The first Plant-Based Foods Summit will be held on May 26 in New Delhi by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI), the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), and the Plant-Based Foods Industry Association (PBFIA). According to a PBFIA statement, the summit's organizing partner is the Good Food Institute India.
The summit aims to bring together the entire plant-based foods industry and key stakeholders such as government officials, the scientific community, related food industry, institutes, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on a common platform to discuss the sector's opportunities and challenges.
Over 100 scientists and entrepreneurs are expected to attend the event, where Food Processing Industries Minister Prahlad Singh Patel will unveil a report on the sector titled "The Dawn of a Plant-based Age: India to Lead the Way to World Food Security and Nutrition."
According to Sanjay Sethi, Executive Director of the Plant-Based Foods Industry Association, the Plant-Based Foods Industry Association's goal is to meet India's protein requirements by developing a reliable system for plant-based food businesses.
The association will provide expert advice, infrastructure, and guidance from food scientists to help build and support such initiatives.
This is a one-of-a-kind event in many ways:
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Inviting food scientists to collaborate with young startups,
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Collaboration with the Plant-Based Foods Association of the USA, whose CEO Rachel Dreskin and Chairperson of the Board Nicole Sopko will also be present at the summit
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Plant-based foods startups coming forward to communicate through product tastings.
"The Indian diet is carb-heavy, which means our protein intake is drastically low," said Sanjay Sethi, Executive Director of the PBFIA. Our country, on the other hand, has enormous geographical and agricultural capacity to produce plant-based protein. The goal of the Plant-Based Foods Industry Association is to meet India's protein needs by developing a dependable system for plant-based food businesses.
“With expert support, infrastructure, and guidance from food scientists, the association will help build and support such initiatives. The Plant-Based Food Industry Alliance (PBFIA) ushers in a new era of health, sustainability, and prosperity for farmers and plant-based food businesses,” he added.