Vermicelli, commonly known as "SAVAT" in India, is such an ancient symbol of festival. The vermicelli is in use since the early period of Indian civilization. Vermicelli nowadays is used by all community irrespective of their caste, religion and country. It is generally prepared at the occasion of Rakshabandhan or Rakhee by Hindus, by Muslim at Id, by Christians at the occasion of Good Friday and X-mass day. In India, vermicelli is made from plain wheat flour or maida but in most of the western countries, different formulations have seen used to make vermicelli or the like products. All raw materials, plant, and machineries are available indigenously and can be started on fairly cottage small scale. This industry gives a good amount of return and therefore is useful for all those new entrepreneurs who have little sum to invest. Noodles are a very important part of Indian and worldwide cooking. They are a staple ingredient in many recipes and a lot of signature dishes involve noodles. A noodle is a type of food with a thin and elongated shape made from unleavened dough that is cooked in a boiling liquid. There is a great variety of noodles, which vary according to their region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation. Depending upon the type, noodles may be dried or refrigerated before cooking. Noodles are eaten hot or cold, steamed, stir-fried, deep-fried, boiled, or served in a soup. For the nutritionally-inclined noodles are excellent sources of protein. Besides being low in calories, they are extremely high in complex carbohydrates. Instant noodles are dried or precooked noodles fused with oil, and often sold with or without a packet of flavoring. Dried noodles are usually eaten after being cooked or soaked in boiling water for 2 to 5 minutes, while precooked noodles can be reheated, or eaten straight from the packet. Tooti fruity is an Italian confection made with sliced fruit which has been candied or dried to preserve it. The fruit in tooti fruity is often brightly colored with various dyes to make it more attractive and it may be used in a variety of ways. The term “tooti fruity†generally means “all fruitâ€. Any fruit can be included in a tooti fruity mix if it can be dried well. Some common fruits include papaya, pineapple, mango, apricot, and grapefruit etc and many others can also be used, and sometimes nuts can also be included. It is used as an additive in ice-cream and some sweets but its major consumption is in paan masala and some fresheners or "Mukhwas". This product can be manufactured across the country but unfortunately there are very few producers and demand is increasing. Extruders are now used in a variety of applications, such as the manufacture of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, pasta, noodles, meat analogues (nougats), filled snack products and pet food. It is also used in mechanical de-boning of meat and hops processing. Extruded products can be broadly categorized into products for human consumption, products for animal consumption, and biodegradable, non-consumable material. The instant noodle market estimated to be valued at Rs 5.5 billion and growing at 15%, has some major players, such as Nestle, Indo Nissan Foods, and International Best foods. The size of the packaged food market in India is estimated at US $10 billion and is expected to reach US $20 billion by 2014, while the share of packaged food in the food and grocery market is expected to touch 5 per cent by the same time. The overall size of the snack food market is estimated at Rs 45 to Rs 50 bn. The market is reported to be growing at 7 to 8% annually. The organized snacks category is sub-divided into the traditional segment (bhujia, chanachur and the like), Western segment (potato chips, cheese balls etc.) and the newly established finger snacks segment, which is an adaptation of traditional offerings in the western format. In the Rs 19 billion branded (organized) snacks market, constituting over 40% of the market by value, Frito-Lay is estimated to command a market share of 45%, followed by Haldiram at 27% and ITC at 16%. The branded snacks market accounted for 16% by value and 12% by volume sales in 2007. According to a projection by Euromonitor International, the branded snacks market is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 14% and would reach a value of Rs 35 billion by 2012. The demand for extruded food is ever increasing. There is good scope for new entrepreneurs. Few Indian Major Players are as under: Glaxosmithkline Consumer Healthcare Ltd. Indo Nissin Foods Ltd. M T R Foods Pvt. Ltd. Nestle India Ltd. Om Oil & Flour Mills Ltd. Surya Agroils Ltd. Capacity Vermicelli 11250000/Annum (Each Pouches 200 gms) Noodles 3000000/Annum (Each Pouches 500 gms) Tooti Fruity 7500000/Annum (Each Pouches 100 gms)
