Tag: Bikano

News

Bikano donates Rs 22 lakh in PM Cares Fund to serve nation during COVID second wave

May 27, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Bikano, #Director, #Mr. Manish Aggarwal

New Delhi: With the devastating second Covid wave testing the country’s healthcare to its limits, Bikano, India’s foremost snacks brand has pitched in with its contribution to the ongoing battle against the pandemic.Displaying its public spiritedness and devotion to a higher cause,the company has recently donated Rs 22 lakh for Prime Minister Cares Fund.

“The first wave of Covid was challenging enough. Now the second wave with all its ferocity has come upon us most unexpectedly impacting us Indianslike never before. And Bikano has always stood for what counts for the greater good.As a company with a conscience, we aim at not only winning the hearts and minds of our patrons and food lovers; we are sincerely looking forward to giving back to the wider society where we belong to. And what better than pitching in for a cause which has affected nearly every one of us in some ways or the other,” said Mr. Manish Aggarwal, Director, Bikano.

“Even as the authorities are doing everything in their power to stem the tide of destruction and death unleashed by the second wave, like everyone else, the Bikano family too has been jolted. We all remember that PM Cares Fund had been set up with the purpose of fighting a public health emergency of this magnitude. And so when the government is doing so much to make things better in the face of such a formidable public health challenge, how could we stay behind and remain passive onlookers. It was our bounden duty to come forward and make our small contribution count,” further said Mr Aggarwal.

The company has remained relatively unscathed from the economic headwinds coming on account of Covid-19 even during the second wave. In fact, only recently, Bikano launched as many as seven products on a single day nationally which was soon followed by separate launches in cities in Punjab and northern Hindi speaking markets of UP and Uttarakhand,demonstrating its brand strength and performance.

 

Business World, News

From Traditional Spicy Mixture to Diet Mixture: Becoming a New Normal

Feb 16, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Bikano, #Director, #Mr. Manish Aggarwal

-Mr Manish Aggarwal, Director, Bikano

The widely popular and ready-to-eat traditional spicy mixture has been a staple snack item for millions for decades now. The relatively low pricing, the taste quotient and the sheer convenience of consumption that it affords has always been an attraction for food and snack lovers. Moreover, its ubiquitous presence across all retail formats spanning from local kirana stores to huge departmental stores including online channels has made sure that the supplies have never fallen short and always kept pace with demand. However, the advent of diet mixture as another immensely popular snack item in recent years has come to present an alternative to traditional spicy mixture for patrons. This snacking journey from traditional spicy mixture to diet mixture can also said to be symbolizing a new normal for our food and snacking culture. As a matter of fact, the emergence of diet mixture as a favoured snack represents an innovation on the part of our traditional snack-making culinary experts as well as an improvement and upgrading in our food processing industry.

The sheer variety of ingredients that make up diet mixture

So, what is so special about diet mixture that it has increasingly gained such traction and appeal among patrons? Perhaps the best and the biggest proposition that diet mixture offers to people is the sheer variety of foods, flavours and tastes that come in a single package of diet mixture. Aptly named diet mixture, it is typically made of an assortment of items ranging from flaked rice or poha to corn flakes to vegetable oil, and ricebran oil to husked Bengal gram besides several mixed spices such as mango powder and cumin powder etc.[1]

Diet mixture: a low calorie low fat option

The epithet diet in the diet mixture has been introduced with a view to communicate and deliver a health-driven messaging to food lovers. And now most brands and snack companies boast of this snack offering in their product portfolio. As the name suggests, this snack product is a low calorie low fat diet food containing ingredients aimed at striking a balance between the pleasures of the palate and the over-all calorie and fat maintenance needs of the body. Besides, this large array of ingredients coming in a single packet of diet mixture naturally offers the health benefits of several food items in one place. For instance, while poha is rich in fibre, healthy carbs and iron besides being a good probiotic,[2] cornflakes are rich in vitamins, minerals, fibres and particularly folic acid, which is critical to production of new blood cells. Similarly, rice bran oil has its own benefits.

