Keeping Milk Fresh — With Frogs [ Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration - India's Most Effective Cold Plate Refrigerated Trucks ]

Before modern refrigeration, people dropped frogs in their milk to preserve it. 

Long before modern refrigeration, people in Russia and Finland reportedly placed living Russian brown frogs in milk to keep it fresh.

It turns out the curious practice has a basis in science: Recent research on the amphibians’ skin secretions led by Moscow State University organic chemist A.T. Lebedev shows they’re loaded with peptides, antimicrobial compounds as potent against Salmonella and Staphylococcus bacteria as prescription antibiotics.

To your health!

Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration - India's Most Effective Cold Plate Refrigerated Trucks

Source: Discover Magazine

Food Processing Sector Could Grow Faster, Say Top Officials [ Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-India's Most Effective Cold Plate Reefers]

The food processing sector could grow even faster if the government and the private sector work together, Secretary of the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries Siraj Hussain said here today.

Speaking after inaugurating a national conference on 'Attracting Investment in Food Processing Sector, Hussain said that there is a lot which could be achieved if the government and the private sector worked together.

"On our part, we have to create a single clearance window to obtain clearances effective and our system of governance faster. Businessmen have to ensure that they make investments on time," he said.

Andhra Pradesh attracts a large amount of private investments in the food processing sector and more cold chain projects seem to go to Andhra area.

"I was going through the list of projects which came to Andhra Pradesh. Very few have gone to Telangana. There is a lot of effort required by Telangana to attract investments," he said.

Speaking to reporters later, he said 37 cold chain projects are already operational and over 150 applications were received for another 15 cold chain projects which would be sanctioned in two months.

Reacting to another query, he said two mega foodparks are operational in Uttarakhand and in Andhra Pradesh.

"One in Punjab is likely to be operational in two months. Similarly another one in West Bengal and about six more parks will be operational in 2014-15," he said.

Additional Secretary (Food Processing) Jagdish Prasad Meena said that during the 11th Plan, the sector grew by 8.6 per cent as against 7.7 per cent of the manufacturing sector.

Last year, the growth rate was more than 11 per cent and it is expected to do grow much faster in the coming years, he said.

"Our food processing capacity today is at a very nascent stage and therefore huge quantity food produced by farmers is wasted at various levels. A large quantity of agricultural produce is wasted due to lack of infrastructure, storage and processing facilities," Meena said.

Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-India's Most Effective Cold Plate Reefers

Source: The New Indian Express

APEDA to introduce norms, QA checks for fresh fruit, veg exports to EU [ Transfreez Mobile refrigeration - India's most effective cold plate reefers ]

With effect from April 1, 2014, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) would introduce regulations and quality assurance (QA) checks for fresh fruit and vegetables exported to the member nations of the European Union (EU), which has been importing a number of products from India, but has warned the country about strict action - which could also be a export ban - unless the situation improves.

During the visits by its missions to India, the European Union’s Food and Veterinary Office (EU-FVO) - responsible for framing legislations on food safety in the EU member nations - raised concerns about the interceptions of harmful organisms in the fresh fruit and vegetable consignments that were exported to various EU member nations. The National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) assured the EU that India was committed to providing it safe, pest-free fruit and vegetables.

In a statement issued by APEDA, the authority stated that all fruit and vegetables exported to the EU would be routed through pack houses authorised by it, adding that the inspections and examinations of the export consignments would be conducted at these facilities under the supervision of plant quarantine personnel.

APEDA’s regional offices have already conducted sensitisation programmes to apprise traders about the scenario. The statement, signed by APEDA’s director R K Boyal, said exporters have been advised to gear up to meet the stringent requirements. He warned them that NPPO would not issue phytosanitary certificates to those export consignments that failed to meet them.

Confirming that Indian exporters faced hurdles while exporting fruit and vegetables to the EU, Ayush Bhandari, proprietor, Bhandari Overseas, said, “The exporters are aware of the rules imposed by APEDA, and have increased the quality of their products.” He opined that they were a step in the right direction, adding that they would help our products reach international standards. “In order to survive in the global market, adhering to these norms is very important,” Bhandari said.

Transfreez Mobile refrigeration - India's most effective cold plate reefers

Source: fnbNews.com

India Grows Close to 270 Million Tonne Fruits and Vegetables [Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-India's Most Effective Cold Chain Reefers]

Crop Clusters, Farmer-Producer Organisations, Cold Storage Capacity Help in Fast Growth in Eleventh Plan

With a production of 269 million tonnes in 2012-13, the horticulture sector has emerged as a major contributor to the food basket of the country.

Horticulture production grew by more than 8% during the last decade. As compared to the production of 257 million tonnes in the previous year and 215 million tonnes about five years ago, there has been significant jump in the horticulture production, thereby leading to higher per capita availability of horticulture produce like fruits and vegetables having high domestic consumption, besides other commodities like spices, cashew etc. having high export potential.

India is now the world's largest producer of Mango, Banana, Papaya, Pomegranate, Sapota, Aonla and Okra and has the second highest position in Brinjal, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Onion, Potato and Peas. Tomatoes are also produced in sizable quantity.

