Potato News from India

Late blight, a fungal disease that affects potato crop, has returned to haunt farmers here and the Punjab Agricultural University has issued an alert to growers after coming across fresh infections in a farm in Hoshiarpur district. "We have foun...

Turner International India has dragged potato wafer-maker Gee Pee Foods to court for using its Pogo channel name to brand its wafers, thereby scripting yet another patent skirmish. The Kolkata-based food company has been manufacturing Pogo chips sinc...

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.

Multinational snack maker FritoLay has Indianised its potato chips brand Lay’s in the wake of competition by new entrants like ITC’s Bingo. As part of its rebranding exercise, FritoLay has introduced Lay’s Chaat street, India’s Mint Mischief and Wafer...

Indian giant ITC has announced that it aims to treble the turnover of its packaged food operations and to become the overall leader of the Indian packaged food sector by 2011.The cigarette giant’s food units are growing at a rate of 68.17% annually.Exa...

Potato growers are advised to sell their potato immediately because there will be a decline in the price in the coming months, according to the Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Price is comparativ...

Both Burger King and Wendy’s have held talks with DLF, a leading real estate developer to discuss an entry into the Indian market. Sources say that the ball is now in DLF’s court for zeroing in on a partner. The exact partnership model that is being ex...

FritoLay India has become the largest player in the branded salty snack market in the country and has been one of the fastest-growing FMCG companies in India for a number of years. Fritolay India managing director Manu Anand discusses the future plans ...

Packaged snacks are getting a lot of attention from big, branded players. So Frito-Lay, with its Lays, Cheetos, Kurkure, Lehar, Uncle Chipps and Quaker Oats snack brands is seeing some pretty concentrated competition from ITC’s Bingo! with its 16 flav...

Taking a cue from the success of ITC's Bingo, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), universally known for its dairy products brand Amul, has decided to enter the branded snacks market with Munch Time, a salty snack much like Frito Lay’...

In India, McDonalds reveals unique local flavours — both on its very resistable menu and otherwise. Much to the surprise of ultranationalists and leftists who thought the American food giant would be routed, it has stuck around, growing and expanding ...

Satnam Agro Products, established by farmer-turned-entrepreneur Mandeep Singh has set up a state-of-the-art potato processing plant at a cost of Rs 63 crore at Jalandhar. Singh is hoping to launch next month French Fries made out of locally grown Chip...

A separate policy on potato and introduction of public-private partnership (PPP) model are required to address the problem of seed shortage faced by farmers, experts said here on Monday. “There is a need to have a separate policy on potato as it is one...

McDonald's Corp.'s Indian unit plans to invest at least INR3 billion (USD 75 million) over the next three-to-five years to triple the number of its fast-food restaurants in the country (currently 125), a senior company executive said Monday. "We...

Happy Meals, Big Mac’s most famous sub-brand specially tailored for children and a company trademark since 1979, has been witnessing a year-on-year decline in sales in India. “Kids’ visits to our stores have been declining year-on-year and have been ov...

Indian giant Reliance Industries has frozen plans to bring a Western-style "retail revolution"to the nation's biggest state amid bitter opposition from small traders, an official said Wednesday. Reliance has suspended retail operations and ...

When Pepsico’s Frito-Lay decided to boycott Pantaloon’s Food Bazaar due to differences in terms of trade, it was the latter’s private label which got a boost in shares. Today Tasty Treat, the ready-to-eat private label of Food Bazaar, is leading with ...

PepsiCo India's FritoLay brand is revving up through an array of marketing campaigns and variant launches, with the onset of cooler climes and its flagship cola business taking the seasonal backseat. According to Deepika Warrier, marketing director, F...