The ready-to-eat (RTE) food industry in India has grown significantly in recent years, owing to changing lifestyles, urbanisation, and rising disposable income. Convenience and time-saving benefits have made RTE meals increasingly popular among busy urban consumers, students, and working professionals. Based on SATS’ research, value sales of ready-to-eat meals in India will grow at a rate of 45% between 2021 and 2026, with a projected total of US$64 billion. Ready meals include all convenience food products that are pre-cooked and packaged in ready-to-eat formats, without prior processing or cooking. According to the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) in India, 34 percent of the Indian population, driven by young consumers and millennials, will consume more RTE meals by 2028. According to the same report, the global demand for Indian RTE food products is also outpacing the domestic demand. To serve the demand for both domestic and international markets, SATS Food Solutions India (SFSI), a wholly owned subsidiary of SATS Ltd. (SATS), has opened its largest international food solutions facility in Bengaluru, India, complementing its existing large-scale food facilities in Singapore, China, Japan and Thailand.
The SATS India Food Solutions (SFSI) facility, funded with an investment of SG$61 million, is a frozen food manufacturing facility that incorporates culinary expertise, smart technology to produce tasty, nutritious food products according to the highest food safety standards. In addition to products, the food solutions facility, underpinned by innovation, will also offer packaging capabilities as part of the SATS’ global network of Experience and Innovation Centres.
Situated in close proximity to the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, the facility covers an area of 221,000 sq. ft and has the capacity to supply up to 40,000 kg of ready-to-eat food products per day to institutional catering, private labelling, and commercial clients, including large-scale food retailers, restaurants, cloud kitchens, cafes, and lounges in India, and international markets.
Sagar Dighe, Director and CEO, SATS Food Solutions India, said that the company is world renowned for its culinary expertise, crafting authentic taste, using proven food technologies to deliver tasty, nutritious and safe food offering.
“Food safety, integrity and quality is paramount in SATS kitchens and we have attained the India quality licence, FSSAI. International certifications like as FDA, CFIA, FSSC22000 Food Safety Management system (FSMS) and Medina are now being completed to ensure consistency with our other kitchens.
“We also use industry-proven technologies such as the Internet-of-things (IoT) to enable our teams enhance and monitor kitchen efficiencies while ensuring food safety and quality meet the highest standards,” said Sagar.
For example, Internet-of-things (IoT) sensors and sensor-based lighting systems have been installed in the facility for management to monitor and conserve energy usage in real-time. These IoT-powered sensors also monitor the facility’s ambient temperature, humidity, air quality and utilities such as cold stores and cooking stations, to ensure food integrity and safety. To illustrate, IoT allows pre-programmed cooking processes to be monitored via live dashboards, with alerts automatically triggered if cooking timings and temperature settings deviate from pre-set recipes. Using IoT sensors, the temperature at which raw protein and cooked food are stored ensures food safety, high-quality, taste and texture.
The food facility also uses technology to predict risks, improve traceability and transparency of key product components, and increase data reliability. For example, by creating a digital record of a food product’s journey from farm to table, the kitchen will be able to trace important information such as ingredient sources, harvest dates, transportation methods, and storage conditions, ensuring food security.
The facility has also implemented stringent safety guidelines, such as separating areas into zones and employing color-coded floors to ensure that supplies and food production are managed correctly, said a release.