Indian Plant-Based Alternatives Shine At Asia’s Largest B2B Food And Hospitality Fair Aahar 2022

India’s plant-based meat sector got a major push at India’s largest trade exhibition for the food and hospitality industry – Aahar 2022.

Aahar 2022 is Asia’s largest international food and hospitality fair, organised by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) in partnership with the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan.

Aahar is a well-established b2b exhibition that attracts local as well as global organisations looking to source from India.

At least 8 plant-based meat and dairy alternative brands were able to showcase their products at the fair which receives a footfall of 12000+ people each day. The fair also saw many brands launching their products or new verticals.

EXHIBITORS AT AAHAR 2022

The exhibition draws hundreds of brands from the food and beverage industry and among them the plant-based brands like bveg, Veezlay, Good Dot, Greenest, and Field Grill were some of the exhibitors.

Charan Narang, Founder & CEO of Uniting The Dots, with over 22 years of experience in the food industry spoke highly of Aahar 2022 and the response plant-based foods are receiving from the B2B sector. Mr Narang told Vegan First, “The fair took part after 5 years and it received a lot of interest from relevant visitors. The spirit of Aahar was not subdued despite the rise in Covid cases in Delhi.”

He added, “Our client Vezlay had a large stall and it was perpetually crowded. They received a lot on interest from all over India for their products. We also had to wait in line to get to try the products. I also many other plant-based brands like Greenest, Good Dot and the ingredient manufacturer Symega.”

Image Courtesy: Greenest

Gaurav Sharma, CEO at GREENEST told Vegan First, “We wanted to showcase the new range at Aahar as it provides an opportunity to sample these novel and innovative products to the who’s who of the Indian food industry. We have received an overwhelming response given the great taste and exciting range. There is a massive uptick in interest for plant-based alternatives from retail consumers, restauranters and hoteliers.”

"It was 5 days of wonderful tastings, interactions and learnings, that defined our experience at Aahar 2022. We were so humbled and proud to see all the attention that is being directed towards the plant protein sector and the fast-growing awareness among the consumers," said Akanksha Ghai, co-founder of BVeg Foods about her experience.

Popular plant-based alternative brand Good Dot won the bronze medal at Aahar 2022 for best display among 1100+ companies. Abhishek Sinha, Founder of Good Dot said, “The fact that we could manage to get 12000+ visitors to taste and experience our products over 5 days is a testimony to the immense hard work the entire team put up at the event. It’s awesome to have placed the plant-based meat category at the front and center of this mammoth event.”

Evolved Foods which has recently launched its plant-based meat in Bengaluru was also at the exhibition. “Our team had a wonderful experience at Aahar 2022. The event had just the right blend of participants where there was something for everyone; ingredient providers to equipment manufacturers, bakery to beverage products, and printing to packaging solutions all under one roof. It was heartening to see the number of plant-based food brands that were exhibiting their products at the event. The number of options available for people to try and the positive reception to those products bodes really well for the future of plant-based food in India,“ said Yashwanth Nakshatri, GM Operations.

 “Over four years of close collaboration with government, corporate partners, startups, universities, and other key players across the smart protein ecosystem, we’ve seen major progress in transformative food categories like plant-based meats. AAHAR 2022 was emblematic of that progress, with several leading companies showcasing their ingredients and products in the plant-based category in a hugely promising show for the industry. As we emerge from the pandemic, capitalising on this breakout moment means further advancement on taste and price - a visionary coming together of all players in a Mission for Smart Protein, until ‘alternative proteins’ are no longer ‘alternative’ but the clear smarter choice," said Varun Deshpande, MD at Good Food Institute India, a nonprofit which builds the smart protein sector across science, business, and policy.

PFC Foods launched their new plant-based range of meat alternatives at Aahar 2022. Tanmoy Adhikary, Director & Business Advisor, PFC Foods said, “We received an overwhelming response at Aahar2022. We must say it was beyond our expectations. On one side there was a response from end-consumers and HORECA that they were looking for good plant-based meat products. On the other side there was a huge appreciation of our products. In fact we also had a couple of respondents who refused to believe that our Chicken Nuggets were plant-based after tasting it. So, we were convinced that we have a set of products which the market exactly wanted when we set out on our journey.”

Sanjay Sethi, Executive Director, Plant Based Foods Industry Association (PBFIA) remarked, “I am certain that we are going to see the plant-based sector grow in India. The representation by so many plant-based alternatives at Aahar 2022 along with the encouragement from the government bodies like APEDA and ITPO is a step in the right direction towards sustainability and health.”

“It was great to see the government also promoting plant-based alternatives specially millet-based convenience products that the APEDA stall. Earlier the shift to plant-based alternatives was evident in the B2C space, but now it is very clear in the B2B space as well. Consumers are getting educated about what is better for themselves and what is more sustainable, and businesses are following suit,” added Mr Narang.

Images Courtesy:  Abhishek Sinha, Yashwanth Nakshatri, PFC Foods, Akanksha Ghai LinkedIn, 

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