Indians love food which is evident through its rapidly growing food sector which has almost doubled in the last five years, making it one of the leading industries in India. India is the leading producer of milk 105 million tones annually. India also has the largest livestock and the second-largest producer of fruit and vegetables. Worldwide, the Indian food industry ranks 5th, taking into account its production, consumption, export, and predictable growth. It contributes to 13% of India’s total exports and is estimated to attract an investment of USD 33 billion by the year 2024. Food consumption in India is expected to reach USD 1.142 trillion by 2025. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most promising sectors and extremely crucial to India’s economy and growth story.
Of the various factors that favor its growth, the primary is the easy availability of raw materials and the huge population of India who spends a majority of their income on food commodities. It is driven by 70% retail sales and receives due focus from the Indian government for its ‘Make in India’ campaign. India also relishes a geographical advantage making it easy to export food and food products through easy connectivity to Europe, Middle East, Japan, Africa, Singapore, New Zealand, and many other nations.
The thrilling opportunity in the food sector is shadowed by huge risks. Thus the stakeholders feel a strong need to get insured for risks such as product recall which may directly culminate into losses risks against genetically modified organisms, supply chain management risks, risks arising due to chemicals and nanomaterials used in food packaging, reputation risk, food contamination, destruction due to natural calamities and few others. These risks unless addressed well may have serious functional and financial repercussions for the organizations dealing in the food and beverage sector.
