the Indian food market is poised to almost double its size between 2014 and 2020. The report say the market will grow to Rs 42 lakh crore in 2020 rising from Rs 23 lakh crore in 2014.
By Sreejith Kamalanayanan
Is it viable to venture into the Indian food market? What are the growth prospects? What led me to ponder over these questions is an announcement made by Andrew Robb, Australia's minister for trade and investment.
Robb visited India this month leading a delegation from Australia. Robb said he hopes to “strengthen and explore" business opportunities in India for Australian food makers. This prompted me to do some research on the profitability of premium food sales in India and I got some amazing results.
The Indian consumers over the years have developed a love for the premium segment of the food market. The increasing number of super markets is a proof for this evolution in tastes.
There are a couple of factors that helped accelerate this evolution. The drastic growth in urbanisation has had its effects on this changing habits. With urbanisation came higher disposable incomes and the women began to go out for work breaking away from the four walls of the house hold.
These aforementioned factors resulted in an increase in consumption level of the Indian consumers. This rise in consumption level is likely to lead the Indian food market to the path of expansion.
Look at the report by Boston Consulting Group: they predict the market is poised to almost double its size between 2014 and 2020. The report say the market will grow to Rs 42 lakh crore in 2020 rising from Rs 23 lakh crore in 2014.
More interestingly, the premium segment is likely to emerge as the winner in this growth spree, thanks to the factors mentioned earlier in this article.
First US Bitcoin exchange
The year 2014 saw the virtual currency Bitcoin suffering due to various reasons. Some experts even termed it the worst-performing currency of 2014.
And now, in a new development, the United States has witnessed the birth of its first Bitcoin exchange. Coibase, the Bitcoin exchange, has the backing of many major financial players.
The startup raised $106 million for its operation. And the investments come from heavyweights like New York Stock Exchange, bank BBVA, venture capital firms Andreesen Howrowitz, DFJ Growth and USV, as well as financial services firm USAA.
This is an important development as many of the exchanges have taken a hit as their financial stability and security were in doubt.
The case of the big player Mt. Gox is an example. Millions of dollars of Bitcoins disappeared from the exchange forcing it to file for bankruptcy.
In the latest incident Bitstamp, Europe's biggest Bitcoin exchange, stopped its operations as it lost around 19,000 bitcoins, worth about $5.2 million after a hack attack.