Archive for the ‘Fruit & Vegetables’ Category

A consumer revolution is taking place in India as people change their eating habits and shopping patterns. While fresh foods have long been a staple, more people are putting a premium on speed and convenience. Supermarkets and shopping malls are cropping up everywhere, and sales of consumer-ready frozen foods are burgeoning, from ice cream and frozen entrees, to vegetables, fruits, sea foods and meats.

To meet this rising demand, manufactures and retailers of temperature sensitive products must move their perishable foods quickly, while emphasizing quality, safety, reliability, and traceability. This is a real challenge in a country where the cold-chain infrastructure still needs a lot of work to be done. India’s cold chain infrastructure is fragmented, under funded, and scrambling to keep up with soaring demand. The need of the hour is to address these concerns immediately.

The frozen food distribution is still not stabilized as most of the companies are still finding it difficult for service and are adopting the most rudimentary method of delivery of frozen/chilled foods to the trade. This, basically means that the integrity of the cold chain is being compromised.  However, at this moment, the focus seems to be on survival and most of the companies are first interested in building volumes before they can provide high-class facilities for distribution of frozen/chilled products.

We at SNOWMAN, are now looking at expanding our network in terms of scale and reach if we are to compete at the domestic or international level. Our focus is to provide every requisite cold chain related solution to the customers but seeing the opportunity in F&V sector, definitely our focus would be more towards fruits and vegetables sector in the days to come along with new avenues like temperature controlled pharmaceutical products etc.

We are eagerly watching the prospects of large corporate like Reliance, Bharti, Aditya Birla Group, Mahindra & Mahindra , TATA and ITC etc to formulate and implement their retailing plan which will immensely benefit the cold chain industry. In my opinion, the cold chain industry will automatically grow as soon as the organized retail starts fully in place.  All other difficulties will get resolved in due course of time.  However basically what we need, is the consumer walking into a retail store and looking for chilled/frozen food products.  This is the day when the cold chain industry will start moving forward and we have already seen the glimpse of it.

Whatever your reasons are, you have decided to explore the interesting and exciting world of vegetarianism. If you have been a vegetarian for a while or have been researching about vegetarianism, you might already have some idea of what kind of vegetarian you are or want to be. There are four types:

1. Lacto vegetarians- Their diet consists of no animal products, or eggs, but do include dairy products, such as milk,

cheese, yogurt, etc.
2. Ovo-Vegetarians- Their diet consists of no animal or diary products but will eat eggs.
3. Lacto-ovo vegetarians- As you may have already guessed; don’t include any animal products in their diet but will include

dairy products and eggs.
4. Vegan- Their diet consists of only plant-based foods, which means it excludes everything that has come from an animal, such as meat, dairy, eggs, honey, etc.

If you haven’t decided what kind of vegetarian you would like to be don’t worry! Not everyone knows exactly what kind they want to be at first (I didn’t), but by experimenting and trying different recipes you will figure out what you need and want or don’t need and want.

Becoming a vegetarian can be as easy as you choose to make it. Whether you enjoy preparing delectable, delicious meals or choose quick and easy ones, vegetarian meals can be very satisfying. If you get in the habit of keeping the following on hand, meal preparation time will become a snap:

-Ready-to-eat, whole-grain breakfast cereals, and quick-cooking whole-grain cereals such as oatmeal, whole-grain breads and

crackers, such as rye, whole wheat, and mixed grain and other grains such as barley and bulgur wheat

-Canned beans, such as pinto, black beans, and garbanzo beans

-Rice (including brown, wild, etc.) and pasta (now available in whole wheat, spinach, and other flavors) with tomato sauce and canned beans and/or chopped veggies

-Vegetarian soups like lentil, navy bean, or minestrone

-A wide variety of plain frozen vegetables, and canned and frozen fruit

-Fortified soymilks and soy cheeses, should you choose to not eat dairy

-A wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, which should be the core of any diet

As you learn to experiment with foods and learn that a meatless diet doesn’t have to lack variety, you’ll find your decision for vegetarianism was not only wise, but easy and fun come mealtime.

Multi-level marketing companies came under a lot of fire in the 1990’s and early 2000’s for allowing its distributors to claim cure-all properties for noni. Governmental organizations such as the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, the National Food Administration in Finland, and others have issued warnings to those distributors, forcing them to publish disclaimers about their products. Since then, the market for noni fruit products has shaped up as more people become educated about the truths and falsehoods surrounding the fruit.

Some marketers have claimed that the only real noni fruit, in all of its health benefit glory, is that which comes form the Polynesian Islands. In fact, all noni fruit is the same, wherever in the world it grows. Noni is the Polynesian name for the tree. Its scientific name is Morinda citrifolia, but it is also widely known as Indian mulberry, among other names.

Another noni fruit scam, still in use by various private promoters, is to pollute Internet search engines by directing such phrases as “noni fruit scam” to unrelated websites. Various “warning” sites have cropped up as a result, exposing the scams to consumers.

Unfortunately, the backlash against the noni fruit scam has been too extreme. Many people are going out of their way to prove that noni fruit is actually bad for you.  While there are some potential side effects, including diarrhea, noni fruit is a generally nutritious and valuable food overall.