The Hindu Business Line : Huge potential seen for Indian ethnic foods in EU

CONSUMERS in the UK and other parts of the world are of late keen on Indian ethnic foods and thus, there is a huge potential for its marketing in the European Union, according to Mr Ninesh Patel, Chairman, East Midlands Ethnic Food Forum, Leicester, UK.

The ethnic food market in the EU, especially in the UK, France, Sweden and Germany, is growing and the traditional and ethnic foods like chicken tikka masala have replaced the English food, he said at an interactive session with a delegation from East Midlands Ethnic Forum organised by CII-Kerala and Agency for Development of Food Processing Industry in Kerala (ADFIC).

The latest trends in the food and drink segment are pre-prepared meals, ready-to-assemble ingredients, ready-to-cook foods and ethnic foods. Overseas consumers are keen on ethnic foods and the biggest growth potential is in the accompaniments, he said.

Mr Ninesh said that the ethnic food and the frozen food market are growing in the UK and North America. The import of food and drink in the UK is to the order of £18,905 million. The UK is the third biggest importer in the world of organic food, which has increased by 10.4 per cent and has the fifth largest organic land area with 4 per cent of farmland under organic management.

The potential areas of co-operation between India and the UK are technical tie-ups and export of Indian ethnic foods to the UK. The major challenges include compliance with the high quality standards, which is being tightened day by day. The UK will come up with HACCP laws by 2005, he said.

He also called upon the Indian food manufacturers to tap the huge international markets for ethnic food. The CII and the Confederation of the British Industry are working in partnerships in the area of trade policy to develop the Indo-British trade beyond the £10-billion mark. Kerala should also effectively tap its potential in organic food and ethnic/snack food and exports should be increased to the EU, he added.

Earlier, Mr T.R. Raghulal, Chairman, CII-Kerala, welcomed the delegation. About 50 participants from the ethnic food industry attended the session.

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