This document compares post-harvest losses between traditional and modern markets in India from the perspective of consumers. It finds that traditional markets, which still dominate Indian retail, experience significant losses during the multi-step process of transporting perishable fruits and vegetables from farmers to consumers. Modern markets offer centralized distribution but have also failed to gain widespread popularity in India due to cultural preferences for local shopping experiences. Reducing food losses across both supply chains will be important for improving food security in India.

1. Comparison of Post-Harvest losses between Traditional and Modern markets with
reference to Indian Consumers
By: Vagisha
Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Undergraduate
Submitted to: Dr. Rosa Rolle
12th
June 2015

2. Table of Contents
Page
1 INTRODUCTION: FOOD SECURTY 3
2 POST HARVEST LOSSES 5
2.1 Traditional Markets 9
2.2 Modern Markets 11
2.3 Comparison 13
2.4 CONSUMER BEHAVIOR 16
3 Consumption Habit 19
4 Social Coherence 23
4.1 Income 24
4.2 Consumer’s Preference and their Impacts on Food Loss 27
4.3 PROGRESSION AND GOVERNMENT’S INITIATIVES 29
5 CONCLUSION 34

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INTRODUCTION: FOOD SECURITY
The 1996 World Food Summit states that “Food security exists when all
people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food
that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” From this
definition, we can understand that there are four main dimensions of food security:
1. Physical availability of food: addresses the “supply side” of food security and is
determined by the level of food production, stock levels and net trade.
2. Economic and physical access to food: an adequate supply of food at the national or
international level does not in itself guarantee household level security. Concerns
about insufficient food access have resulted in a greater policy focus on income,
expenditure, markets and prices in achieving food security objectives.
3. Food utilization: utilization is commonly understood as the way the body makes the
most of various nutrients in the food. Sufficient energy and nutrient intake by
individuals is the result of good care and feeding practices, food preparation, and
diversity of the diet and intra-household distribution of food. Combined with good
biological utilization of food consumed, this determines the nutritional status of
individuals.
4. Stability of the other three dimensions over the time: Even if your food intake is
adequate today, you are still considered to be food insecure if you have inadequate
access to food on a periodic basis, risking a deterioration of your nutritional status.
Adverse weather conditions, political instability, or economic factors (unemployment,
rising food prices) may have an impact on your food security status.
For food security objectives to be realized, all these four dimensions must be fulfilled
simultaneously.
According to FAO’s estimate for 2014–16, 794.6 million people are
undernourished in the world, down 10.7 million from the previous estimate of 805.3 million
for 2012–14 that was released in The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2014. The
proportion of undernourished in total population is now estimated at 10.9 percent worldwide1.
Despite overall progress, marked differences across regions persist. Latin America and the
Caribbean have made the greatest overall progress in increasing food security with modest
progress in sub-Saharan Africa and Western Asia, which have been afflicted by natural

4. 4
disasters and conflict. Sustained political commitment at the highest level, with food security
and nutrition as top priorities, is a prerequisite for hunger eradication.
The Asia and the Pacific (AP) region as a whole has achieved the Millennium
Development Goal (MDG) 1C hunger target of “halving, between 1990 and 2015, the
proportion of people who suffer from hunger” under MDG-1. Since 1990–92, the proportion
of hungry has been reduced by 12 percentage points from the initial 24 percent. In other
words, while one in four people was undernourished some 25 years ago, today only one in
eight is hungry. Despite this historic and remarkable achievement, there were large disparities
among sub regions and countries in the region. Out of 27 countries for which progress was
monitored, 19 countries, or 70 percent, achieved the MDG hunger target, seven countries did
not reach the target owing to slow progress, and one country witnessed an increase in the
proportion of undernourished. While South-Eastern Asia followed by Eastern Asia were early
achievers and significantly over- shot the MDG 1C targets (reductions of 68.5% and 58.5%
respectively), Southern Asia (34.4%) did not reach the target. The Asia and the Pacific region
made substantial progress in reducing the number of people suffering chronic hunger towards
the World Food Summit (WFS) target of halving the number of undernourished people by
2015. Since 1990–92, it achieved the largest reduction in the number of undernourished
people (236 million) of any region in the world. (“Regional Overview of Food Insecurity Asia
and the Pacific 2015”)
Ensuring food security ought to be an issue of great importance for a country like India where
more than one-third of the population is estimated to be absolutely poor and one-half of all
children malnourished are one way or another. Food availability is a necessary condition for
food security. India is more or less self-sufficient in cereals but deficient in pulses and oil
seeds. Due to changes in consumption patterns, the demand for fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat,
poultry, and fishery products has been increasing. There is a need to increase crop
diversification and improve allied activities. Agricultural growth in India is slowing down.
This slowing could be attributed to structural factors on the supply side, such as public
investment, credit, technology, land and water management, etc., rather than globalization and
trade reforms per se. Post-harvest losses (the decrease in edible food masses available for
human consumption throughout the different segments of the food supply chain) in Indian
agriculture have also been of great concern owing to the enormity of the problem. A major
underlying cause of post-harvest losses in India is the lack of infrastructure for handling and

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for short term storage, particularly at the farm level, as well as the lack of intermediate
processing in the production catchments and lack of production planning.
Despite having the largest food schemes in the world, food insecurity continues to
grow in India. Saving food is crucial, and a lot of India’s food is either lost or wasted. Food
loss and waste is a growing problem in the country, and these losses occur from the two food-
supply chains, traditional and modern, that operate in parallel regions.
POST HARVEST LOSSES
In a yearly evaluation of global hunger in 2015, the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the
United Nations reported
that the world produces
enough food to feed
everyone, yet at the same
time about one in eight
people, or some 794.6
million, suffer from serious
undernourishment. At the
centre of the gap between
production and
consumption are food loss
and waste, which occurs throughout the globe’s food supply chains. Food loss places a lot of
problems for national food systems. It not only represents the wastages of resources, which
includes land, water, power and labour, but also reveals deficiencies within a country’s food
supply chain. Low access to food is one of the negative factors for food security. When the
food supply chain is broken and there is less accessibility to food, it is often the most
vulnerable who get affected. Food loss indicates that there are structural problems in the
agricultural infrastructure that is needed for food security.
Food loss occurs during the early phases of the food supply chain – mostly at the
production, post-harvest and processing stages – when food intended for human consumption
is destroyed, degraded or otherwise unused. It can contrarily affect food security in light of
the fact that it is the aftereffect of inefficient uses of supply chain resources and insufficient
national infrastructure. Food loss is not something new – farmers and food sellers have been
Figure 1.0 (FAO)

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concerned about these losses ever since agriculture began. Yet the issue of the amount of food
lost after harvest to different reasons like poor handling take on greater significance as world
food demand grows.
Like mentioned earlier, food loss and waste apply to food products in the food supply
chain starting from the moment that crops are ripe in the field, plantation, or orchard till the
time the food products are consumed by people. Food loss and waste can occur at each stage
of the food supply chain. Some examples being:
During production or harvest in the form of grain left behind by poor harvesting equipment,
discarded fish, and fruit not harvested or discarded because they fail to meet quality standards
or are uneconomical to harvest.
• During handling and storage in the form of food degraded by pests, fungus, and
disease.
• During processing and packaging in the form of spilled milk, damaged fish, and fruit
unsuitable for processing.
• Processed foods may be lost or wasted because of poor order forecasting and
inefficient factory processes.
• During distribution and marketing in the form of edible food discarded because it is
non-compliant with aesthetic quality standards or is not sold before “best before” and
Figure 1.1 – Post-harvest losses during different stages (Lipinski, et al 5)

