Packaged Foods

Popularity of Traditional Indian Spicy Namkeens

Posted on by DFM Foods

Healthy Kids Snacks

In today’s times, snacks and namkeen products are not only popular in India, but have also become a huge business all around the world. In India, namkeens are a part of a daily life. It is the staple snack that people enjoy with tea, coffee or even with cold beverages. It is estimated that the namkeen market in India is worth about Rs. 25,000 crores. There are hundreds of different varieties of namkeens manufactured in the country with different taste, texture, shapes and ingredients. This lucrative market has led to the emergence of many namkeen manufacturing companies and their entrance into the already-existing competitive market. Some of the big players in the Indian namkeen industry include Haldirams, MKS Foods, DFM Foods, Lehar etc.

There are different kinds of categories of namkeens broadly based on the taste of consumers. Some are meant for youngsters and adults while others are made to appeal to the kids.

Namkeens popular among Youngsters

Moong Dal Namkeen: Moong dal namkeen is a hot favourite of teenagers. It is crunchy, tasty and healthy as well. Moong dal namkeen is also easy to make at home since it requires basic ingredients like moong dal, oil, red chilli powder, chat masala powder and salt.
Khatta Meetha Mixture: For those who do not have the taste for spicy food items, the Khatta Meetha mixture is the ideal snack. It has a sweet, sour and savoury taste. Made using poha (beaten rice), groundnuts, oil, turmeric powder, sugar, salt and raisins, it is one of the most popular namkeens in the market.
Aloo Bhujiya Namkeen: Aloo bhujia is a crispy, savoury snack that has the appearance of short noodles. It’s a delicious, healthy snack made from potatoes using besan flour, turmeric, red chilli powder, pepper, salt and chat masala.
Punjabi Tadka Namkeen: Punjabi tadka is a spicy, lip-smacking snack made with a perfect blend of different spices. Its main ingredients include potato, chick peas flour, edible oil, potato flakes, red chilli, salt, fennel seed powder, garlic powder and dried mango powder.

Namkeens popular among Children
CRAX Corn Rings: It is one of the most liked snacks among buyers, especially children. It is also a great snack for those who are health conscious because the snack is not fried but baked and made from fresh, healthy ingredients.
CRAX Natkhat: CRAX Natkhat is a light, crunchy snack, which is made from wheat puff. It is available in the market in the traditional masala (spicy) flavour. Because it is baked and not fried, it is considered a low-fat healthy snack that can be consumed with tea, juice or even eaten as a light meal.

To Know more about the variety of snacks and namkeens available visit:

The Evolution of the CRAX Brand
Most Indians love namkeens or a light snack with tea or other beverages. Now, in India, there are lots of grocery shops and stores which sell packed healthy snacks and namkeen products. The immense popularity of these packaged snacks had resulted in rapid growth of the snack manufacturing industry as well as rise in exports of Indian namkeens worldwide.

Best Practices to Manage Kids’ Snack Time

Posted on by DFM Foods

healthy snack foodsKids like munching almost all the time. The main reason for this is the high
energy requirement they have due to frequent playing and other activities.
Besides this reason, it is a lot like addiction as well. Even when kids are not
hungry, they like to eat junk food to beat anxiety that is common among
urban kids.

As parents, no matter how much you preach, it is not easy to change this habit
of demanding food at odd times or to yearn for snacks. While you cannot avoid
totally, you can certainly manage this issue of snacks in a better way.

Increase meal portions: One of the best ways to avoid kids consuming too much
junk food is to increase their meal quantum so that they have less desire for
in-between food. Moreover, there are certain food types that create a feeling of
‘fullness’ as compared to other foods. You may consider offering them more
portions of those specific food items so that their hunger is better satisfied.

Keep them diverted: Very often, snacking is a way to kill boredom and anxiety.
A busy kid may prefer to wait till meal time and not feel very keen for snacks in
between. On the other hand, a kid who is feeling anxious will like to eat at odd
times to kill that feeling.

Ensure quality snacks: You may minimize but you can never avoid kids from
eating snacks. In this position, the best you can do is to ensure that eat packaged
snacks that are offered by reputable brands. So even if they eat snacks, at least
you are assured of the basic quality, material and ingredients that your child is
consuming.

