All urban Indians now know the feeling of waking up early to avoid the morning rush and almost never find time to plan anything ahead, least of all the meals of the day. Convenience foods, as the heat and eat and ready to eat products are broadly known as, are therefore becoming the norm. Their twin benefits also include bypassing dependence on high-calorie, low-nutritive junk food. But now, another alternative is on the horizon.
Also read: Convenience Dining: A New Kind of Table Service
Operating in a category that is largely export-driven, the agri and food products division of Chennai-based Pee Pee Appliances is now focusing on manufacturing and distribution of dehydrated food products under the ‘Jumbo’ brand name for the domestic market at par with its export volumes.
Parshav Kumar Jain, director, Pee Pee Appliances Pvt Ltd has seen a huge potential for the dehydrated foods in India. “We have clearly seen a large consumer base for dehydrated food products in India. For today’s time-poor consumers, we provide an easy solution of having a balanced meal a day through our dehydrated product range of fruits, vegetables, dry fruits and chocolates.”
Pee Pee uses the Osmotic Dehydrated technique, which removes 50-70 per cent of the water from fresh fruits and vegetables. With this modern technique of dehydration, products are enhanced with better flavour, colour and aroma.
Jain focuses on the health plank and believes that the Indian market will soon realise the potential of dehydrated products. “Governments should consider food drying as a next step — after the establishment of farms and urban agriculture projects — as an integral part of value chain solutions. Every farm or production unit produces a certain percentage of sub-standard product. This, taken together with the issue of surpluses or unmarketable products, creates the perfect opportunity for the dehydrated fresh produce business in India,” he concludes.
By Mehak Sharma
The full story and interview on Pee Pee Appliances’ venture into dehydrated foods appears in the April 2015 issue of Progressive Grocer magazine. Click here to subscribe
Must Read
