhu: A user friendly portal ‘Nivesh Bandhu’ was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister and provides an easy glimpse into investment policies of States, district level resources to encourage informed choice by potential investors as also exchange queries for sourcing.
Food Processing Policy: Ministry of Food Processing Industries had announced a draft Model Food Processing Policy in March, 2017. Three States announced their Food Processing Policies viz Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. Haryana unveiled highlights of the food processing policy it is shortly going to announce. Food Processing polices provide a conducive environment to the sector. We expect more States to announce their Food processing polices.
The Great India Food Street has brought the Indian cuisine again on the world mind-map. The Guinness World record of the largest amount of Khichdi cooked in a single vessel, that too made of entirely nutritious grains of India and desi ghee has evoked much interest, It presents an opportunity for Indian Cuisine to go beyond the current popularity. As a soft part of WFI, the Food Street has business potential going forward by popularizing Indian ingredients.
More than 100000 (1 lakh) visitors to the exhibition, conferences and Food Street in the 3 days of the WFI.
WFI 2017 provided a platform for B2B, B2G, Exhibitions, Conferences and Food Street in the same event which model is not provided by any event in Food Processing across the world. This has been greatly appreciated both by International as well as Domestic participants. Moreover space for B2B and B2G meetings as well as conferences was provided free of cost to participants in WFI.
Promoting Youth & Entrepreneurship @World Food India 2017: A two- day Hackathon with a focus on “Developing innovative technology enabled solutions for challenges faced by Food Processing Sector” was organized on 27 & 28 October 2017 in New Delhi and judged by an eminent jury. Students, 66 teams comprising 300 students participated in the live Hackathon. The winners included Information on Backward & Forward Linkages for Farmers, Measuring Freshness and Quality of Fruits & Vegetables and milk procurement service through QR code.
A two- day Hackathon with a focus on “Developing innovative technology enabled solutions for challenges faced by Food Processing Sector” was organized on 27 & 28 October 2017 in New Delhi and judged by an eminent jury. Students,66 teams comprising 300 students participated in the live Hackathon. The winners included Information on Backward & Forward Linkages for Farmers, Measuring Freshness and Quality of Fruits & Vegetables and milk procurement service through QR code.
Seven sectoral publications were released during the Inaugural Session by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The publications detail opportunities in various high growth sectors as well as list financing options and updates on FDI.
Digital Theme Pavilion showcased the vast opportunities in Indian Food Processing Sector through the use of digital technologies like projection technology , gesture based technology , sensor based technology and digital interactive technology.
A special Coffee Table book portraying through lively pictures, the essence of the evolution of the food processing sector in India and insights into traditional wisdom on food processing, and the developments in Processing, Retail, storage, marketing, food safety, farm gate interventions, R&D, product development, packaging and infrastructure across key sub sectors over the years was released by the Hon’ble Prime Minster.