This has been possible on account of the Governmental interventions under the schemes of National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayas States (HMNEH), National Mission on Micro Irrigation (NMMI), National Horticulture Board (NHB), Coconut Development Board (CDB) and Vegetable Initiative for Urban Clusters(VIUC). While the NHM covers 66 crop clusters in 383 districts in 18 States & 4 UTs, the coverage is in all the districts of HMNEH States. Under NMMI, about 4 million hectares have been brought under improved irrigation systems such as drip and sprinkler irrigation.

Under VIUC scheme, about 4 lakh farmers were mobilized into 23,000 Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs) and 192 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), besides providing technical support and assistance for taking up cultivation of vegetables in open field and protected cover. National Centre for Cold Chain Development (NCCD) has been addressing the issues on cold chain infrastructure particularly in introducing standards and protocols related to cold chain testing, verification, certification and accreditation as per International norms. Cold storage capacity of over 30 million tonnes has been created out of which about 2 million tonnes was created during the last two years.

The momentum generated during XIth Plan will be accelerated during the XIIth plan by implementing the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), by subsuming six ongoing schemes on horticulture. The Mission would give focus on production of quality planting material, enhancement of production through productivity improvement measures, creation of infrastructure for reducing post harvest losses, besides setting up markets for improved marketing of horticulture produce. Mobilization of farmers into Farmer Producer Organizations and strengthening of horticulture statistics are added feature of the scheme. MIDH will cover all states & UTs in the country and would cover all horticulture crops, including bamboo.

Transfreez Mobile Refrigeration-India's Most Effective Cold Chain Reefers
Source: Business Standard

New year wishes from India's Leading Refrigerated Truck Manufacturers

INDIA'S COLD CHAIN INDUSTRY TO DOUBLE IN VALUE BY 2017

While India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, the country's integrated cold chain industry is nascent and is witnessing a wide demand-supply gap. Cold storages at production zones are archaic in nature. The lack of cool rooms and refrigerated transport is causing more than 40% losses in annual produce.     India's integrated cold chain industry - a combination of surface storage and refrigerated transport - has been growing at 18% for the last three years. The industry, currently valued at Rs 245 billion (FY 2013), is expected to reach Rs 520 billion by 2017, growing at a CAGR of 20%.     India has around 5,400 cold storage units, but can only store less than 11% of the country's total produce. While 105mn MT of perishable produce is transported across India annually, only 4mn MT is transported via reefers. To address the gap in demand and supply, the Indian government has introduced multiple initiatives - modernization of existing facilities, new ventures via private and government partnerships, etc.     The private sector accounts for 90% of cold storages in India. In 2017 too, private players will dominate the surface storage segment, which is estimated to reach 95mn MT. Cold chain service providers across the globe and in India have been researching new technologies that will not only decrease their operational costs, but will also give them a competitive advantage over their peers in the industry. One of the focus areas is currently to make reefer trucks more energy efficient to withstand the variations in the ambient temperatures at drop-off points.     ''Cold chain storages in India are still archaic in nature and are only suitable for single commodities like potatoes and apples in comparison to the global industry. But with new initiatives by the Indian government and a steep growth in the consumption of processed foods, cold chain logistics will witness huge growth in the coming years,'' says Shilpa Eguvanti, team lead (Consulting) at ValueNotes.

Source: IRIS (04-DEC-13)

Cold chain market to more than double to $ 8 billion by 2015: Yes Bank

The size of the country's cold chain market is expected to jump more than two-fold to USD 8 billion by 2015 on the back of increased investment in the sector, according to a study conducted by Yes Bank.

"The size of the cold chain market in India is estimated at more than USD 3 billion and is growing at a modest CAGR of 11 per cent. The total value is expected to reach USD 8 billion by 2015 through increased investments, modernisation of existing facilities and establishment of new ventures via public-private-partnership," the report said.

The emergence of organised retail and changes in FDI norms provide immense opportunities for cold chain sector, the bank said in the report released by Planning Commission Member Saumitra Chaudhuri at industry body PHDCCI's conference.

The cold storage capacity in the country currently is about 30 million tonnes, while the annual transaction volume of perishable products is estimated at 230 million tonnes.

Addressing the conference, Chaudhuri said the cold chain market has been somehow lagging behind all the sectors and there is "lot of catching up to do".

Without making a guess on the value of post-harvest crop losses every year due to lack of cold storage facilities, he said there is lot of wastage, which is "disturbing".

"Despite several programmes, investment has been very weak in cold chain sector," Chaudhuri said, adding that except potatoes, there are hardly any facilities in other crops.

Planning Commission member emphasised on the need of cold chain facilities to store horticulture produce, fisheries and pharmaceutical products scientifically.

Chaudhuri said the investment in cold chain investment should start now to achieve perceptible change in the 12th plan period and 13th plan period.

Yes Bank's Country Head Food and Agri-business (Strategic Advisory and Research) noted that high real estate cost and gestation period in the business are the two major challenges in establishing cold chain infrastructure.

Source: The Indian Express Tuesday Nov 27 2012