The entry of international retail chains in India will enhance the standard of domestic retail market, which at present fails to match global benchmarks, think experts. | |
| Speaking at a workshop on "Building Capacity in India's Cold Chain Infrastructure" in Kolkata on Wednesday, Lisa Kitinoja, consultant for training in post harvesting at the US institution Extension Systems International, said retail packaging in India faced challenges like rough handling, lack of maintained warehouses, mixed load in transport, cold storage temperature issues and delays leading to intoxication. |
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| The safeguards were particularly true for exports of food items to the US and EU, where food safety issues were major concerns for the government, said Adel Kader, expert on food safety issues. |
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| Kitinoja, in an experiment carried out during the three-day workshop, exemplified how different fruits and vegetables needed different packaging. |
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| While spinach lost 62 per cent weight in three days, when kept exposed in room temperature, green beans lost 39 per cent of water content, and in the case of green chili, the evaporation was 4 per cent. The vegetables were fresher in perforated plastic bags, she said. |
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| While deliberating on trends of modern retail packaging in the US, she said, consumer packs not only reduced direct contact with vegetables, but were also visually appealing. |
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| Retailers should keep in mind the shelf life of vegetables, rather than their aesthetic aspects, while displaying them on racks. |
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| For example, in many reputed retail stores in India, highly perishable vegetables like tomato was piled on top of one another, which might damage the vegetable, she said. |
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| Also, mushrooms if kept in closed plastic bags, as sold most retail stores in India, gets intoxicated easily, said Kitinoja. |
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| In the US, some of the latest trends in retail packaging included, placing small labels by the side of fruits, like pomegranate, which is not so popular in the US, describing the goodness of the fruit and possible recipes out of it, she said. |
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| Similarly, misted vegetable shelves with audio affects were some other innovative marketing methods adopted by US firms in the recent months. |
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