Distribution Quality and Food Safety Management (DQFSM): A critical part of Bakery products value chain

The Indian bakery industry has touched a market size of around 11.5 Bn USD in 2023 and, with almost double-digit growth, it is expected to touch USD 28-29 Bn USD by 2032.

- Anurag Mishra

The rising demand for ready-to-eat (RTE) bakery products, on account of hectic lifestyles and changing dietary patterns of individuals, is primarily driving the India bakery market. Additionally, the increasing consumption of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), including bread and biscuits, is also propelling the market growth. Moreover, the growing presence of bakery items across the e-commerce sector that offers doorstep delivery, exciting offers, wide range of options, and online payment methods is acting as a significant growth-inducing factor. Besides this, the widespread adoption of clean-label, organic, and fortified bakery goods is further augmenting the Indian market.

Around 20% of products in the entire bakery category are wasted and this number touches around 40% for some of the products. Poor quality and compromised product safety is one of the major reasons of these wastages. In developed countries, some parts of these damages are reworked but in countries like India, these damages are not utilized.

With increasing number of units and varieties of bakery products, what stands out is ‘Quality and Safety’ of the product and due to competition, consumer awareness and regulations, most of the companies are maintaining Quality & Food safety while manufacturing. However, it’s equally important to maintain the quality while distribution and storage till the product reaches the consumer so that consumers can enjoy the signature taste and quality which was maintained during the manufacturing. It’s all about caring for your stock during distribution and storing in warehouse, distributor’s place.

Other than wastages, food safety incidences are one of the most serious concerns which may be the result of poor storage and distribution. Everyday we find news regarding food safety incidences resulted from storage and distribution issues like temperature variation, Pest infestation, Allergen Mix-ups and Cross contamination.