Indore: The two-day World Mithai and Namkeen Convention and Expo 2019 concluded at Brilliant Convention Centre on Thursday. While some participants were happy with the response, others were dejected with low foot fall. The convention gave an insight into technologies and innovations that affect our every-day life, from sugar substitutes to packaging of eatables.
Metal is quite common in food and medicine, said representatives of Target Innovations from Gujarat. “WHO guideline stresses on use of metal detectors for pharmaceutical companies. It is a must for food industries as well,” said Chandan Mehta.
He said metal contamination is common in wafers, namkeens, tablets and powders. “Advanced machinery can detect metal as small as 0.5 mm, which means it can detect metal in food items as well,” said Mehta. Sandip Pandit, another vendor representing Unique Equipments that sells metal detectors, said “As size of metal varies in pharmaceutical and food industries, there are separate metal detectors for them.”
The size of metal is much smaller in food products, he added Mostly these metal detectors are imported from Korea and China to keep the costing in check. Building market for chocolate-based sweets “We have peaked in chocolate sale in B2 to B2 with our widest expansion in the segment.
In order to grow further, we must find new segments where chocolates can make their place,” Mangesh Shete, representing a chocolate manufacturing company based in Mumbai, said. He talked about chocolate-made sweets that last longer and tempt youngsters.
“We have flavoured white chocolate with strawberries, mangoes and oranges that are quite similar to milk-based chocolates,” Shete said. The cocoa’s medical benefits in lowering sugar and blood pressure give these chocolates a hope to expand further in food industry. A lot of sweet vendors have agreed to add samples of chocolate-based sweets for cocoa lovers in Indore, said Shete.
Connecting internationally Hoping to connect with businessmen in Indore, international delegates brought machines for sweets, snacks, confectionaries and chocolates from different parts of Europe. “I am keen to know whether Indians love bubble gums as much as we do. At least by the look of it, colours do entice them,” Victor Arques, sales director of Carugil of Spain said. He hopes to expand his market in city in coming months.
“I come from a world of frying and processing snacks, especially our specialised nut fryer,” Henk van den Bovenkamp, sales director of Kuipers food processing from The Netherlands said. He felt disappointed at footfall. Coming from Holland with expertise in chocolates, international sales manager Tom van Leeuwe talked about blending traditional ideologies with latest technologies at 100-year-old Duyvis Weiner.
“We got one interested customer, which might convert, but maybe expo is not advertised enough as per reviews,” he said.
Falling in love with Indore and its culture, sales assistant from TT group of Italy Marina De Sabbata felt that a little modification in their machinery could open up new markets here.
“People are health conscious and love cakes. But they need them to be vegetarian, low calorie and healthy, which is possible in our industry line with slight modifications,” she said. Kamala Krishnan of Arrow Systems, Malaysia felt happy at quality response. “We work in snack machinery and it definitely has potential in Indore,” she said .
Truth about sugar-free sweets Have you ever wondered as to why sugar free sweets available in shops taste different than the ones made at home with sugar substitutes? The secret behind diabetic friendly sweets tasting same as sugar is a molecular substance called ‘oligofructose’ that tastes almost like sugar and has calories to fill you up and support your gut with prebiotics and dietary fibres.
Business development head Ankur Bhamu said, “The difference between oligofructose and normal processed sugar is difference in glycemic index.” The glycemic index or glycaemic index is a number associated with carbohydrates in a particular type of food that indicates effect of these carbohydrates on a person’s blood glucose level.
“The index of product is almost 0, which means it does not increase a person’s blood sugar level,” Bhamu said. Further, use of oligofructose instead of sugar brings calorie count down from 387 to 160 per 100 grams. With prebiotic properties, it supports digestion and aids in good mircroflora growth. “Everything comes with a price, but the product is generally used by people, for whom price is not a factor,” Bhamu said.
The product is 4 to 10 times costly than normal sugar and usually targets diabetic patients and youngsters, who care about labels. “Many renowned sweet shops of Indore are our customers and we are expanding further,” Bhamu said. They won best stall prize in convention.
Packaging responsibly Umax Packaging not only showcased its variety of packaging ranging from one layer to five, it also promoted reuse and submission of leftover packaging for recycling. “Though it does not bring us monetary benefits, it is our corporate responsibility not to leave trash on earth,” said senior executive Lalit Upadhyay. The company collects packaging leftovers, recycles them into useful products and distributes them, said business development manager Dinesh Lohar.