Eurofins eyes emerging market expansion with new Indian food testing lab
The facility, based in Bangalore, is an extension to the existing genomic testing site and will serve to strengthen its position in a key emerging market, Florian Heupel, group marketing director, told FoodProductionDaily.com.
“We believe growth potential for food safety, food quality and food authentication services in India and China is huge as expectations rise in line with wealth – both from industry and consumers,” he added. “A number of our existing Indian clients that operate in Europe expressed a desire for such a facility in India – and we responded to this.”
The laboratory specialises in a raft of analytical services relating to food safety and composition testing – such as microbiology, mycotoxins, vitamins, heavy metals, minerals, and proximate analysis. The company also unveiled plans to increase the service portfolio further in future to analysis of fatty acids and sugar profiles, as well as the detection of pesticides and antibiotic residues.
Safety, quality and authentication
“It’s not just about food safety but also food quality and testing the authenticity of products”, said the marketing director. “Many of the requests we receive relate to verification of basmati rice because people want to be sure that the product is authentic - especially if they are paying a premium for it.”
A local presence, fast turnaround leading to time savings in logistics and the ability to pay in local currency, were all benefits India-based clients would gain from the new facility, said Eurofins.
The company expects most demand for the lab’s services will initially come from companies exporting products from India into the European Union. But Heupel forecasted that rising domestic standards in the Indian food sector would likely fuel internal demand for the types of analysis its experts could provide. The Indian Government has made expansion of the domestic food processing sector one of its major economic priorities.
“The market for food testing in India is set to grow at a rapid pace due to a new food law, requirements for nutritional labelling and growing exports of agricultural commodities and food products,” said Dr Gilles M. Martin, CEO Eurofins Group. “This new laboratory is another sign of Eurofins’ commitment to provide testing at the highest technical standards in an increasing number of countries around the world.”
The latest expansion is part of an overall company strategy to expand into emerging markets in Asia and Latin America. The company has recently opened three Chinese facilities - two in Shanghai and a laboratory in Shenzhen.
