On 23 November 2023, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) held the 5th CII-FACE Food Safety & Quality Kaizen Seminar in New Delhi, supported by Foundation FSSC.
The annual Seminar and Competition is an endeavor by CII to make the Indian agri-food sector globally competitive by enhancing its products’ quality and food safety by promoting and sharing best-in-class practices. The program offered a unique platform to showcase continuous improvement, highlight best practices, and encourage cross-learning in the Indian food sector.
Across the nation, 28 industries representing Small & Micro, Medium, and Large categories were shortlisted for participation in the competition after a pre-jury round held on 8-9 November 2023.
The shortlisted participants presented their methodology, analysis, and solutions for specific problems to an eminent panel of experts. Following the presentations was a brief deliberation on creativity, thoroughness, standardization, replicability, and horizontal deployment by a distinguished jury panel comprising Dr. Ramanand N Shukla, Senior Director, Quality Council of India, Dr. Prabhat K Nema – Dept of Food Engg & Dean, NIFTEM, Kundli, and Ms Smita Murthy, India Representative for FSSC.
The expert panel lauded the efforts of the industries. It was emphasized that there was an ongoing need to implement innovative ideas and methodologies to solve problems for enhanced quality with employee involvement.
This year’s Seminar and Competition concluded with an enthusiastic commitment from the industries for their active participation in the 2024 Food Safety & Quality Kaizen Competition.
In the final round, the jury selected 11 industries based on their overall performance for the following awards:
Gold Winners:
- Small & Micro Category – Jubilant Foods-Mumbai,
- Medium Category: Bisleri International Pvt Ltd-Mumbai,
- Large Category: United Spirits Ltd-Nashik.
Silver Winners:
- Small & Micro Category: Narayana Processed Foods Pvt Ltd, Nagpur
- Medium Category: Kerry Ingredients India Pvt Ltd-Bawal and Tata Consumer Soulful Pvt Ltd-Bengaluru.
- Large Category: Hindustan Unilever Ltd-Sonepat, Pernord Ricard India-Nashik, Asandas & Sons Pvt Ltd-Ahmedabad.
Bronze trophies and Certificates of Appreciation were also awarded to Large, Medium, Micro & Small Industries.
About CII-FACE
CII’s Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE) is charged with the mission to improve the competitiveness of India’s agriculture and food processing sector by catalyzing innovation, building capacity, enhancing productivity, and establishing supply chain linkages across the agriculture and food value chain, ensuring food security and inclusive growth.
Over the last 10 years, FACE has worked closely with farmers, the private sector, developmental institutions, and the Government towards building efficiencies across the supply chain, right from the farm gate to the end consumer. With a team of 30 domain experts, FACE has established itself as a credible knowledge resource in the agriculture and food domains.