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“use-by” dates.
• During consumption in the form of food purchased by consumers, restaurants, and
caterers but not eaten. (Lipinski et al 4)
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that 32
percent of all the food produced in the world was lost or wasted in 2009. It is almost
impossible to exactly measure the wastes, but this figure is the most comprehensive global
numbers currently available. The estimate is based on weight – which means that a ton of
grain is the same as a ton of fruit. However, food types vary widely in terms of their
nutritional value and caloric content as per their weight. Therefore, measuring food by
weight does not reflect the energy in food products that could have been consumed by
people – which is the biggest concern. From these statistics, it has been studied that one
out of every four food calories produced for humans is not being consumed.
India accounts for about 8 percent
of the world’s fruit production.
Because of the diverse climate zones in
the country, it is possible to grow
almost all the different varieties of fruit
and vegetables in India. Although this
is true and India is the largest producer
of fruits in the world, its production per
capita is only about 100 grams per day.
Twenty (20) to 30 percent of the total
fruit production is lost at the various steps of the post-harvest chain, reducing per capita
availability to 80 grams. On the other hand, India ranks second as the second largest
producer of vegetables in the world, just next to China and accounts for about 15 percent
of the entire vegetable production. It is estimated that between 30 and 35 percent of
India’s total vegetable production is lost due to poor post-harvest practices. The demand
for fresh vegetables is still strong and less than 2 percent of the total vegetable production
in the country is processed.
The major impediments to post-harvest handling in India are:
1. Lack of quality planting material for horticultural crops;
Figure 1.2 – Tomatoes lost during transportation
Retrieved from Google

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2. High cost of establishing plantation crops and fruit orchards which require a long
gestation for production;
3. Low educational level coupled with poor technical training/extension facilities
available to farmers;
4. Poor production technologies – rain-fed cultivation, improper planting, poor
nutrition, irrigation systems, plant protection and IPM management;
5. Limited knowledge of maturity indices – stages of maturity, time and method of
harvest;
6. Sorting and grading is done on a very limited scale, and is generally based on
visual inspection;
7. Limited availability of pre-cooling facilities. Pre-cooling facilities are generally
available for produce such as fruits (grapes, strawberries, and mango) cut flowers (rose,
gerbera, carnation, anthodium), and vegetables (potato, onion, tomato, capsicum) which
are destined for export;
8. Lack of availability of
transportation facilities dedicated to the
horticultural sector;
9. Fresh produce shipped both
within the country and overseas is
improperly packed and transported;
10. Lack of a cold chain, inadequate storage and infrastructural facilities from the site
of production to the point of consumption;
11. Lack of a network of local markets, and poor access to market information, results
in unprecedented and unregulated arrivals in the local markets;
12. The unavailability of land for the large scale cultivation of fruits and vegetables
has been a major deterrent in the organized sector. (Chikkasubbanna, 2)
It is important to understand that the post-harvest losses affect the two different markets:
the traditional and the modern market. These markets act as the big platform where
Retrieved from Google
Figure 1.3 – Improper Loading and Transportation

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consumers can freely choose products to suit their needs and wants. The losses of fruits and
vegetables directly and indirectly affect everyone in the society and the market plays the most
crucial role here. India’s economy is opening up, inviting in many retail supermarkets and
private-owned shops that have mushroomed in the country.
They promise the shoppers an experience that centres on quality, cleanliness and excellent
services. This approach is very different to how the traditional market works in India –
something in which the Indian consumers are far more likely to visit. The traditional market
functions in accordance to the lifestyle of the Indian consumers and thus, becomes an integral
part of their everyday lives. Like mentioned earlier in this report, despite their spacious and
convenient shopping experience, supermarkets have failed to take off in India. Consumers
still prefer buying from their neighbourhood shopkeepers who they’ve known for quite some
time because it allows them to interact and also claim the best price for the product.
TRADITIONAL MARKETS
In the traditional food systems of most developing countries, consumers in rural and
urban areas typically buy most of their food from small independent retailers. Meat, fish,
fruits, vegetables and bulk grains are typically sold in “wet markets” at roadside stands and
open markets, while processed goods such as pasta, rice, packaged and canned items and
some meat and dairy products are sold in small shops or kiosks. Fresh produce usually comes
from farms in relatively close proximity to these markets and generally reflects local and
seasonal production. (Food Systems for Better Nutrition, 37).
The replacement of small family owned, traditional stores/markets with supermarkets is a
universal phenomenon. India, as a country, has the most unorganized retail market. The retail
or traditional markets are also known as the “Kirana” stores, where hand carts and pavement
vendors play a part in this market. The Kirana stores are found almost everywhere in the city
and villages – which makes it very easy for consumers to purchase whatever they want. Apart
from being called Kiranas, traditional markets are commonly referred as Bazaars, which
literally means a place where goods are sold. The traditional markets provide fresh fruits and
vegetables to the consumers on a daily basis and also provide the platform to engage the
buyers and sellers at a common place. India’s traditional markets form bulk of the retail sector
that is worth around $450, a staggering figure that has lured global retailers just like the
European colonial powers in 16th century.

10. 10
The traditional markets are not something new to India – it has been there from the time
period of the birth of civilization. Back then, these markets weren’t at fixed places but were
ordered into homes. Farmers used to have contracts with several families and would deliver
fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis. Thus, the concept of home delivery remained
prominent ever since because it provided comfort to the consumers at not much of a cost. The
prices of fruits and vegetables were also negotiable because there used to be an understanding
and relationship between the farmer and consumers. These factors really contributed to the
growth of traditional markets in India. The idea of having a “market” came about when cities
were built – for the convenience of consumers, farmers/retailers decided to come at one place
where they could sell their products with everyone else. Thus, the word ‘Bazaar’ came to
place and has been used thereafter. In most developing countries, including China and India,
the spread of supermarkets started later and the corresponding food retail share is below 50
percent. Traditional retail outlets continue to be the preferred avenue for most consumers to
access fresh, unprocessed products, such as fruits and vegetables. (Reardon and Gulati, 2008)
As the traditional market offers a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables on a daily basis, it
comes with a high disadvantage. The fruits and vegetables are perishable; which makes it
harder for farmers to keep intact and this result in postharvest losses. The traditional food
supply chain work in this way:
Food losses are the primary concern of all farmers and food sellers. The traditional supply
chain works in such a way, where a lot of fruits and vegetables are lost during the process of
delivering and transferring the fruits and vegetables from one person to another. In the case of
the traditional food supply chain, farmers give their fruit and vegetables to the collectors, who
pass it on to the wholesalers, which is later passed on to the retailers and street vendors and
finally reaches the mass market. Multiple links connect the producers to consumers through
Farmers Collectors Wholesalers Retailers and Street Vendors
Mass Market
Losses
Waste
Figure 1.4 – Traditional Food Supply Chain

