Bakery and Confectionary

BAKERY AND CONFECTIONARY FDNT 315 3 (1+2)

Lesson 1:Introduction to Baking Science

Reasons for the growth of bakery Industry

Bakery industry includes one of the leading consumer food industries in India. The bakery products have now become essential food items of the vast majority of population. Though bakery industry in India has been in existence since long, real fillip came only in the later part of 20th century.

• Urbanization has resulted in increased demand for ready to eat products at reasonable costs etc. Bread and biscuits are the major part of the bakery industry and cover around 80 percent of the total bakery products in India. India's biscuits industry is the largest among all the food industries. India is known to be the second largest manufacturer of biscuits, the first being USA.
• Bakery products are the cheapest of the processed ready to eat products in the country. The production of Bakery products has increased from 5.19 Lakh tonnes in 1975 to 18.95 Lakh tonnes in 1990 recording four-fold increase in 15 years. Among the bakery products, biscuits occupy an important place as they contribute over 33% of total products processed. (Source:Annual Report 2008-09,Ministry of Food Processinghttp://www.mofpi.nic.in; http://www.apeda.com)
• Improvements and innovations in baking technology have resulted in a wide range of products
• Ever growing population and the growing middle class income has given an impetus to bakery foods in India.
• Bakery has formed itself as the backbone of the food industry over the years and is accepted very well even in small interior hamlets of India
• Increased literacy and changing life style of people have increased the bakery food production and consumption.
• Increased number of women in workforce has accentuated the needs for processed foods in the country.
• Increasing number of nuclear families have created demands for bakery foods
• Rising disposable income has increased the purchasing power of people
• Changing demographics and new techniques of preparation and packaging has enhanced the growth of baking industry in India.

The baked foods are becoming popular in rural areas also. Among the bakery products, biscuits occupy an important place as they contribute over 33% of total products processed. Over 79% of the biscuits are produced by small scale sector consisting of both factory and non-factory units. The growth rate for bakery products is estimated at an average of 9.8% per annum. The estimated growth rate of 9.8% is on the lower side considering the present potentiality of bakery products, particularly in rural areas, where about70% of the population lives. Encouraging trends in consumption of bakery products by population of lower and middle income groups indicate vast scope for consideration of nutritional enrichment of bakery products. The demand for bakery products will continue to increase in future.