As far as food production is concerned, India holds second position next to China and this is one of the largest industries in India in terms of expected growth, export, consumption and production.  This industry offers important synergies and linkages between agriculture and industry.

Initially, this sector was confined to transportation and packaging and food preservation, which includes pickling, drying, curdling, salting, etc… However, over the years with emerging technologies and new markets, the scope of this sector has widened considerably. The list of top players in the food processing sector in India is given below:

Top eight food processing companies in India:

• ITC Limited

• Parle Products Private Limited

• Agro Tech Foods

• Amul

• Perfetti VanMelle

• Cadbury India Limited

• Pepsico India Holdings

• Nestle India Private Limited

Some of the details regarding these top players in the food processing industry in India are given below:

ITC Limited:

ITC is a popular company in the field of agriculture and food production and they made their entry into the branded and packaged foods business in the year 2001 with the launch of their new brand name Kitchens of India. Their entry has been broadened in the year 2002 when they launched their food products in the snack food, staples and confectionery segments.

Parle Products Private Limited:

Parle Products has been in the food processing industry for more than 80 years now and they are popular in the field of manufacture of confectionery and biscuits. Their brand name Parle symbolizes great taste, nutrition and quality. They are manufacturers of snacks, sweets and biscuits in some of the popular brand names.

Agro Tech Foods:

Agro Tech Foods Limited shortly called as ATFL is a public limited company, which is engaged in the marketing of food ingredients and food items to institutional customers and consumers. Some of the popular brand name of products dealt by them in the food processing industry are Crystal, Healthy World, Sundrop Peanut Butter, Sundrop Snack Break, ACT II and Sundrop.

Amul:

Amul products are being used by households in India right from the year 1946 and some of the popular products are Amulya, Amul Milk, Nutramul, Amul Ice Cream, Amul Shirkhand, Amul Chocolates, Amul Cheese, Amulspray, Amul Ghee, Amul Milk Power and Amul Butter. They are leaders in the dairy product production in the food processing industry in India.

Perfetti VanMelle:

Perfetti VanMelle is the manufacturer of some of the popular brands like Mentos, Happydent, Chocoliebe, Chlormit, Center Fresh, Big Babol and Alpenliebe in the Indian food processing industry. They are operating from their corporation office in the city of Gurgaon and sales offices at Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore.

Cadbury India Limited:

Cadbury India Limited is operating in five different categories in the food processing industry namely candy, gum, biscuits, beverages and confectionery. As far as their chocolate production is concerned, they are the undisputed all-time favorite among children and some of their key brands include Oreo, Tang, Eclairs, Halls, Celebrations, Bournville, Perk, 5 star and Cadbury dairy milk.

Pepsico India Holdings:

Pepsico came into existence in India in the year 1989 and they hold the fourth position in the largest consumer product manufacturers in India. They are the owners of three state-of-the-art food plants in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Punjab. They are the proud manufacturers of some of the popular brand in food section namely Aliva, Uncle Chipps, Quaker Oats, Lehar Namkeen, Lay’s, Kurkure and Cheetos.

Nestle India Private Limited:

In the food processing industry, Nestle India Private Limited are engaged in the manufacture of food items in different categories like chocolates & confectionery, beverages, prepared dishes & cooking aids and milk products & nutritional products.

These companies offer their great share to the development of the income of the country and they are also acting as manufacturers of one of the basic human requirements being food items.