Check out the Potato Industry in India

Last week I received more information on one of the two (!) large potato conferences next year in India, so I decided this was a good time to pay attention to the fast changes in the Indian Potato Processing industry. 

The per Capita Potato consumption in India has risen from 12 kg/capita/year in the early nineties to over 16 kg/capita now, with a slight decline in recent years

India is the 3rd largest potato producer in the world, after China at #1 and Russia at #2 and before the United States at #4. 

Potato production increased more than 850% since 1960, due to both increased production area and yield. The per Capita Potato consumption in India has risen from 12 kg/capita/year in the early nineties to over 16 kg/capita now, with a slight decline in recent years (Source: FAOSTAT) 

However, the potato processing industry is expanding fast: The sector developing most rapidly is the snack foods sector, including potato chips. Market leader is Frito-lay with a 45 % market share. Haldiram's has a 27% market share. The market is far from stable: recently ITC , an IT/cigarette company making huge inroad in the CPG market, has managed to get a market share of 11% with its potato chip "Bingo" in just 6 month. Also a dairy manufacturer (Amul) just announced to move into the snack market. Key weapon in this war for the Indian snack market are the Indian flavours. 

 

Screenshot of the interactive page on PotatoPro displaying the Chips and Snacks manufactures in India. Click the image to get to the interactive page! On the interactive page each marker links to a company description.

The development of the snack market has also created a growing demand for dehydrated potato products, used as raw material for snacks.

With regards to frozen potato products, India has long been handicapped by the lack of infrastructure for the frozen food distribution chain. Nevertheless, world's largest French Fry manufacturer McCain Foods is active in India since 1995. With the recent completion of the new McCain factory in Gujarat, the production of French Fries in India has been brought to a new level. And for those that want their french fries even more Indian than that: just last month Mandeep Singh, a Punjab farmer turned french fry manufacturer, planned to start the production of frozen fries with his company Satnam Agro Products in Jalandar.

Intriguing aspect of the potato supply chain in India is the strong vertical integration: ITC bought earlier this year the Australian company Technico, that developed technology for rapid multiplication and variety improvement. Also the company Merino Industries (dehydrated potato products among many other products) has its own tissue culture laboratories for multiplication and potato variety development.

Although Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) certainly has done a good job in developing suitable varieties for processing for the Indian cultivation conditions, the degree of involvement of processing companies in the multiplication and further development offers a lot of promise for the future potato processing potential in India.