PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2014

TRADE SHOW PREVIEW 45 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 09/14 www.petpla.net attempts have been made to bottle this taste for the pan- Indian market. Now we see this happening. Local flavours, local colas, local pizzas with different add-ons are on the rise. The style of packaging may be copied from multina- tional brands, but the product has a distinctively Indian flavour. It is predicted that India will consume 20million metric tonnes of plastics by 2020, up from the present level of 8 million. The bulk of that growth in plastic consumption is predicted to come from the food and beverage industry. Demographically the growth will shift to the rural areas. The potential growth will be in the 7000 or so small cities con- tributing over 40% of growth in consumption. Where does the growth come from? Every day, Indians buy 10 million cinema tickets, 100,000 air tickets, around 3000 cars, and more than 5 million condoms. Add to these figures the large number of rail and bus travellers and look at the consumption pattern. Each one of them is almost certainly carrying a packet of food and is definitely carrying bottled water or other beverages. The growth in food and beverages is linked both to demographic change and infrastructure development which allow the faster move- ment and migration of people. The present Government is aware that the man or woman in the street is watching closely the promises made and prom- ises fulfilled. To survive from five years to ten years, the min- imum comfort level of ordinary people has to be improved. That is when growth will soar dramatically. In summary, having a stable government, an ability to market in smaller cities and rural markets, the capability to develop acceptable taste, an improved infrastructure and more importantly the avail- ability of disposable income of the ordinary citizen will all combine to grow the packaged food and beverage industry in India. India is most definitely the country to watch in next 20 years.