New Delhi (PTI): Rice barn processor A P Solvex has been conferred with the first National Award-2007 for Research and Development in medium enterprise category.
The award, constituted by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry, was given by Prime Minister Manmonan Singh to A P Solvex Chairman and Managing Director A R Sharma on August 30, Solvent Extractors' Association of India said in a statement.
The company has developed an eco-friendly, health friendly and economical process for production of refined rice barn oil from the nutritious brown layer of rice known as rice barn, it added.
Ludhiana, September 3
A.P. Solvex Group of Industries is planning an investment of Rs 40 crore towards setting up a new rice bran extraction and refining unit in Jagraon, near here.
The company, that recorded a turnover of Rs 385 crore last year, is expecting this figure to cross Rs 500 crore this financial.
"We will increase the capacity of our existing plant in Dhuri and also set up a new plant, which would entail an investment of more than Rs 40 crore," said A.R. Sharma, chairman and managing director of the company, while talking to The Tribune here.
The company, which is a major supplier to brands like Saffola and Sundrop, is expecting to increase its market share in total rice bran extraction in Punjab to 25 per cent with the coming up of new facility.
Demand for rice bran oil is on the rise and many companies, including Dhara Vegetable Oil and Snacks, have expressed interest in procuring the oil from us, which has led to the decision of increasing capacities, he added.
Talking about the market for edible oils, Sharma said price rice of almost 30 per cent in the past one year had not affected demand much. "Demand for local oils is not price sensitive," said Sharma, who is also the former president of Solvent Extractors Association of India.
While prices are stable as of now, oil consumers may look forward to better days ahead and prices may reduce by "at least 10 per cent" in the coming two-three months.
Meanwhile, A.R.Sharma has been conferred National Award-2007 for research and development in the medium enterprises category, instituted by the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises, Government of India. The award was presented to him by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a function held recently in Delhi.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2008
New Delhi, Sept. 2 ITC Foods’ Bingo, Nestle’s instant noodles and Haldiram snack could soon become healthier. They are all believed to be undertaking trials with the high-in-nutrients rice bran oil (RBO).
“Nestle, ITC and Haldiram have all taken samples of rice bran oil for conducting trials to see the suitability of rice bran oil,” says Mr A.R. Sharma, Chairman of AP Organics, the makers of Ricella. The brand is marketed in a few northern markets through modern trade.
PepsiCo’s Frito Lays has already shifted to rice bran oil for many of its snack brands. A host of cooking oil brands such as Dhara, Sundrop and Saffola have already woken up to the health benefits of this oil, introducing “heart”-y versions of edible oil blends that include RBO.
Rice bran is the outer layer of the brown rice kernel that remains after the husk has been removed.
Health focus
AP Organics, which provides the oil to most of these companies, is betting on the health-conscious consumer to augment the availability of this oil. The AP Solvex Group company based at Dhuri in Punjab will be investing Rs 25 crore to increase its current 350 tonne-a-day capacity by 250 tonnes.
Mr Sharma — who was recently awarded the First National Award–2007 for Research and Development in the Medium Enterprises category by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India and was felicitated by the Prime Minister recently — holds a process patent for the processing of refined RBO.
“Everyone is looking at rice bran oil. The move is due to both growing health awareness and the nutrient labelling that FMCG companies are expected to implement,” says Mr Sharma.
His own company has developed rice bran nutraceuticals as dietary supplements. The company is in talks with Chennai-based Parry Nutraceuticals and NatuRi Corporation for the US market. “We are soliciting interest from nutraceutical companies. We are not a marketing company and would like to tie up with someone who can market these products,” says Mr Sharma, who believes there is a huge potential for these by-products.
Looking overseas
In the US, RBO, which the Japanese have been consuming for more than 40 years, is sold under the health food segment, he points out. India, which recognised the oil as an edible one only in ’86, has huge potential. “As the world’s second largest producer of paddy, after China, India has a huge potential,” he says.
Currently, only 2.5 lakh tonnes of refined rice bran oil are produced annually, and Sharma believes India could produce 12 lakh tonnes of crude rice bran oil from the current eight lakhs a year. The oil, nutrient enriched, he claims, is healthier than olive oil and canola oil, and has cholesterol lowering properties. Retail prices of the oil are between Rs 75 and 80 a litre and have, like all other edible oils, grown by Rs 15 over the last year. Though, adds Mr Sharma, prices have come down by Rs 5 in the last month.
(Financial Express Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Responding to increasing pressure from health-conscious Indians, Pepsico India's Frito-Lay division is changing the ingredients it uses in popular salted snack foods like Frito-Lay chips, Cheetos and Kurkure, introducing whole-grain and colon-healthy fibre wherever possible. The company has already eliminated the use of around 5,000 tonne of saturated fats a year by switching to rice-bran oil earlier this year. Now, it is looking at using whole-grain, which is good for the heart. "We are working on products in that direction," said TSR Murali, technology director of Pepsico India.
"We have brought down sat fats (saturated fat) by 40%. Roughly about 5,000 tonne of sat fats have been removed from the product," he said. Sources said Frito-Lay is also looking into adding colon-healthy fibre and lycopene, an antioxidant present in tomatoes and watermelon. Frito-Lay has dominated the Rs 2,000-crore domestic salty-snacks market for the last one-and-a-half decade, and has shifted from using vegetable oil early this year, stepping ahead of its new competitor, Bingo from ITC Ltd. Murali said, "We have always been zero trans fat, never used vanaspati.