Focus on ingredients: If your kids have to consume snacks anyway, you can
act smart by using this as a means to ensure balanced diet in your kids. For
instance, if your child needs protein, you may opt for dry fruit based packaged
snacks. Similarly, you can fulfill the nutrient requirements of your child by opting
for specific healthy snacks that are food-based.

Managing the aspect of healthy snacking as a parent may be challenging, however,
it has its rewards. With the right kind of snack options, your child will feel fulfilled
and will also maintain a high energy level required for various activities.

The second best thing to home made snacks is healthy packaged snacks made by
reputable manufacturers. DFM Foods Ltd. is in the business of manufacturing, s
elling and marketing of packaged snack foods and has been a leader in the space
for over 25 years. The company’s flagship product CRAX has been popular among
kids for many decades now and continues be a hot favorite.

The way to snack in India!

Posted on by DFM Foods

The title may surprise you a bit but having lived all my life (as of now) in India, I strongly feel that the snacking habits of India are quite typical as compared to the rest of the world. If you take a stroll in a local Indian market, you will get a fair idea of what comprises a typical set of Indian snack meal.

Milk-based sweets: Most common is milk-based sweets. The combination of sugar and dairy is a genetically driven obsession for Indians, especially north-Indians. This is one of the reasons why Indians are extremely susceptible to diabetes. However this fact notwithstanding, majority of Indians cannot resist the sight of well made pretty looking sweet-dish. And the well known sweet shops of India are known to house dozens of varieties of these sweet snacks, mostly made using thickened milk and dry-fruit.

While these are usually heavy on sugar and oils, yet they do deliver a high dose of energy and fat that satisfies the hunger pang in a jiffy. Talking further about its good points, the dry fruit contained is also very good for children and youngsters. These sweet-dishes have recently become available in the form of packaged snacks allowing for them to be consumed across a period of 20-30 days.

Namkeen and Healthy Snack Foods

Namkeen: Another major snack obsession among Indians is ‘namkeen’ – a snack item made using refined flour and spices. This snack has been available in local shops since decades, however since recently, the same humble namkeen has become available in all its fancy variants in the form of smart packaging. Now people are able to purchase namkeen packs freely over the counter and stock them conveniently in their kitchen shelves.

Since the time namkeen has become available in the form of packaged snacks, many interesting things have happened:

  • Consumers are readily paying a much higher price for packaged namkeen due to the convenience factor.
  • The overall quality of namkeen is much better than the one available as loose variant.
  • Even MNCs like Pepsi have directly or through their subsidiaries become involved in the globally-lesser-known packaged namkeen market.

Apart from the interesting points that we discussed above, the fact remains that while culturally sweets and namkeen are highly preferred snacks in India, they are basically forms of junk food. They do satisfy hunger, but they do not provide any nutrients to the people who consume them.

The new generation of Indians is fortunately realizing the health issues that can occur with excessive consumption of sweets and namkeen snacks. As a results, they are preferring health snack options like dry fruits and sprouts.

Is Packaged Snack Food Eating Habit, Good for Your Kids ?

Posted on by DFM Foods

Gone are the days when kids used to pester their moms for making snacks during their hunger pangs. The trend of packaged snacks has caught on in such a powerful way that even moms hesitate to invest their time and effort. Kids too are so smart that they would themselves walk into the nearest store to buy the snacks of their choice. This habit has good points as well as some not-so-good ones.

Let’s look at the benefits first. Kids become independent as they can make their own choices of what they want to eat and when. So this helps a lot to busy professional moms who don’t always have the time to cook. Kids can themselves choose from the tremendous variety of packaged snacks available to cater to every age group, of course under adult supervision.

This demand for packaged snacks has caused a revolution in the packaged food industry leading to a spurt in the number of manufacturers. As a result, the market is today flooded with an enormous variety of packaged snacks including wafers, biscuits, cakes, dry fruits and many others. This huge variety provides benefit to the consumer by offering far wider choice.

packaged snack foods,packaged food industry in india, healthy snack foods, namkeen

Packaged food items have a good shelf life and can be easily stored for months together unless opened. This is a great benefit of convenience especially in homes where both parents are working. Sufficient stocks can be kept to last an entire month and kids can treat on them whenever required as per their taste and convenience.

However there is also a flipside to this trend of packaged snack foods for kids. First and foremost, this promotes a consumerist lifestyle wherein people spend exorbitant amounts just to feast on junk food. The over availability of packaged snacks has taken away the motivation in moms to cook healthy food at home. Kids are getting obese due to over indulgence. And they miss out on the nutrients that home cooked snacks can provide.

