India is a tropical country and food safety is very crucial. As per the ministry of agriculture, 45% of food produced is wasted in absence of a proper cold chain. Last-mile safety and security of fruits and vegetables are addressed to a great extent with the help of deep freezers in India.
There are many temperature-sensitive food products which deteriorate if the desired temperature is not maintained. Some of the segments which are using deep freezers in India extensively are dairy industries, ice cream, milk products, frozen foods, fisheries, meat, and hospitality industries.
Off late, domestic demands have also shown the sign of picking up, more after Covid-19 pandemic. During the lockdown period, people preferred to buy their daily foods in bulk and store in deep freezers to avoid frequently going out. Some housewives had shared their experience of using deep freezers for domestic use; they were facing the problem of insects multiplying in idli, Rava, maida, sooji and dry fruits. But now, after storing them in deep freezers, they were relieved from the pain of the dejected look in front of their family members. – This has been found to be a big boon.
Another experience shared by many customers who use freezers for their domestic purpose is that now they are able to store seasonal vegetables like peas, as they get in damn cheap and can store them for ‘matar paneer’ preparation round the year. Even builders who are in developing gated communities, villas have also started offering deep freezers as a part of the furnished goods list along with A.C. and furniture.
Now, people have realized the importance of it for domestic use. Even though its penetration is hardly 3% in urban areas the households had adopted using it as a domestic appliance. People who are non-vegetarians are also finding these deep freezers a big relief as they can store processed chicken meat/fish/prawns for as long as 6 months. Experts believe that the main reason for low penetration of 3% as against 30% in Sri Lanka, our next-door neighbour, is the electric power of quality.
However, in the last 4-5 years, we have seen tremendous pace across the country which is driving the demand in rural areas also. As the standard of living is going up, the demand for the deep freezers too is going up with the same speed. Nowadays people tend to go out for eating and similarly food outlets and maintaining safe storage of processed food will increase. So, deep freezers are the best bet.
On the technology front, a lot of work has been done. A solar freezer that runs purely on solar energy and this was possible with the help of PCM technology. With this technological breakthrough, we can dream of using a freezer where a grid connection is not there, at an absolutely zero running cost.
On the taxation front, in the last 30 years, taxes have come down from 160% to just 18%. Even this 18% GST can be taken as an input tax credit if the product is used for business purposes.