Offers an altogether different taste

Although taste is a highly subjective attribute and can differ from person to person, unlike traditional spicy mixture’s typical and widely standardized salty/spicy taste, diet mixture offers a different taste altogether. It is right blend of salty, spicy, tangy, piquant and much more – all rolled into one. At the same time, it is low-fat, light-to-eat and a fresh snack item. Also, similar to traditional spicy mixture, diet mixture can also be combined with several commonly available beverages in our homes and markets.

Popular among all age groups

Just as traditional spicy mixture is popular among all age groups including the middle-aged and the elderly, diet mixture has also found appeal and acceptance by all. The alluring sight of this snack is so tempting that whether it is the young or the old, everyone would readily munch it whenever and wherever it would be made available to them.

Taking care of hygiene & safety: diet mixture comes in a package

Diet mixture by and large comes in a sealed package and is put on the market by established brands in organised industry. As such, the hygiene and food safety aspects particularly amplified by recent Covid-19 are duly covered by this snack item. With more and more people confined indoors and remote work increasingly becoming a norm, this easy-to-handle and convenient packaged snack item has been a life-saver of sorts for many pressed for time as well as short on kitchen supplies. By most accounts, packaged snacks and ready-to-eat food segments have seen more than usual traction during the recent pandemic-driven lifestyle adjustment months. Diet mixture has been a part of that emerging snacking story.

Therefore, the journey from the traditional spicy mixture to more contemporary diet mixture for snack-loving patrons reflects the maturity and growing sophistication of patrons and snack makers alike in the country. It also illustrates the evolution of our food processing industry. It is appropriate to mention here that not all processing methods are unhealthy. And by implication, not all processed foods are ‘absolutely unhealthy,’ as is generally believed. Regardless, it must be remembered that this new normal represents just a journey and the journey continues.

Business World

Union Budget Reaction: Mr. Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, MD, Bikano

Feb 3, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Bikano, #Managing Director, #Mr. Shyam Sunder Aggarwal

“First of all, the government must be congratulated for a comprehensive well-considered budget in what was an extremely taxing economic backdrop thanks to the Covid-19 battle. Now that lives have been saved and we are to feel even safer in the coming month’s thanks to the largest Covid vaccination programme in the world which is underway – the government has to think of livelihoods. And in that respect, taking the right policy measures in the budget 2021 for urban infrastructure, transport, textile, fisheries and encouragement of startups, along with disinvestment and Atma nirbhar Bharat programme and production-linked incentive’s (PLI) with a special focus on 13 sectors would generate sufficient and sustainable employment. Only this would lead to stable incomes and higher purchasing power which would, in turn, generate demand for FMCG and food products and services. Furthermore, the allocation of substantive funds for roads, highways and railways will improve the distribution network and efficiencies of food products and services leading to even higher demand and consumption thereby giving a huge fillip to the latter”, said Mr. Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, Managing Director, Bikano.

 

Business Profile of Mr. Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, Managing Director, Bikano

Mr Shyam Sundar Agarwal, the Managing Director of Bikanervala, is a second-generation entrepreneur who carries forward his father’s legacy with a thumping success. He belongs to the Lalji family from Bikaner city in Rajasthan, famous for its namkeen shop, which later gave way to the ‘Bikanervala’ brand. In 1950, Mr Shyam’s father and uncle moved to Delhi in the wake of expanding their traditional business. They started a shop with the name of Bikaner Bhujia Bhandar in the Paranthe Wali Gali of Delhi’s Chandni Chowk area. In 1965, at the age of 16, he also joined his father’s shop and learned the art of making sweets. Since then, there was no looking back.

Keeping abreast of the latest trends in the field of sweets and namkeen items, Mr Shyam Sundar Agarwal launched Bikano in 1988 to sell the products in air-tight packaging. In 2003, he came up with quick-service restaurants with the name of Bikano Chat Cafes, to serve fast food with minimal table service. Having served the group for more than 55 years now, he has created new benchmarks for Quality, R&D and Innovative Processes that have fetched thriving results for Bikanervala.

Together with his son and the Group’s Director, Mr Manish Aggarwal, he has taken the group to so far untouched heights. As a token of acknowledgement for his selfless contribution to the Nation, Mr Shyam Sundar Agarwal also received the Lifetime Achievement Award, by Ram Nath Kovind, President of India at Platinum Jubilee Conference of All India Food Processors Association in 2018.