11. 11
intricate networks which involves numerous traders, wholesalers, retailers and other procure
products from local markets or directly from farmers and then channel them to the next link in
the chain. Each link in a food supply chain affects the availability, affordability, diversity and
nutritional quality of food. During this time period, a lot of food is lost due to the different
stages on the food supply chain like harvesting, threshing, storage, processing, packaging, and
distribution. Time management and poor knowledge of farmers also contribute to the
postharvest losses. Losses for cereals and oil seeds are lower, about 10-12%, according to the
Food Corporation of India. Some 23 million tonnes of food cereals, 12 million tonnes of fruits
and 21 million tonnes of vegetables are lost each year, with a total estimated value of 240
billion Rupees. A recent estimate by the Ministry of Food Processing is that agricultural
produce worth 580 billion Rupees is wasted in India each year (Lundqvist et al., 2008).
Traditional farmers’ markets are re-emerging in many developed countries to satisfy
consumer preferences for local, seasonal and artisanal products. The result is great diversity in
the way food is supplied to consumers.
MODERN MARKETS
In the words of M.M. ZIMMERMAN, “A super market is a departmentalised retail
establishment having four basic departments viz. self-service grocery, meat produce, dairy
products plus other household departments, doing a maximum business. It may be entirely
owner-operated or have some of the departments leased out on a concession basis.” It came to
existence in the USA during the Great Depression; however its traces were established by
merchants who dealt mainly in food produce. The prime difference between the traditional
market and the supermarket is the absence of salesmen. The customers do the shopping by
themselves from the organized racks which are properly labelled with the price. It is in a form
of a self-service store. The products are properly sealed and packaged in order to facilitate
purchasing by the buyer, who is at complete ease while buying as there is no pressure by a
salesman. There are, however, store assistants to help a consumer figure out where the
products are placed. The entire system of the supermarket is completely mechanized – from
the way it is packed to the purchasing point.
The modern food supply chains are led by large food processors, distributors and retailers
who are expanding rapidly in many developing countries. The modern food supply chain is
shaped like this:

12. 12
From this modern food supply chain, we can infer that the farmer groups have
contracts with supermarkets, various institutions and food service sectors, from which are sold
to the higher income consumers. The modern supply chain usually contributes to food waste,
because there are high-end postharvest technologies that are used to keep the fruits and
vegetables fresh and healthy to eat. Packaged and processed food usually comes from the
modern supply chain where several goods may be produced to export to different countries.
Supermarket chains begin to appear often linked to foreign investors. They bring with them
new technologies, more integrated supply chains and often greater links to their own
suppliers outside the country. Although supermarkets establish themselves first in the largest
cities, they subsequently spread to secondary cities (Reardon and Timmer, 2012).
It is important to understand that the traditional and modern supply chain systems
exist in parallel and that the transformation of food systems is not just a simple linear
transformation from one to another. Despite the need for traditional outlets being very high, at
the same time, the sales of processed and packaged foods are growing quickly in developing
countries, including India. Evidence indicates that even low-income consumers buy processed
Farmer Groups Supermarkets
Institutions
Food Service Sector
Export
Higher Income
Consumers
Contracts
Waste
Figure 1.5 – Modern Food Supply Chain
Figure 1.6 (Rolle, 7)

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and packaged foods in supermarkets (Cadilhon, Moustier and Poole, 2006; Goldman,
Ramaswami and Krider, 2002), but, more interestingly, much of this growth is being fuelled
by modern global food manufacturers selling products through traditional outlets in both
urban and rural areas (Euromonitor, 2011a). Between 1996 and 2002, while retailing of
packaged foods in high-income countries grew by only 2.5 percent in per capita terms, it
grew by 28 percent in lower-middle income countries and 12 percent in low-income countries
(Hawkes et al., 2010).
Figure 1.6 illustrates how the modern and traditional supply chains operate parallel
across the South Asian region. The collectors, wholesalers and retailers from the traditional
supply chain also provide the fruits and vegetables to supermarkets, institutions and higher
income consumers. It’s like a mix-and-match chain where there is no fixed rule as to how
food will be distributed further. Integration between modern and traditional supply chains is
often a key part of a corporate strategy. Modern supply chains play an important role in
preserving the nutritional content of food and increasing the year round availability and
affordability of a diverse range of foods. The growth of modern food processing and retailing
facilitates the use of fortification to combat specific micronutrient deficiencies, but also
increases the availability of highly processed, packaged goods that may contribute to
overweight and obesity. (Food Systems for Better Nutrition, 48).
COMPARISON
Indian agriculture is gradually diversifying towards high-value food commodities,
which is expected to benefit millions of farmers who rely on agriculture for their livelihood.
Demand for vegetables in India is income-elastic and is expected to grow faster as the factors
underlying demand growth that is income, growth and urbanization, have been quite robust
during this period and are unlikely to subside in the near future (Aparna, 122). Thus, it is
important to understand the similarities and differences between the two markets in order to
prospect the growth of this country.
Despite the introduction and rise of modern supply chains in India, the traditional supply
chains are still important for certain products and to certain types of consumer. The
advantages of traditional outlets, usually with perishable products, appear from three
interconnecting factors: ability to offer products at a low price, flexibility in product standards
and convenience for consumers as there are flexible market locations, which include home
delivery. Traditional markets typically operate under structures that give them pricing

14. 14
advantages relative to modern supermarkets. Lower labor and overhead costs, as well as
higher product turnover rates, result in lower per-unit costs. Modern supermarkets need to
provide additional services (e.g. processing, sorting, re-packing, refrigeration) and control
significant physical assets (e.g. buildings and equipment), which add to their costs (Goldman,
Ramaswami and Krider, 2002). The differences in the cost structures seem to allow the
traditional market to develop flexible pricing strategies for different locations and consumers.
For example, low income consumers in India prefer to shop in traditional markets because of
the lower prices and high flexibility. Modern supermarkets charge significantly higher, even
controlling for differences in product quality. The price differences between modern and
traditional markets cannot be explained by the relevant processing and distribution model, but
can also be linked to the economic landscape surrounding the store.
Figure 1.7 showcases that losses of quantity (eight or volume) and quality (altered
physical condition or characteristics) can occur at any stage in the traditional and modern
postharvest chains. There are significant losses in the traditional postharvest chain during
open storage and village milling whereas commercial milling is the most crucial stage where a
lot of food is lost in the modern (mechanized) postharvest chain. Product standards and
consumer expectations for traditional food value chains may also be different, permitting the
marketing of foods that modern supermarkets would reject and allowing traditional outlets to
lower their prices. Evidence shows that all consumers care about quality but that those who
frequent traditional outlets may have different priorities than those shopping at modern retail
outlets. Supermarket prices, especially for fresh produce and livestock, may be higher than
those in traditional outlets, making micronutrient-rich foods available in supermarkets less
Figure 1.7 Estimated losses (weight and quality) from the postharvest chain for rice in South Asia (After Hodges et al. 2011)

