The Hindu Business Line : Want Chinese biscuits, anyone?

The past few months have been seeing a steady influx of bakery products, specifically biscuits, from China. Brands such as Golden Fuji Cookies, Kerk, Hawatai, Legenda and Superior manufactured in the Guangdong, Shandong, Henan, Fujian, Hubei, Jiangsu, and other provinces have steadily been making inroads at grocery outlets across the country, with visibility peaking during the festive season.

For the time being, the domestic biscuits industry is viewing the Chinese influx with caution.

Said Mr Shekhar Agarwal, Director, Surya Food & Agro Ltd (which makes the Priyagold brand of biscuits), "Bakery products from China will not create problems for us. These products are low on quality. Besides, Indian brands are very price competitive. In fact, biscuit prices in India are among the lowest in the world."

However, as Mr K.P. Mohandass, Secretary, Federation of Biscuit Manufacturers of India (FBMI), pointed out, "The imports of Chinese biscuits into India has not affected the domestic industry so far. All the same, China is capable of dumping. The Indian industry needs to be alert on this issue." In fact, other processed foods such as confectionery, condiments and syrups sporting the `imported' tag are also gaining prominence in India. And imports are coming through from European and South East Asian countries as well.

Mr Mohandass indicated that the forthcoming meeting of the FBMI, scheduled for December 19, would address the issue of imported bakery products flooding the Indian market. "Imports of bakery products, gradually on the rise, will be one of the issues which will come up for discussion with industry representatives at the FBMI meeting," he said.

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