Now, healthier oil is in the offing." Higher trans fat content is associated with higher LDL or the bad' cholesterol and lower HDL or the good' cholesterol. The company has also removed mono sodium glutamate (MSG) from its products. MSG, a sodium salt of glutamic acid, enhances aroma and flavour of products but is believed to be responsible for headaches and nausea. But, while the company has changed to sunflower oil in the US it has shifted to rice bran oil in India. "Rice bran oil is more relevant to indian customers. Sunflower oil is high in PUFA (poly unsaturated fatty acids)," he said.
(India Business Insight Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Pepsico India is changing the ingredients it uses in salted snack foods such as Frito Lay chips, Cheetos and Kurkure. The company has switched over to the use of rice-bran oil in place of saturated fats in the early 2007. It has removed about 5,000 tonnes of saturated fat a year. Pepsico is also planning to use whole-grain, colon-healthy fibre and lycopene, an antioxident
Responding to increasing pressure from health-conscious Indians, Pepsico India's Frito-Lay division is changing the ingredients it uses in popular salted snack foods like Frito-Lay chips, Cheetos and Kurkure, introducing whole-grain and colon-healthy fibre wherever possible.
The company has already eliminated the use of around 5,000 tonne of saturated fats a year by switching to rice-bran oil earlier this year. Now, it is looking at using whole-grain, which is good for the heart.
"We are working on products in that direction," said TSR Murali, technology director of Pepsico India. "We have brought down sat fats (saturated fat) by 40%. Roughly about 5,000 tonne of sat fats have been removed from the product," he said.
Sources said Frito-Lay is also looking into adding colon-healthy fibre and lycopene, an antioxidant present in tomatoes and watermelon.
Frito-Lay has dominated the Rs 2,000-crore domestic salty-snacks market for the last one-and-a-half decade, and has shifted from using vegetable oil early this year, stepping ahead of its new competitor, Bingo from ITC Ltd.
Murali said, "We have always been zero trans fat, never used vanaspati. Now, healthier oil is in the offing." Higher trans fat content is associated with higher LDL or the 'bad' cholesterol and lower HDL or the 'good' cholesterol.
The company has also removed mono sodium glutamate (MSG) from its products. MSG, a sodium salt of glutamic acid, enhances aroma and flavour of products but is believed to be responsible for headaches and nausea.
But, while the company has changed to sunflower oil in the US it has shifted to rice bran oil in India. "Rice bran oil is more relevant to indian customers. Sunflower oil is high in PUFA (poly unsaturated fatty acids)," he said.
CANOLAoil, olive oil and rice bran oil are set to replace other refine oil in the region as companies like Dalmia Continental and A P Solvex Ltd producing and marketing these products are gearing up to market them in a major way. Beginning from tying up with regional hotels and holding seminars in clubs, hospitals and health groups, the companies are dedicating a sizeable proportion of their investments towards marketing. “We will spend Rs 10 crore over 3 years on Hudson canola oil to build awareness and acceptance in India,” said V N Dalmia, Chairman Dalmia Continental Pvt Ltd (DCPL), which is a key player in the retail business of olive oil in the country during the launch of Hudson Canola Oil in Punjab. To sell edible oil that is good for the heart companies are targeting both retail and institutional segments. According to A R Sharma, chairman and managing director of Rs 200 crore A P Solvex Ltd, the country’s largest rice bran oil (RBO) refiner based out of Sangrur, northern Indians prefer the mono-unsaturated fatty oils. “The awareness among doctors, consumer is increasing and we are seeing a number of health group actively looking to tie up with us for promotion,” he said.
The company is in the process launching its product in the form of bottle (instead of pouch), which will have nitrogen in the headspace of the bottle so that oxidation of the food item does not take place. DCPL products-Leonardo Olive Oil and Leonardo Hazelnuts are currently sold through 50 distributors and more than 1,000 retailers across the country. The company is going to invest RS 15 crore on marketing the products.
Simialrly, A P Solvex Ltd, which is currently available across Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh , Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Calcutta and Mumbai, has gone ahead with a joint marketing tie-up with Gujrat base N K Protein Ltd. Both Canola Oil and Rice bran Oil were perfect for Indian cooking since they were standard edible vegetable grade oil with neutral taste and flavour and can be used for frying unlike olive oil according to Mr Sharma. “ With nutritional labeling to become compulsory from 20th Feb’2008, a number of regional and national players, recognising the health benefit of rice bran oil, have started tieing up with us,” said Mr Sharma .The company is currently providing rice bran oil of Pepsi for manufacturing Kurkure and chips.
The rice bran oil market is slated at 2 lakh tonnes annually and India is expected to import about 2,300 tonnes of olive oil in the current year. According to Mr Dalmia, the company expects a sale worth Rs 3.75 crore by selling 150 tonnes of Hudson Canola Oil this year. DCPL would roll out Olive oil based sauces, dressing, coconut water, non-alcoholic beer, table olive and Leonardo Gold oil to diversify its product portfolio in the near future.
A 30-minute walk and a balanced diet is all it takes to reduce the risk of heart diseases, emphasises Dr K.K. Talwar, director of PGI and renowned cardiologist.
With World Heart Day falling on September 30, the heart specialist says that life style changes are a must. As opposed to the earlier belief that the rich and affluent alone suffered from heart trouble, particularly in developed countries, it has now been found the disease has spread across all sections.
The young too are reaching hospitals with the problem, says Dr Talwar.
A balanced diet, including seasonal fruits and vegetables, with controlled consumption of refined oil and desi ghee and physical activity in routine can help in a big way to keep the heart healthy.
The use of rice bran oil, not more than half a litre in a month, and just 15 gm of desi ghee everyday is sufficient for good health, says Dr Talwar. Milk, curd and butter are also supplements for desi ghee, adds Dr Talwar.
There are an estimated 45 million patients of coronary artery diseases in India and with a roller-coaster lifestyle, the future looks more grim.
By 2020, heart diseases will account for one-third of all deaths.