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affordable for the poor (Dolan and Humphrey, 2000; Schipmann and Qaim, 2011; Reddy,
Murthy and Meena, 2010).
The major factors affecting decisions about where and how to shop are proximity and
convenience, especially in the urban areas where consumers are bombarded with choices to
choose from. Both of these factors are key advantages of traditional retailers. The small
independent shops flourish in rural areas, even if they do not offer a variety of product
selection. The traditional markets also are able to respond to the purchasing constraints of the
poor and are flexible in the pricing of a certain product. In all cases, the location of traditional
and modern outlets seems to be associated with the income levels. That is why there are many
traditional markets in the rural areas whereas only a few or at certain places in the cities. In
contrast, modern markets appear to be located where they can provide access to higher-
income households. There are a lot of traditional markets which prefer to stay in rural
locations as moving to the urban centers will require a lot of effort. This is likely to remain
the case until improved roads make travel easier and less time consuming.
As a result, consumers in both urban and rural areas in India seem to favor traditional
markets for perishable items such as fruits and vegetables, fish and meat. Supermarkets tend
to be associated with urban, higher-income areas while low-income consumers, in both urban
and rural areas, still do most of their shopping at traditional retailers. Consumers favor
supermarkets for processed and packaged goods, although traditional outlets are also
important retailers of packaged goods. Nutritionally, the result is that traditional retail outlets
are the primary place for poor consumers to access fresh foods rich in micronutrients as well
as packaged goods. Interventions that can help shape nutritional outcomes through the
traditional retail sector are those that can lower prices by making the supply chain more
efficient and reducing waste. Better infrastructure and market access for smallholder fruit,
vegetable and livestock producers can increase the diversity of foods available in rural and
urban markets. The increased availability of packaged and processed goods in traditional as
well as modern retail outlets can increase the availability of energy for low-income
consumers (Food Systems for Better Nutrition, 42).
Improving the overall efficiency of food supply chains can help reduce post-harvest
losses and also meet the challenges of lowering the costs of food to consumers, which would
increase the revenue of the suppliers. Integrating smallholders into local food supply chains
are still continuing to pose challenges. Investments in public goods that support the

16. 16
development of transportation, knowledge, communication and infrastructure can reduce risk
and improve the supply chains. Post-harvest food losses mostly affect the poor, who have less
capacity for food preservation and storage.
The coexistence of traditional and modern supply chains appear to support the
availability of diverse, affordable diets for a variety of different consumers. While the
traditional supply chain delivers nutritional benefits to low-income residents in the urban
areas and to rural residents, the modern supply chains tend to have more efficient distribution
chains, offering a variety of foods. The ability of modern food manufacturers to distribute
processed and packaged foods through the traditional supply chain allows them to reach rural
consumers and expose them to a wide variety of commodities. This may reduce under
nutrition for poor rural and urban residents while increasing over nutrition for more affluent
consumers. At the same time, the increased availability of processed and packaged goods
offers opportunities for collaboration among food manufacturers, donors and governments to
implement profitable and socially beneficial food fortification initiatives that target
micronutrient deficiencies (Food Systems for Better Nutrition, 47).
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
India has the youngest population profile among the numerically significant countries
– there are a lot of young people coming from different income segments and locations, which
are indirectly, or directly influencing their parents’ spending or spending their own money.
The attitude of Indian consumers has undergone a significant transformation over the last few
years. Today, the Indian consumer wants to lead a life full of luxury and comfort. However,
since about 68 percent of the population live in the rural areas, where surviving on basic needs
is the priority, these expensive wants may not even be significant. An important and recent
development in India’s consumerism is the emergence of the rural market for several basic
consumer goods – so people have access to these necessities. It is the Indian middle class that
has provided a boost to the consumer culture during the recent past and it is hoped that their
buying behavior will continue to change in the coming future. That being said, the number of
middle class is also increasing due to the fact that people are shifting from agriculture to the
services and industry sector where growth prospects are reasonably high as compared to the
agriculture sector which is showing slow growth.
The consumption pattern of a country depends on liberalization of economic policies,
buying habits of the younger generation, cultural and traditional aspects, and financial

17. 17
independence at a young age, and increase in media exposure of the people. Consumer
behavior is affected by a lot of variables, ranging from personal motivations, needs, attitude
and values, personality characteristics, culture background, age, sex, professional status to
social influences of various kinds exerted by family, friends, colleagues and society as a
whole. The combinations of these various factors produce a different impact on each one of us
as manifested in our different behaviour as consumers.
Today’s consumers strictly follow their culture,
tradition and values, as a result of which foreign companies
were forced to give an Indian touch to them in order to
succeed in India. Companies like McDonalds, Coca Cola
India, Star TV, Pepsi, and many more had to Indianise
themselves to flourish in India. Culture is the most basic
element that shapes a person’s wants and behaviour. India
has so many different cultures, which only go on to make
the marketer’s job tougher. Another reason is because of
the rich traditions and social prosperity that Indians uphold – which plays a vital role in the
buying behaviour. For example, beef products will not sell in India as Hindus do not consume
beef due to their religious beliefs. Some of the few cultural factors that influence buying
behaviour are:
1. Product (colour, size, design and shape): On any auspicious day, no one would
buy any product in “black” as consumers consider it to be inauspicious.
2. Social practices: Each culture exhibits different social practices. For example, in
rural India, a few villages have common bath areas. Villages used their money to
buy one Lifebuoy cake and cut it into smaller bars. This practice wasn’t new
because the concept of sharing was instilled in the social practice. Thus, this
helped Lifebuoy to introduce smaller 75-gram, soap bars, which could be used
individually. Another great example could be when a person buys fresh vegetables
from the market and shares it with his neighbours – this is considered a social
practice.
3. Decision-making by male head: The male in Indian culture has always been
given the designation of key decision maker. For example, the Mukhiya’s opinion
(Head of the village), in most cases, is shared with the rest of the village. Even in a
Figure 1.8 (Retrieved from Google)

18. 18
house the male head is the final decision maker. In rural areas, this trend is very
prominent.
To fully understand the consumer behavior of India, it is important to know the different
segments of the Indian market. There are two main segments:
1. Socialites: They belong to the upper class and prefer to shop in modern markets
(supermarkets, retail sectors like Reliance Fresh, Central, etc.) They go for high
value, exclusive products. This group of people constitutes a very small percentage
of the entire population.
2. Conservatives: This group of people belongs to the middle class. . The
conservative segment is the reflection of the true Indian culture. They are
traditional in their outlook, cautious in their approach towards purchase; spend
more time with family than in partying and focus more on savings than spending.
Slow in decision making, they seek a lot of information before making any
purchase. They look for durability and functionality but at the same time is also
image conscious.
The rural consumers of India constitute a different group all together. They majorly
look into the value that the product offers. They associate value with the benefits that the
product offers, its availability, and its cost. When talking of benefits, they look at the features
of the product as well as the packaging and attractiveness, availability, whether or not the
products are available at retail Shops (modern markets) and Haats (traditional markets), cost,
whether or not the product is reasonably priced.
Although quality of food products is one of the most important parameters for food
product purchase decision, people do not see much improvement in the quality related
Figure 1.9 (“Changes in Consumer Behavior and their Implication on Marketers”)

19. 19
parameters for food items during the last ten years. People believe that they have to take much
more responsibility than the government and farmers in ensuring that food is safe to eat.
Although there has been increasing trend of eating out in restaurants and fast-food outlets in
major Indian cities, people still consider such restaurant and fast-food meals and meat
products as somewhat unsafe.
With more than half of the population sticking to its values, aspirations and traditional
norms, their preferences and buying behaviour also match their tastes. The introduction of the
modern markets has fascinated many – the socialites as well as the middle class. The
consumers now have an option to choose from – the traditional or the local market and the
modern or the supermarket. Keeping in mind with the population and the cultural factors, the
need and requirement for the traditional markets is very high in India. The consumers, too,
find their fascination and needs with the same.
This paper will discuss the three primary factors that will analyse the consumers’
inclination towards the traditional or the local market. These are as follows:
1. Consumption Habit
2. Social Coherence
3. Income
Their frequent visits to the various traditional markets are also linked to the food losses
because of the demand the market faces and how well the country is keeping up to meet with
the demands of its consumers.
CONSUMPTION HABIT
Consumption in rural India now outpaces that of urban India. Rural India now
accounts for 55 percent of consumer spending. For the 20-year period from 2005 to 2025,
aggregate rural consumption is expected to surge 2.7 times, or more than 150 percent. The
share of wallet of the Indian consumer has
witnessed a significant change in recent times
and has started moving in the direction of the
consumption patterns of developed economies.
All multinational brands are eager to
capture the Indian consumer market, given its
Figure 2.0 (“Processed food in India”)

