SATS sets up its largest facility outside Singapore in Bengaluru

SATS Food Solutions India (SFSI), a subsidiary of Singapore-based SATS Ltd., has set up its largest facility outside Singapore, in Bengaluru. Located near Kempegowda International Airport in the city, this first-of-its-kind central kitchen facility in India and the largest in the SATS network of kitchens is spread across a 221,000 sqft area.

The facility can supply up to 40,000 kg of ready-to-eat food products per day to institutional catering, private labelling, and commercial clients, including large-scale food retailers, restaurants, cloud kitchens, cafes, and lounges in India, and international markets. It is a frozen food manufacturing facility that has been funded with an investment of SG $61 million.

“Our food production capacity in Asia, including the new SFSI facility, will enable us to serve up to 7,50,000 meals per day, powering the ready-to-eat food era for the SATS network of customers in Asia and beyond, enabling our purpose to feed and connect communities. The SFSI team 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,” Stanley Goh, CEO of SATS Food Solutions, said.

Food delivery platform Swiggy is one of the first brands to join the SATS customer network. This central kitchen facility in Bengaluru will use automation and smart technology to produce food products. The central India kitchen is also expected to incorporate product and packaging capabilities as part of the SATS’ global network of Experience and Innovation Centres.

“We have attained the India quality licence, FSSAI. International certifications like FDA, CFIA,FSSC22000 Food Safety Management system (FSMS) and Medina are now being completed to ensure consistency with our other kitchens. We also use technologies such as the Internet-of-things (IoT) to enable our teams enhance and monitor kitchen efficiencies,” remarked Sagar Dighe, director and CEO, SATS Food Solutions India.

Technologies such as Internet-of-things (IoT) sensors and sensor-based lighting systems have been installed in the facility to monitor and conserve energy usage in real-time. These 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. To illustrate, IoT allows 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. Using IoT sensors, the temperature at which raw protein and cooked food are stored ensures food safety, high-quality, taste and texture.

The food facility also uses technology to predict risks, improve traceability and transparency of key product components, and increase data reliability. For example, by creating a digital record of a food product’s journey from farm to table, the kitchen will be able to trace important information such as ingredient sources, harvest dates, transportation methods, and storage conditions, ensuring food security. The facility has also implemented stringent safety guidelines, such as separating areas into zones and employing color-coded floors to ensure that supplies and food production are managed correctly.

Based on SATS’ research, value sales of ready-to-eat (RTE) meals in India will grow at a rate of 45 per cent between 2021 and 2026, with a projected total of US$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. According to the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) in India, 34 percent of the Indian population, driven by young consumers and millennials, will consume more RTE meals by 2028. According to the same report, the global demand for Indian RTE food products is also outpacing the domestic demand.