Mumbai: Over a thousand delegates from around the world will take part in the first ever food exhibition in the country, which opens here on Tuesday.

Executives and experts in food supplies and support system from various countries will discuss the future development of food and beverages, both in the national as well as the international market, and also the ways to make India a food rich country.

The two-day expo - Food Forum India (FFI) - will begin on Tuesday at the Renaissance Convention Centre, north central Mumbai. It will include leadership sessions and provide opportunities for branding and retailing into the best of food retail spaces across India.

According to chief convenor of FFI, Amitabh Taneja, the modern retail sector in India would require fresh and processed food and farm produce worth an estimated Rs.1.2 trillion ($30 billion) by the year 2010.

"It will be vital to invest in food processing, supply chain and logistics with strong networking of cold storage, warehousing, transport and most of all price balancing mechanism," he said.

Taneja said issues like innovation in production and processes, reduction in wastages, value and quality addition, employment generation, remunerative income for farmers and market expansion strategies are some of the core issues that will be discussed at the forum.

Minister of Food Processing Industries Subodh Kant Sahai will chair the FFI. It will be addressed by key dignitaries like Gareth Ackerman, Chairman of Pick 'n Pay Holdings Ltd, GlobalGAP managing director Kristian Moeller, Germany-based Real-Hypermarket Chain of Metro's former chief operating officer Michael Kliger and Ashok Gulati, director Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute.

Source : IANS