20. 20
size and potential for growth. Two thirds of the top 100 brands are already present in India.
Local brands are also widespread across India and they still enjoy a higher market share due
to brand loyalty. Their brands have been present and known to Indians for decades. Amidst
the progressive growth, the cultures and traditions of India is rooted to the Indian consumers.
The growth of the modern market has brought in a lot of Western influence including the
culture of eating packaged and processed food.
Processed food refers to food that is canned, frozen, refrigerated, dehydrated and
boxed. It is more convenient and that is what it has come down to. For example, it is easier to
bake a cake by opening up a box, pouring out a dry mix, and adding an egg and some oil than
starting from scratch. But convenience isn’t the only thing one gets when they eat processed
foods. There are other ingredients that manufacturers add too: color, stabilize, emulsify,
bleach, texture, soften, preserve, sweeten, hide odors and flavor. With these added ingredients
come in various food additives and preservatives. The entire Western world has adapted to the
culture of eating processed and packaged food as it saves time and brings in convenience.
This culture, however, is still not accepted to some parts of Asia, predominantly India.
These terms and habits are extremely new to India as there is no practice of eating processed
food. People, in general, still prefer eating home-made food rather than buying canned ones
which help save time. The reason is because Indian cuisine has to be made fresh and can’t be
processed and packaged as it includes a lot of ingredients. Even the packaged ones would not
be able to provide the same taste and quality as that of the freshly cooked food.
Another point to note is that the general Indian consumers cook their daily meals 3-4
times a day, and distribute it amongst extended family members and servants, so the concept
of refrigeration or storing food for the next day doesn’t come to play. In a typical Indian
household, even the peels and seeds of vegetables and fruits will be given to the cows and
cattle of the house. People do not refrigerate food as they have to cook a new dish tomorrow –
but the case is different with the socialites. The socialites
have evolved and use refrigeration for storing food. Thus,
it is important for the quality of food to be high so that
the food will have a longer shelf life.
The middle class consumers are the general
audience who are exposed to the modern market that
Figure 2.1 – Dabbawaala Services in India
(Patel and Vedula 1-11)

21. 21
offers them a plethora of options of choose from. They are frequently bombarded with many
advertisements and promotional offers on processed food in their nearby supermarkets.
However, even the middle class working men/women do not have processed food for their
daily meals. In the West, many working people have processed food for their lunch as it saves
time however the concept is very different in India. Working men and women in India either
bring tiffin from their home or rely on the Dabbawaala service in their respective areas.
A Dabbawaala is a person in India, whose job is carrying and delivering freshly-made
food from home in lunch boxes to office workers. They are formally known as MTBSA
(Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association), but most people refer to them as the Dabbawaala.
The map on the right shows where all the Dabbawaalas are present in India. The
Dabbawaalas originated when India was under British rule. Since many British people who
came to India did not like the local food, a service was set up to bring lunch to their offices
straight from their home. The 100-odd dabbas (or lunch boxes) of those days were carried
around in horse-drawn trams and delivered in the Fort area, which housed important offices.
The main reason people use this service is to eat a proper, home-prepared meal during lunch.
“Office-goers in Mumbai usually leave at 7 am and do not get back until after 7 pm.
Most of them commute from suburbs of Mumbai and travel south to the main
commercial area of Mumbai. The railway network during the peak hours is jam-
packed with commuters hanging on the trains with one hand. Thus bringing one’s
lunch at that time is not feasible. Commuters need to use one hand to hang on from the
trains and hold on to their briefcases with their other hands. Most of the commuters
cannot afford to eat outside every day. Offices often do not provide a canteen or
cafeteria service for their employees. Eating on the roadside is unhealthy and
unhygienic. Plus, the Indian diversity of food habits makes it very difficult to answer
the specific need of each employee at the office canteen. By delivering to each
employee his tiffin or lunch filled with food prepared at his home, the Dabbawaalas
solve the problem for an estimated 200,000 people in Mumbai. They charge between
Rs. 150 to Rs. 300 (roughly 3-7 USD), per dabba per month, depending on the
location and collection time.” (Patel and
Vedula 1-11)
With such a business, the Dabbawaalas
face several challenges including getting fresh
Figure 2.2 (the Dabbawalas)

22. 22
vegetables every day. Their customers expect freshly cooked food for every meal and this is
one of the challenging tasks of the Dabbawaalas. It is not possible to get daily supplies from
the supermarkets as the cost is too high, therefore the Dabbawaalas rely heavily on the
traditional markets. The local market provides them with the platform to freely choose from
quality products and bargain with the price they pay for. Since they are feeding more than
thousands of people, many Dabbawaalas’ Associations have contracts with farmers or sellers
in the local market to provide them a certain amount of fresh vegetables and fruits. The local
market is also the ideal place for the sellers and buyers to connect. It allows them to exchange
feedbacks about the products and also request for better services.
The demand of fresh fruits and vegetables is very high and the traditional market has
to cater with these demands. However, the traditional food supply chains make limited use of
post-harvest technology which leads to very high levels of post-harvest losses across these
chains. The underlying causes of these high levels of losses, include the lack of a market
orientation, pest infestations and disease, poor organization and weak integration of supply
chains, poor or inadequate infrastructure and market facilities, poor or inadequate bulk
packaging, lack of dedicated transport systems for food to move from producers to consumers,
limited knowledge base of stakeholders and weak institutional support for post-harvest
systems development.
With so many issues, a lot of food is lost in the food supply chain and fails to meet
with the demand of the consumers at the traditional marketplace. It is important to reduce
these losses in order for the traditional market to cater to the needs of the consumers, i.e. the
Dabbawaalas, so they can feed the rest of the population with a healthy diet. The low supply
of fresh vegetable and fruits can also negatively impact the health of the general population as
they are indirectly associated with the traditional market. For example, if the Dabbawaalas fail
to provide the working class with proper meals every day, the consumers would have no
option but to move towards consumption of processed food. Processed foods are not healthy
at all, especially if compared to the food that the Dabbawaalas are providing and not a suitable
substitute as well.
The reduction of food loss will help the consumers get their daily supply of fresh
vegetables and the farmers/sellers will also receive value for the amount of time, effort, labor,
resources and money they put in to grow the vegetables and fruits.

