SATS Food Solutions India (SFSI), a subsidiary of SATS Ltd., that offers food and airport gateway services across Asia, has opened its largest kitchen outside Singapore, in Bengaluru.
The company has invested ₹360 crore to set up this frozen food manufacturing facility, said the company on Friday.
The eco-friendly kitchen, spread across a 2,21,000 sq. ft area near Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), can dish out 40,000 kg of ready-to-eat food items a day to institutions, commercial establishments, schools, hospitals, large food retailers, QSR formats, cloud kitchens, cafes, and lounges across India and global markets. The kitchen will also serve the culinary requirements of the SATS network in Singapore, it said.
Stanley Goh, CEO of SATS Food Solutions, said, ‘‘We will use SATS’ domain knowledge in culinary expertise, product design, food technology, quality large-scale production, and packaging innovation to develop, distribute and export the food products produced from the India central kitchen for India and international markets.’‘
With the new food production facility, the company now can serve up to 7,50,000 meals per day across the Asia region.
Sagar Dighe, Director and CEO, SATS Food Solutions India, said the company had deployed various technologies such as Internet-of-things (IoT) and sensor-based lighting systems for management to monitor and conserve energy usage in real-time. The IoT-powered sensors also monitor the facility’s ambient temperature, humidity, air quality and utilities in the facility such as cold stores and cooking stations, to ensure food integrity and safety. IoT would also allow pre-programmed cooking processes to be monitored via live dashboards, with alerts automatically triggered if cooking timings and temperature settings deviate from pre-set recipes, Mr. Dighe explained.
The food facility also uses technology to predict risks, improve traceability and transparency of key product components, and increase data reliability, he claimed.
According to research by SATS, value sales of ready-to-eat (RTE) meals in India will grow at a rate of 45% between 2021 and 2026, with a projected total of $64 billion. RTE meals include all convenience food products that are pre-cooked and packaged in ready-to-eat formats, without prior processing or cooking. Some 34% of the Indian population, driven by young consumers and millennials, will consume more RTE meals by 2028, also the global demand for Indian RTE food products is outpacing the domestic demand, as per the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
