ED

Entrepreneurship Development for Semi-Finished Food Processing Units in Rural Areas
What are “Semi-Processed” Foods?
All handling activities of edible commodity after it is harvested but before it is finally consumed are termed as “Processing”. Processing is further classified into three main stages:
Primary Processing – thrashing, winnowing, cleaning, de-husking, peeling, cutting washing etc. generally these activities are done, in case of cereals and pulses, at field level and in case of other foods, in the household kitchen. Semi-Finished processing -- The term is used to signify the Foods which may be marketed in any intermediate stage of processing before it is consumed Except fresh Fruits, nearly all Foods need some processing (handling, cooking or making them consumable). Final or Finished Goods Processing ---- Making the food in ‘ready-to-eat’ condition
Semi-Finished Processing can be further classified into two, according to perspectives, viz.: 1st Consumer perspective, and 2nd Industrial perspective. For example packed nodules are Semi-Finished item from consumer point of view while it is a Finished Goods item from the point of view of its manufacturer. In other case, suppose some Pickle or Murabba industry need, say Mango and Amla, as a raw material. After procuring the fruit from the market, cleaning, washing, peeling and cutting (if necessary), blanching and pricking has 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/ pricked Amla is Semi-Finished item from Industrial point of view. For the convenience of narration above two types of Semi-Finished goods shall be called category fist and category second unit. Either of the two instances described above fall within the scope of Rural Entrepreneurship.
Why in Rural Area?
In both the categories, the process from procurement of raw material up to Semi-Finishing is highly labour intensive. In rural areas labour cost is bound to be cheap because the process shall allow part time/ marginal/ household labour instead of full timers. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables can be made available at field level (for category 2nd )
The activity can be made complimentary to Post Harvest Management (for category 2nd )
Availability of female workers who are traditionally superior to men folk in food handling, cutting, peeling, priking etc.
It has been observed that Pickle and Murabba manufacturing units, being tiny in size, don’t have sufficient space to store and provide preliminary treatments to the procured Fruits & Vegetables thus limiting the bulk of production. Thus, Semi-Finished units in the growing areas i.e. villages shall provide an indirect boost to Pickle and Murabba manufacturing units.
Rural Woman welfare at large.
Traditional snack items like Vada, etc are very popular all over India and they are traditionally prepared at homes. However, the preparation of these items is laborious and consumes time. Housewife feels drudgery with the conventional procedures in preparing them. In order to introduce convenience into these items and lessen the drudgery and time, especially of the working women, CFTRI has developed ready mixes of the above traditional items; these snacks can be prepared easily and quickly. The Preparation of these mixes can be taken at cottage scale in rural areas and the investment is less and requires minimum utilities. It can provide employment also.
Source-(A Compendium of Selected Technologies. CFTRI)
Since these units shall have to depend upon the demand of the
specific industry, initially one product per unit may be stipulated till proper forward linkage is
established. Since these units shall have to depend upon the demand of the specific industry, initially one product per unit may be stipulated till proper forward linkage is established
Marketing Strategy:
The following projections are made assuming that all the produce shall be sold out within 3 months. This is only possible if the quality standardization is of high degree and the target market is local/regional. Various regional ready-mixes can be sold e.g. ‘Sattu’ based mixes in eastern UP, Mint/Green Coriander Chutney mix in MP and Mango Panna mix, tamarind chutney mix in several parts. Like wise, non-vegetarian cooking ‘stock’ mixes can be popularized in Eastern States. For this sufficient trials and scientific methods of Product Development would ensure 100% sales. Thus, short term skill training is essential. Govt. Food Science Training Centers at zonal level are there in the state of Utter Pradesh, and alike facility is available in other States also.
Summary and Conclusion
In 1988 one eminent business executive visited U.K. and was astonished when he was served reedy-to-eat naan & allumutter in the lunch. He investigated and concluded that. “There is, however, considerable scope for small scale units with their local flavours. In the matter of foods, standerdised products fall flat compared to products with varied taste and distinctive regional aromas.” (Indian Food Packer Vol XXXIII No4, page 21)
Mr. B.S. Rao, then MD, Markets India, New Delhi remarks, “I have often wondered why so much time and money is spent in designing and marketing the typical western-type breakfast cereals in India. We have such strong attachments and preferences to our “desi” breakfast foods like “puri-bhaji”, “paratha”. “dosa”, “idli” etc. that I can not imagine a large market developing for the western-style breakfast cereal in the country in foreseeable future.”( Indian Food Packer Vol XXXIII No4, page 70). Rao is very emphatic to develop small units for Parboiled Pulses/Channa/Rajma and Parboiled cut vegetables too.
Murabba and Pickle are typical Indian products. in the context of foreign trade and domestic consumption as well, they can’t be overlooked and every possible effort must be made to standerdisation, quality certification and consumer safety. Establishment of Tiny units for supplying farm0fresh/ 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. Private sector initiative sees very promising in this area.