23. 23
SOCIAL COHERENCE
India is one of the most diverse countries in the world and its culture is among the
world’s oldest civilization – began about 4,500 years ago. It is a sophisticated, modern,
industrial leader that is home to many primitive tribes and millions of people coming from
different castes, religions, ethnic groups and societies. All these people bring in cross cultural
communication which they share among others and thus people easily are exposed to a wide
array of traditions and cultures around them.
India offers astounding variety in virtually every aspect of social life. The differences
and diversities bring in the culture of social coherence. The caste system would perfectly
illustrate the coherence in the society. Many castes are associated with traditional occupations,
such as priests, potters, barbers, carpenters, etc. Every member in the society has a specific
task which he/she is assigned, and all the others are dependent on it. The caste system’s mail
goal was to see the society functioning in a proper way, with each member contributing
his/her part. Through the various castes and sub-castes, people mingle, learn and accept others
as who they are – bringing in social togetherness and acceptance.
The traditional market or usually called the Haats, offer the consumers the platform to
socialize, engage and interact with the sellers. The buyers build relationships with the sellers
and that only leads to the betterment of the society. Through socializing with the sellers, many
buyers get to know how difficult it is to get food to the market. Many sellers or farmers who
sell their vegetables and fruits
in the local markets share their
experiences with the buyers
about the difficulties they face
in bringing the food to the
market. Thus, consumers and
buyers become aware of the
post-harvest losses and are
well-informed about the
struggles these sellers or farmers go through.
Another strong reason why the traditional market is important to the Indian lifestyle is
because consumers can place their demand on what kind of vegetables they would want. For
example, if a consumer has a party the next day, he/she could get in touch with the seller and
Figure 2.3 – Haats (Retrieved from Google)

24. 24
ask him to bring in more vegetables the next day. The very same way, if the seller brings in
fresh vegetables and offers it to the consumer, despite the consumer having adequate food, the
consumer would purchase the fresh vegetables as a sign of acceptance and appreciation. It
adds a personal touch.
The traditional market offers different forms of distribution in the city. The common
and frequently seen one is the cart-man who has his vegetables and fruits on a cart and pushes
it around different neighborhoods and offer door-step facilities. This becomes a very
convenient option, for the women of the house, to shop when their husbands/male members
are away.
This kind of gratitude or actions would not take place in the modern markets where
everything is mechanized. The modern market offer a variety of vegetables and fruits –
packaged and sealed. But what is doesn’t offer is the personal touch or the social bonding
between the buyer and seller – which does not go in accordance to the Indian culture. The
value of traditional markets is very high in India because it matches the lifestyle of the people.
Local markets can also just be a place where people go and socialize – that is how it works in
India.
It is important to highlight the
post-harvest losses of the traditional
supply chain to the consumers as they
are very dependent on the Haats. The
amount of food that is lost while
bringing to the market is immense and
unfortunately, the sellers are not able to
supply enough food to the buyers. For
example, the seller who sells his vegetables and fruits on the cart in different neighborhoods
loses many vegetables and fruits along the way as he pushes the cart. Many stay unaware
about this. Increasing awareness among the society could bring in some actions which could
help reduce the post-harvest losses in the traditional supply chain.
INCOME
The income of a person is determinant of his buying behavior. The gross income of a
person consists of disposable income and discretionary income. The disposable income refers
Figure 2.4 – Cart-seller
Retrieved from Google

25. 25
to the actual income (i.e. money balance) remaining at the disposal of a person after deducting
taxes and compulsorily deductible items from the gross income. An increase in the disposable
income leads to an increase in the expenditure on various items. A fall in the disposable
income, on the other hand, leads to a fall in the expenditure on various items.
The discretionary income refers to the balance remaining after meeting basic
necessaries of life. This income is available for the purchase of shopping goods, durable
goods and luxuries. An increase in the discretionary income leads to an increase in the
expenditure on shopping goods, luxuries etc. which improves the standard of living of a
person.
It is said that as people and countries get wealthier, they tend to substitute regular diet
with more processed food. Fewer cereals and more bread, fewer potatoes and more meats,
fewer bidis (hand rolled cigarettes) and more cigarettes, less country liquor and more beer –
food habits in the urban sector of India are
slowly but surely changing. The top 5
percent of urban India spends Rs. 3,000 per
capita per month on groceries and eating
out on average. This class spends nearly Rs.
800 per head per month on eating out
(“served processed food”) and another Rs.
206 per person per month on chips,
chocolates and other packaged processed
foods. At the other end of the spectrum, the bottom 5 percent of India spends just over Rs.
400 per person per month on food, over a quarter of this on cereals alone.
The rest of the 90 percent are what constitute the majority of the population who are
generally categorized as the middle class workers and the poor people living in rural India.
India’s per capita income (nominal) was $1570 in 2013, which was ranked at 120th
out of 164
countries by the World Bank. There has been a rise in the past two years, but the main point
still lies that not everybody can afford visiting supermarkets and eating processed food. The
cost is too high and consuming food from the supermarket would not suffice for an entire
family. Another point to take note is that many of the packaged food come with tax fees –
which, then, become even more expensive for an average Indian to afford. Furthermore, the
Retrieved from Google
Figure 2.5 – Modern Market in India

26. 26
income distribution in India completely based on the traditional social hierarchy of a family,
adding in more dimensions of influence from the culture and traditions.
Like mentioned earlier in the report, the male member of the family has been given the
designation of the key decision-maker of the family. It’s remained un-changed since the times
when only men used to work and bring in money into the family. All family members are
socialized to accept the authority of those ranked above them in the hierarchy. In general,
elders rank above juniors, and among people of similar age, males outrank females. There is
tremendous emphasis on the unity of the family grouping, especially as differentiated from
persons outside the kinship circle. Psychologically, family members feel an intense emotional
interdependence with each other and the family as an almost organic unit. Ego boundaries are
permeable to others in the family, and any notion of a separate self is often dominated by a
sense of what psychoanalyst Alan Roland has termed a more inclusive "familial self."
Family resources, particularly money, land or businesses, have traditionally been
controlled by family males, especially in high-status groups. Thus, the male members in the
family decide how and where they money will be circulated and it should be made sure that
everyone is fed well in the family. If one has a family of five, and an income of $1570, it
becomes difficult looking after everyone’s needs and priorities. The traditional market comes
in compliance to their daily lifestyle as the prices are negotiable and can be altered to suit the
wants of the buyer and the seller.
The traditional market also offers the buyers fresh vegetables and fruits – which are
suitable to the Indian household. The Indian cuisine is made of fresh vegetables, not
processed food, so the question of traditional families going to supermarkets to shop for their
groceries does not even rise. This is applicable to the 90 percent of the population who are in
the in between of the socialites (who are consuming more processed food) and the poorest of
the poor people (who barely suffice on cereals).
The need for supermarkets is important,
however, as the convenience for buying pulses and
cereals are very significant. Supermarkets offer
packaged cereals and pulses at a reasonable price
which could be bought and used sufficiently by
middle class workers. However, fresh vegetables
Figure 2.6 – Supermarket in India
Retrieved from Google

27. 27
and fruits are only bought from the Haats as they are far more reasonable and cost-effective.
The traditional markets, thus, play an important role in the India as they cater to about
90 percent of the entire population effectively. The population is directly or indirectly
dependent on the traditional markets and it is very crucial that they come to know and
understand about how their food comes in.
CONSUMER PREFERENCES AND THEIR IMPACTS ON FOOD LOSS
The food markets in India and the rest of the world are getting increasingly complex
and competitive. Some of the important reasons for such changes are the increasing pace of
globalization, entry of large international and domestic firms in the food sector, intra-regional
movement of consumers, larger proportion of working female population etc. There is an
increasing number and varieties of food products in the country and the above socio-economic
changes have resulted in increased interest in the food sector among the business practitioners
and researchers.
Indian consumers are much more inclined towards the traditional market as compared to the
modern markets which exposes them to various types of packaged food. Their consumption
habit, which includes the services offered by the Dabbawaalas, is indirectly connected to the
traditional markets as they rely on the provision to offer them with freshly home-cooked
meals. The social coherence and income have a direct connection to the local markets as the
Haats provide them with the platform to engage, socialize and learn about the difficulties the
seller faces in bringing the vegetables and fruits to the market whereas the general Indian
household can only afford their daily groceries in the local markets instead of the
supermarkets.
Their dependence is very high and a high
risk comes in with this. The traditional supply
chain, which brings in the fresh fruits and
vegetables, faces more post-harvest losses as
compared to the modern supply chain where food
waste is the major concern. This is a huge
concern because there are many people affected
by the post-harvest losses in the economy.
Smallholder farmers, middlemen, and consumers are affected by post-harvest loss. Because of
Retrieved from Google
Figure 2.7 – Traditional Market

