On Tuesday November 22nd, we looked back to the successes of FoodTechHolland (FTH), a public private partnership that has been active in India over the last 6 years. A group of Dutch agro-food companies have been working together in a consortium to explore and innovate Indian agro-food value chains through a number of activities. Dutch knowledge and innovation has been transferred into different sectors: bakery, fruit & vegetables, meat & fish, cooling and education. During this seminar, the companies shared their joint Indian journey and experiences on successfully doing business in India, individually and in a partnership.
Besides the Dutch companies, a number of speakers were asked to speak about the opportunities in the Indian market. The seminar was opened by Mr. Freek Vossenaar, head of the Agro Business Development Unit India of the ministry of Economic Affairs, who underlined the importance of cooperation between India and the Netherlands. The development of professional supply and cold chains is of crucial importance for the development of the agro-food sector in India. As such, the keynote speaker for the event was Mr. Pawanexh Kohli, CEO and Chief Advisor of the National Centre for Cold-chain Development (NCCD). He will presented the latest research report on the capacity of the cold chain sector and discussed the options with the audience. Retail is one of the upcoming pillars of the Indian economy and therefore Mr. Sumit Saran, head of international foods of Future Consumer Enterprise Limited (FCEL, part of the Future Group) one of the largest retailers in India spoke on the Indian opportunity and the way to tap into it.
Lastly, the consortium looked back on the activities and achievements of 6 years FTH by Ms. Davinia Lamme and Mr. Wouter van Vliet, partners of Larive International and Mr. Sjaak Aerts, partner and former owner of RBK Group, one of the first companies joining FTH. He shared his cold chain experiences and sustainable solutions. Lastly, a movie on the FTH consortium and the experience of three of its members was presented, outlining the strength of working in public private partnerships when entering a challenging emerging market as India.
You can download the presentations of the event here: NCCD, FCEL , RBK, FTH
For more information please feel free to contact Linda Romijn or call (+31) 030 693 32 21.
