Rural areas in India are becoming a hub for semi-finished food processing units due to availability of efficient and cheap labour
Semi-finished processing can be further classified into two categories, according to perspectives namely consumer perspective and industrial perspective. For example packed noodles are semi-finished items from the consumer point of view, while it falls under the finished goods segment from the point of view of the manufacturer. In another case, a pickle or murabba industry may need mango and amla, as raw materials. After procuring the fruit from the market, cleaning, washing, peeling and cutting, blanching and pricking have to be done before the fruits are treated with sugar (in the case of murabba), or with spices (in the case of pickles). In this case brined raw mango slices and pickled amla are considered as semi-finished items from the industrial point of view. Therefore, noodles, murabba and amla, which are regarded as semi-finished goods, can be categorised under both consumer perspective and industrial perspective. The two aforementioned instances fall within the scope of rural entrepreneurship.
In both the categories, the process from procurement of raw materials to semi-finishing is highly labour-intensive. In rural areas labour cost is bound to be cheap because the process would allow part time, marginal or household labour instead of full timers. Female workers are also easily available in rural areas and are expert in food handling, cutting, peeling and pricking. It has been observed that pickle and murabba manufacturing units, being tiny in size, do not have sufficient space to store and provide preliminary treatments to the procured fruits and vegetables. This limits bulk production. Therefore, semi-finished food processing units in villages will provide an indirect boost to pickle and murabba manufacturing units. Rural woman welfare
Traditional snack items like vada and other similar food items are very popular all over India and they can be traditionally prepared at home. However, the preparation of these items is laborious and time consuming. In order to lessen the drudgery and time involved in the preparation of such food items, especially for working women, the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) has developed ready mixes of traditional items. These snacks are manufactured in such a manner that they can be easily prepared. The preparation of these mixes can be taken at cottage-scale in rural areas and there is less investment required. It also provides employment to a large number of workers in the rural areas.
Marketing strategy
The following projections are made assuming that all the produce would be sold out within 3 months. This is only possible if the quality standardisation is of high degree and the target market is local or regional. Various regional ready-mixes such as ‘sattu’-based mixes in eastern Uttar Pradesh, mint or green coriander chutney mix in Madhya Pradesh and mango Panna mix, tamarind chutney mix are sold in different parts of the country. In the same way, non-vegetarian cooking ‘stock’ mixes can be popularised in the eastern states. Therefore, sufficient trials and scientific methods are required for product development to ensure 100% sales. Short-term skill development training is also essential. The government-aided food science training centres at the zonal level provide short-term skill development training in food processing in Uttar Pradesh as well as in other states.
Summary and conclusion
Murabba and pickle are typical Indian products. However, in the context of foreign trade and domestic consumption as well, they cannot be overlooked and every possible effort must be made for standardisation, quality certification and consumer safety. Establishment of small units for supplying farm fresh or garden-fresh semi-finished fruits and vegetables ready for final processing as murabba and pickle may be a profitable venture for the entrepreneurs living in villages or small cities. Therefore, the private sector considers rural India as promising area for setting up semi-finished food processing units.
SC Srivastava is a leading food technologist, consultant and advisor
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