28. 28
infrastructure constraints and limited access to buyers, smallholders are often forced to sell
their products cheaply and to local buyers who can set prices below market-clearing levels.
Middlemen suffer product losses due to inadequacy of handling facilities that are often in the
hands of government agencies. Consumers suffer higher prices for produce.
“Food losses do not merely reduce food available for human consumption but also
cause negative externalities to society through costs of waste management, greenhouse gas
production, and loss of scarce resources used in their production. Food loss is estimated to
contribute the equivalent of 6-10 percent of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions
(Gustavasson, et al. 2011; Vermeulen, et al. 2012). A significant contributor of this problem
is through methane gas generation in landfills where food waste decomposes anaerobically
(Buzby and Hyman, 2012). (“Post-harvest Loss Challenges Discussion Paper” 1-42)
Loss occurs at every stage of the supply chain. Following harvest, about 60-70 percent
of food grain is stored on farms for variable periods, normally in traditional structures and at
dangerously high moisture levels.
This makes them particularly
vulnerable to infestations of pests and
micro-organisms. Major losses also
occur during processing, where the
number of mills is insufficient to meet
demand, and most processing units
are small and use outdated
technologies. The highest rates of loss
are in perishable fruits and vegetables, where there is a lack of proper storage facilities,
absence of proper handling, transportation, pre- and postharvest treatment and processing.
Dairy has generally been a success; per capita availability of milk was 290 g per day
in 2012, higher than the world’s average. Most of the milk is produced by small, marginal
farmers and landless laborers, but an estimated 18% of the product is lost due to inadequate
cold chain storage and inefficient distribution. Fish and livestock face similar constraints, with
relatively high levels of efficient production, and poor systems of cold storage and
distribution.
Mr. Pawanexh Kohli, Chief Advisor of National Center for Cold-Chain Development,
told Econoff that the data in studies done thus far are unreliable and underestimate
Figure 2.8 – Estimated Losses (Business Standard)

29. 29
postharvest loss. He estimated that about 30-40% postharvest loss in horticulture. The
farmers lack market linkages and usually sell their produce to a single buyer creating a
monopoly. Kohli thinks that linking farmers to market and optimizing logistics such as
improvement in infrastructure including good roads and development of cold storage
facilities are the key areas of improvement. “Losses of perishable farm produce are estimated
to be over Rs. 1 trillion (Rs 100,000 crore) per annum, 57% of which is due to avoidable
wastage and the rest due to avoidable costs of storage and commissions”.India has about 30
million metric tons of cold storage capacity out of which 10 million metric tons was built in
the last 8-10 years. He also envisioned that better coordination and cooperation amongst the
states will go a long way in addressing this issue but noted that the challenge lies in
infrastructure, availability of suitable transportation, as well lack of knowledge in handling,
packing and shipping. (“Post-harvest Loss Challenges Discussion Paper” 1-42)
With as many post-harvest loss challenges as the ones mentioned above, the sellers
and farmers face a lot of problem catering to the demands of the Indian consumers. According
to the demand curve, the demand for a particular product will increase once its price is low.
However in this case, there isn’t adequate supply of fresh vegetables and fruits which would
increase the cost of the product and thus affect the consumers. With the price increased, the
consumers would face greater challenges. With the increase in price, the Dabbawaalas would
charge more in order to provide freshly home cooked food to their consumers whereas
families would have a hard choice deciding whether to go to the supermarket or the local
market for their daily groceries. The shift in price would also case a shift in the consumer’s
preference and many would opt for shopping in the modern markets. This will adversely
affect the consumers once the prices of fresh vegetables and fruits hike up.
PROGRESSION AND GOVERNMENT INITIATVES
Post-harvest loss in the traditional supply chain is a growing issue in India and the
government should take some initiative to reduce these losses. A World Bank study
conducted in 2011 found out that post-harvest loss occurs about 10 percent of Indian food
grains from farm to market and about 5 percent at distribution levels With these figures, it
totals up for a loss of 11-15 million metric tons (mMT) of food grains every year, which
incorporates 3-4 mmt of wheat and around 7 mMT of rice inter alia. The post-harvest loss, for
fruits and vegetables, is rounded up to about 30 percent. The official Government of India
figures’ estimates vary of 0.87 grain loss to industry estimates as high as 50 percent.

30. 30
Efforts are currently underway to create suitable infrastructure for postharvest
management of perishable commodities. The following organizations have developed
research and development projects and schemes designed to prevent postharvest losses and to
integrate crop production: National Horticulture Board (NHB), Agricultural and Processed
Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), National Dairy Development Board
(NDDB), National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), Ministry of Food
Processing Industries (MFPI), National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Indian Council for
Agricultural Research (ICAR), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and
Commodity Boards - Spice, Coffee, Coconut, Agmark, etc. (Chikkasubbanna, 7)
There has been some in-country technology developments as well as innovation
events and resources to help reduce post-harvest losses in India. About 2 percent of food
produced in India is processed between harvest and retail sale, which excludes rice and wheat
milling. This means that food preservation technologies and storage facilities could help
reduce losses significantly. Modern packaging systems are being increasingly adopted in
India, which includes fiber board and polypropylene boxes, plastic trays and crates, woven
sacks, molded pulp trays, thermoformed trays, stretch films and shrink wrapping.
Technology is not a limitation on resolving the problem of post-harvest loss in India as
there have been many new innovations but the main problem is economic, principally
comprising of systemic disincentives to venture incorporated with agriculture and food
strategy. The current system of commodity marketing does not provide the necessary
incentives for preserving food from farm to market. There are official spoilage and loss
statistics of 0.87 percent but they aren’t reliable; the private sector losses about 20 percent of
wheat. These losses could all be minimized by privatization of the marketing chains and
abolition of the jute bag requirement, which would encourage private investment in
infrastructure using existing, proven technologies. In the state of Bihar, approximately half of
the vegetables produced are wasted due to spoilage. While expanding yields is critical in
farming generation, average farmers in India can drastically build their income if a greater
amount of what they create is not lost but rather accessible available to be purchased in the
traditional markets.
As for fruits and vegetables in particular, adoption of small-scale technologies could
produce major benefits. A lot of postharvest technologies are capital-intensive, but India was
the forerunner in developing low-cost postharvest handling methodologies, one of them being

