India’s Food Processing Industry contributes 13 to 14 per cent of Total GDP. To maintain a balance between the demands to cost, to produce high-quality food that is safe and nutritious can be a challenge. The market size of the food and beverages industry across the nation was estimated to be around US$46 billion in 2020.

Agro food processing remains an investment opportunity in Europe.These continued investment in areas like, biotechnological-agriculture, agricultural-robotics, organic foods etc. Farming market is expected to reach $7.8 billion by 2022, registering a CAGR of 14.9 per cent during the forecast period 2016 – 2022.

The sudden and significant spread of Coronavirus has thrown food industry into a state of flux, due to fluctuating demand for food supplies.The challenges are numerous. Current situation needs global food system, to change. Before Covid-19 struck, that 50 per cent of food production was at risk due to climate change. Also, 20 per cent of agricultural land was classified as degraded and was expected 70 per cent increase in food demand by 2050.Truth is that now fewer than 60 harvests left to get this right, based on FAO’s estimates on soil degradation.

After global Coronavirus pandemic hit, countries and communities faced lockdowns on an unprecedented scale and people started stockpiling basic articles, particularly food and drink, thus creating even greater instability in an already unsustainable supply chain. Moreover, the United Nations introduced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to unify efforts to address the main challenges facing the planet.

The European Food Tech sector playing a crucial role in the current situation. is at the forefront of innovation. Europe pioneers new technologies and ways of producing, ordering, creating and consuming food, with the aim of creating mass adoption of change at pace.They put pressure on large food manufacturers to innovate quicker and smarter to adapt their offerings, improve their sustainability efforts and to meet the needs of ever more demanding consumers that are increasingly seeking healthier and more sustainable food options.As for the ‘next generation’ of Food Tech entrepreneurs, they are specifically focusing on the remaining 99 per cent of the industry, leaving 1 per cent for disruptions.

The Processed food market is expected to grow to $543 bn by 2020 from $322 bn in 2016, at a CAGR of 14.6 per cent. Food processing has an important role to play in near future also.Buoyed by such actions, India's food sector attracted $ 4.18 bn in foreign direct investment between April 2014-March 2020.

During Pandemic Covid 19 from March 2020, onwards, it was a herculean task to provide free food to 80 crores poor Indians. Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Ministry successfully implemented the task for eight months in a row as a Covid relief measure during 2020.The ministry provided almost 32 million tonnes of free food grains during April-November 2020.The nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus infections also took a toll on employment and the labour segment was the most impacted as factories and construction work came to a standstill due to huge job losses.

In this backdrop, the government decided to supply additional 5 kg free grains per person and 1 kg pulses per household to over 80 crores poor ration cardholders. Thus Government of India, is on its way towards achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reaching out to over 81 crores poor people with subsidised grains via ration shops. Reducing farm wastage and promoting eating nutritious food. The 17 goals, including action to end poverty, are to be achieved by 2030.

With this background, Global Food processing industry has huge taskto do. Food processing is the fifth largest sector of the country's economy and has various challenges being faced by the employment intensive industry. The industry has contributed considerably to changing India's image from a slow developing economy to a global player in providing world class technology solutions. The Indian gourmet food market is currently valued at US$ 1.3 billion and is growing at 20% CAGR. India's organic food market is expected to triple, soon.

The US food manufacturing industry consists of about 27,000 establishments with combined annual revenue of about $780 billion. Companies in this industry manufacture and process a wide variety of foods, including meat, seafood, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, milled grains and oilseeds, baked goods, and candy. Major companies include ADM, ConagraBrands, Frito-Lay, General Mills, Kellogg, Kraft Heinz, Mondelez International, and Tyson Foods (US). COFCO (China), Danone (France), Fonterra (New Zealand), Grupo Bimbo (Mexico), JBS (Brazil), Maruha Nichiro (Japan), Nestlé (Switzerland) and Unilever (The Netherlands).Worldwide, the market size of processed foods reached $5.9 trillion in 2019 and is estimated to grow up to $7.7 trillion by 2026.The industry is concentrated: the 50 largest companies account for about 51% of industry revenue.

Seafood Processing Industry clean and pack fresh seafood; can, freeze and dry seafood and process fish fats and oils. Major companies include Ocean Beauty Seafoods and Trident Seafoods (US), Dongwon (South Korea), High Liner Foods (Canada), Icelandic Group (Iceland), Mowi (Norway), Japan's Maruha Nichiro Holdings and Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Nueva Pescanova (Spain) and Thai Union (Thailand).

Global exports of seafood products total about $130 billion per year. The European Union is the largest seafood producer followed by China. The US seafood processing industry consists of about 550 establishments with combined annual revenue of about $14 billion.

Sales of specialty foods have been increasing worldwide as demand for ethnic foods has continued to grow. Asian-American buying power in US is about $986 billion and is expected to $1.3 trillion by 2022. The US bakery products industry includes about 3,300 commercial bakeries with annual revenue of $39 billion and 6,500 retail bakeries with annual revenue of $4 billion.

Worldwide, the savoury snack foods market — salted snacks, processed snacks, and nuts and seeds — is expected to grow to $260 billion in revenue by 2023.The US snack foods manufacturing industry includes about 670 establishments with combined annual revenue of $39 billion.The US edible oils manufacturing industry includes about 350 establishments with combined annual revenue of about $55 billion. The US aquaculture industry includes about 12,800 farms with annual revenue of about $3.3 billion.

The food processing industry is a mature sector,experiencing turbulent period due to the growing global demands for food safety. The processed food industries are valued at over $2 trillion dollars globally and consist of over 400,000 businesses.Food processing is also significantly impacted by multiple external factors, including economic trends, climate change, and demographic shifts & emerging power markets.

According to the European Food and Drink Industry there are three leading production regions turnover wise worldwide:

EU — 44 per cent

USA — 20 per cent

China — 19 per cent

However, this will change significantly in the next few decades.In order to feed the growing world population, predicted to reach 9.3 billion by 2050, agricultural production needs to grow by 70 per cent and by nearly 100 per cent in fast growing economies.

By 2030, India will have the largest population in the world, representing 1/3 of the Asian population and 17% of world population.E7 countries (China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia, Turkey) will overtake the G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, US) in size and purchasing power.

The emerging markets (India, Indonesia, China, and Malaysia) will increasingly drive global growth. 65 per cent of the world’s middle class will be living in the Asia Pacific region by 2030. The increasing disposable income in emerging economies will drive demand for manufactured food products. The increased cost of raw material will impact cost of damages in case of pest infestation. This places a heightened need on businesses to action recommendations to prevent, reduce and control pest infestations at pace.Hygiene features prominently in prerequisite programmes relating to personal hygiene and basic sanitation amongst others.

Food processing is also significantly impacted by multiple external factors, including economic trends, climate change, and demographic shifts, emerging power markets, new trade partnerships and world population growth predictions. Today's food supply chain is more globalised, longer and far more complex than ever before.