There is, however, a mid-way solution. If you are too busy to prepare snacks for your kid and are dependent on packaged snacks, make sure that you do the shopping yourself. This way you can ensure that the snacks you bring home are healthy snacks and you can also insist for the trusted brands. You can even opt for dry fruits, sprouts and dairy-based packaged snacks for the benefit of your kids.

Packaged Snack Food Industry, Healthy Snack Food, Namkeen

Healthy Snacking – Art of Staying Fit and Fine

Posted on by DFM Foods

We all feel hungry but we differ on how we satisfy our hunger pangs. In fact, hunger management is an art especially when we talk about the in-between times except main meals. We all have some plan for the main meals but we often get clueless during the random hunger times, like when we are at office.

It is due to this confusion that we often end up eating junk food not realizing that while the taste buds may enjoy, it is our stomach that bears the ultimate brunt. The essence of healthy eating is the wisdom that we should eat not just what appeals to our senses, but rather the food that provides benefit to our bodies.

Most of us all prefer packaged food for the sake of convenience and there is no harm is that too. However, it is important to be highly selective while going for a packaged snack. First and foremost is to be able to distinguish between junk and healthy snacks. With a bit of careful thought, you can transform your spare time snacking into healthy eating.

Each time, you opt for a packaged snack item, take a careful look at the ingredients. Try choosing snacks such as popcorn and cereal-based snacks as they not only provide you instant energy but also many essential nutrients. You may also opt for fresh fruits and sprouts as an amazingly healthy snack option.

Packaged Snack Food Industry, Healthy Snack Food, Namkeen

Some companies are today offering quantities of dry fruits packaged in small convenient packs. All you need to do is to keep sufficient stock and open a small pack of this awesomely nutritious snack and satisfy your hunger.

The packaged snack food industry has advanced so much in the past few decades that there is enormous variety of snack items available. You can make a choice on the basis of cost, ingredients and your specific needs. For example, if you are calorie-conscious, you may avoid dry fruits. If you have a deficiency of vitamins, you can prefer fruits. Sprouts are a wonderful option for individuals looking at higher protein levels.

It is all about conscious eating as opposed to mindless eating that leads to obesity and poor health. The key to healthy snacking is to be aware and have a planned approach towards eating. The best mindfully eating people that I know always have a next-day plan for healthy snacking.

Things about Packaged Foods which You Love Most

Posted on by DFM Foods

In the past couple of decades, the packaged food industry has grown by leaps and bounds. It is exciting to see the enormous variety of packaged food in the market, such as ‘namkeens’ and other snack foods.

What exactly has led to this sudden spurt in the availability of packaged food? Primarily, it is due to the development of packaging material industry. Manufacturers today have the capacity to virtually pack any kind of food material – be it juices, milk, snacks or non-veg. The current technology allows food to stay fresh for much longer periods of time. More importantly, there are specific packaging options matching each kind of food. This trend has proved to be extremely beneficial for lovers for healthy snack food.

Another change has been among the consumer preferences. Globally, people are moving towards urban areas and they have gotten over the inhibition of using packaged food. Consumers are today realizing that packaging technology has come of age and their food will taste just as fresh and healthy as they require it to be.

Packaged Food Industry in India
Time is a resource getting scarce each passing day. So consumers the world over opt for convenience and packaged food is the optimal solution for convenience. For instance, busy urban families do not have the time to fetch milk everyday and so they purchase many units of packaged milk from the supermarket to last an entire week. Similarly, bachelors the world over keep stock of pre-cooked, ready-to-eat packaged food in their refrigerators so that they can quickly ready a meal for themselves in minimal time during rush hours.

Even in Asian countries like India and China, the manufacturers have adopted the trend of packaged food in a powerful way. The retail industries in Asian countries are growing at an enormous pace and packaged food contributes immensely to the retail trend. The shelves of supermarkets are full of packaged food including juices, cooked food, dairy products, dry fruits and healthy snacks.

The healthy snack foods in the form of packaged food prove to be a boon for millions of office goers the world over. When one is hungry in between meals yet too busy to go out and eat, packaged snacks come to the rescue. They are easy to order, easy to stock and affordable to buy. Packaged food industry is indeed growing at an impressive pace and offering a host of benefits to the global consumer base.