31. 31
CoolBot technology, which uses a window-unit air conditioner to create a cold chamber with
the help of a controller device that controls the temperature.
India has about 6,000 cold storage units which serve only about 11 percent of the
country’s total perishable commodities. 75 percent of the storage is restrictedly used for
potatoes whereas only about 23 percent is left for multi-purpose storage. The shocking point
here is that potatoes only contribute 20 percent of the total cold chain storage as compared to
the 54 percent from multi-purpose cold chain storage.
Maintenance of low temperature is a great problem is a tropical country. Refrigeration
is energy intensive, expensive and it is not
easy to install and run in remote areas
where not everyone is knowledgeable about
technology. Due to the lack of cold storage,
a large amount of fruits and vegetables are
lost before they can even reach the market.
Thus, the concept of evaporative cooling in
India got introduced. Evaporative cooling
occurs when air, which isn’t already
saturated with water, passes over a wet
surface, cooling the bed. Based on the principle of direct evaporative cooling, the Zero Energy
Cool Chambers (ZECC) was developed. Some of the biggest advantages of this low cost
cooling technology include its non-requirement of any electricity or power to operate and
simply available materials like bricks, sand, bamboos etc. which are affordable and found
almost everywhere. It is a double brick-wall structure, in which the cavity is filled with sand
and walls of the chamber are soaked in water. The concept is similar to how drinking water is
kept cool in the villages – in a clay pot. These chambers can reduce temperature by 10-15 °C
and maintain high humidity of about 95 percent which can increase the shelf life and also
retain quality. With this technology, small and
marginal farmers can store their few days’
harvest without the intervention of the
middleman. The overall cost of building the cool
chamber with 100 kilogram capacity is about Rs.
4000.
Figure 2.9 – ZECC (Roy and Emeritus 11)
Figure 3.0 – Cold Storage for Apples

32. 32
Progressing further, there has been an introduction of a low cost environment friendly
commercial size cool chamber that uses the same principle of evaporative cooling. It is
constructed similarly as the Zero Energy Chamber but uses an exhaust fan to draw in air into
the chamber. Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand are a few states that
have been using these chambers to store apples after harvest until they are require for sale.
Recently, the solar refrigerator has come into the market and is providing a lot of help to the
farmers facing cold storage problems. The electricity is provided by solar energy, and is best
fit for climate change. Though these innovations and new technologies are helping to reduce
post-harvest losses, the lack of cold chain storage is particularly high in the south of the
country where there are almost no storage units and the climate is hotter and more humid.
Because of limited storage, the prices keep fluctuating where fruits and vegetables prices fall
to as little as few rupees at harvest time but increase during the off-season.
Recently, a report into the banana industry highlighted the gains for export if cold
storage chains could be initiated all across the country. India delivers 28% of the world's
bananas yet speaks to only 0.3% of all globally exchanged bananas. The report proposed that
the compartments of banana could be exported can possibly develop from the current 3,000 to
upwards of 190,000, if the cool chain storage would be upgraded. This would give an extra
95,000 employments and advantage upwards of 34,600 smallholder farmers. Nonetheless,
development is taking place to help reduce post-harvest losses and the progress is highly
visible in India.
Despite the small improvements taking place in India, the government should
acknowledge the efforts the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
is putting in reducing food insecurity and bringing in initiatives like the Zero Hunger
Challenge to ensure more equitable access to food. The Government of India should
recognize and propose to bring in the ‘Save Food Asia Pacific’ campaign in hopes of
addressing the general consumers about the effects of food loss and waste. The Save Food
Asia-Pacific Campaign seeks to raise awareness about the magnitude of food losses and food
waste in Asia and the Pacific region, and advocate for actions to reduce food losses and food
waste and promote sustainable consumption. It has already been implemented in several
Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Cambodia and Mongolia and is soon going to be
implemented in Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Several events like the “Run
for Save Food Marathon” and the “Public Launch of the Save Food Campaign” have already
been successful in generating awareness to the masses about food losses and food wastage in

33. 33
Thailand. The Campaign instantly connects the masses to the issue and they become aware of
the situation around them – thus, making the consumers careful about when, where and how
to use food. Thus, to noticeably bring change, the Government of India should collaborate
with FAO and launch the Save Food Campaign in India to help reduce the post-harvest losses
and food waste.
I feel that it is very important for consumers to connect to a problem in order to bring
a change. Change will only take place once the consumers and the general masses realize how
important of an issue this is. Being a media student in India, I have learnt the fact that the
youth of the country plays a very important role. The youth is the future and thus, their
decisions and arguments are something that needs to be looked at. Undoubtedly, the
Government of India (GOI) has brought in a lot of advancements in reducing post-harvest
losses, but the general masses still stay clueless about these progressions. The Save Food Asia
Pacific Campaign should be implemented in India, and it should be run by the youth itself.
The youth will do justice in running this campaign because every household has a
son/daughter, who can inform and educate their older generation about the current mishaps.
Another reason for the youth to be responsible for the Campaign would be because they
would be flexible to the changes happening in India. The youth of India has a strong voice in
shaping the future of the country, and their involvement is what should be the strategic plan of
the GOI. Students from media and communication colleges, science Institutes and many more
universities should come together to voice out the problems – only for it to be heard. They
should also work in collaboration with several other international organizations such as
Action Against Hunger and The Community for Zero Hunger, which deal with food
insecurity.
A very good example I can give is from the “Food is Life…Save Food” video
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpNGY5mKV0U). Just interviewing and questioning
the general audiences brings in a lot of curiosity inside them, and that acts like a catalyst in
bringing change. They were clueless at first, but once they get informed, the general masses
feel responsible for these damages and would definitely take up actions to resolve these losses.
That is what the power of communication is – to influence and bring a change in the opinion
of the public. If these kinds of videos are made in India, change is inevitable.

34. 34
CONCLUSION
The Indian consumers’ buying behaviour and attitude has changed drastically, as
compared to the recent past. With the introduction of many supermarkets and the changing
economic situation of India, it is not only the socialites who are spending but the Indian
middle class is getting exposed to a variety of packaged products. However, the Indian mind-
set still believes and strongly holds onto the fact that fresh vegetables and fruits should and
must only be purchased from traditional markets. The traditional market is one such place
where buyers and sellers not only meet to exchange money for vegetables, but also to
socialize and build relationships. Consumers bond with the sellers and this entire system
proves to be beneficial for the society as a whole. The traditional markets are an integral part
of the society which fulfils the needs and wants of the Indian middle class, who happen to
constitute about 90 percent of the total population. However, the traditional food supply chain
faces a lot of post-harvest losses mainly because of the lack of quality planting material, low
educational level with poor technical training, less technologies, poor packaging and loading.
The modern food supply chain, however, faces little post-harvest losses as they are well
equipped with the post-harvest technologies.
With so much dependency on the traditional markets, it makes it important for the
Government of India to prioritize the reduction of post-harvest losses that takes place in the
food supply chain. The government has realized that storage of fruits and vegetables is a big
problem in the country and has, thus, found alternatives to reduce post-harvest losses. The
introduction of Zero Energy Cool Chamber, solar refrigerators and Commercialized Coolers
has proven to be effective and efficient. These innovations have definitely helped the country
reduce post-harvest losses in the rural areas of the country and are also cost-effective, which
implies that it could be used by all.
However, in my opinion, the Government of India has is yet to understand that the
only way to actually reduce post-harvest losses is to bring the issue in front of the consumers.
India has the second largest population in the world, and the Government should take
advantage of these numbers and educate the general public about food loss and waste. Once
the consumers get to know about post-harvest losses, they will not only decide to take some
action but also talk to the farmers and get to know their side of the story. After all, their high
dependency on traditional markets would urge them to take some actions. These actions could

35. 35
be as simple as just educating the farmers on how to package food properly and transporting it
in the right method. These small yet powerful advices can bring an immense change to India.

36. 36
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