Business World

Packaged sweets is revolutionizing packaged food industry

Jan 25, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Bikano, #Director, #Mr. Manish Aggarwal

By Mr. Manish Aggarwal, Director, Bikano

Bikano, Bikanervala Foods Pvt ltdWith packaged food industry as a whole evolving and maturing in the country in recent years, packaged sweets have come to register as an integral part of that process. In fact, the traditional popularity of sweets coupled with an increased consumer consciousness of hygiene and cleanliness has made sure that packaged sweets have acquired extraordinary traction. The popularity of sweets offered in a hygienic package itself in a way is giving a fillip to the packaged food industry in the country. In other words, packaged sweets is revolutionizing the packaged food industry. With authorities increasingly clamping down and tightening norms around food labeling and general safety and hygiene, this is further serving the cause of packaged food industry.

The emerging packaged food landscape

Even before Covid-19 had ‘bared its fangs,’ the Indian packaged food sector had been on a positive trajectory. For instance, last year it was reported how packaged food industry had recorded an impressive over 14% growth for April to August period. However, what is particularly notable is that this growth had occurred despite the wider consumption slowdown. In more recent times, while western snacks have been a high growth category, RTE as emerged as a high potential category. In terms of sales, tier 1 and metro markets have been the best performers with rural and rest of urban areas contributing almost similarly. Therefore, with a permanently large middle class with increasingly hectic schedules and busy lifestyles, the room for ready-to-serve packaged food can never be enough for the Indian market and there will always be room for growth.

The sheer range of sweets available is a hugely motivating factor

Representing both traditional and the modern, the Indian sweet market is characterized by an extraordinary array of offerings. From traditional milk-based sweets and open mithais offered by unorganised and traditional sweet shops to sweets and confectionery products prepared by organised bakeries, to specialized milk-based products by dairy establishments to luxury mithai brands promoted by a new-age confectioners to organic sweets by modern food brands, the range of sweets products available in the country is simply mindboggling. Growing at a CAGR of over 12% for almost a decade, the confectionery market alone is estimated at $1.5 billion. Another research estimates that confectionery and snack market is to grow by over 10% between 2020 and 2025. This huge array of items would definitely give a massive stimulus to the packaged food as well as the packaging industry in the country.

The growing packaging industry itself

At the same time, with increasing investment in food processing industries, rapid expansion of organized retail and rising exports market, the packaging industry itself has seen considerable gain. The need for improvement in shelf life, maintenance of the pace of production while upholding quality necessarily requires high standardized and quality packaging. With improvement in packaging methods and technologies such as the emergence of eco-friendly packaging such as biodegradable technologies, nanofabrication technologies and the shift from rigid to flexible packaging, the packaging industry is undergoing considerable upgrading and change. It has been forecast that the Indian food and beverage packaging market is set to cross USD 122 billion by 2025 from about USD 26 billion in 2019 at a CAGR of nearly 30%.

Government tightening norms

With food regulatory authorities increasingly raising the bar for quality and hygiene for sweet products and even snack category, the packaged food industry would receive further boost. Only in February this year it was reported how local sweet shops had to mandatorily display ‘best before date’ and the date of manufacturing on non-packaged and loose sweets kept in a container or tray, a more stringent norm than the then existing labeling rules which required these details for pre-packaged/pre-packed sweets only. Such measures could only add to the push for packaged food industry. Significantly, prompted by sustainable environmental concerns, the government is also adopting polices to promote recyclable technologies for packaging.

Therefore, as Covid-19 has precipitated an all-out migration to packaged food away from open, loose and perceivably unhygienic food and snack culture, packaged sweets and confectionery category would impart the strongest push to the packaged food industry. Despite the recent societal and consumerist drive for healthy and nutritional snacking, the sweets and mithais would continue to form an indispensable part of the country’s food culture which in turn would give a sustained thrust to the packaged food industry. Given that small packs of Rs 5/10 contribute to 70-80% of the sales in snacks category, this is encouraging. After all, guilty pleasures can be derived from small packs, since once can never really wish them away.