India is one of the largest producers of potato. Besides being used as a daily food item in various vegetable preparations, potato today increasingly finds use in the form of chips or wafers as snacks food. The potato chips and wafers are popular processed food items that give considerable value addition to potatoes.
Mixed Vegetable Chips (Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Carrot, Taro and Green Beans),mixed fruit chips and beet root chips are processed by a vacuum frying method, the latest technology using the carefully selected raw materials from the best growing regions.
The basic chips are cooked and salted, and additional varieties are manufactured using various flavorings and ingredients including seasoning, herbs, spices, cheeses, and artificial additives. Chips are a predominant part of the snack food market in English speaking countries and numerous other Western and Asian nations.
Vegetables chips and fruit chips are 100% natural, Low fat, high nutrient, no preservative.
India's potato production has seen a phenomenal increase since the 1950s, mainly due to strong demand from the processing industry and remunerative returns. It is grown all over the country with Uttar Pradesh growing the maximum quantity.
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. In India it is being produced not only on large scale by big firms, but also on cottage/home scale in semi-urban and rural areas. Owing to this, there is a number of companies from both the organized as well as unorganized sector who are already catering to the needs of tea stalls, restaurants, railway stations, tourist places etc. Still there is a huge demand to be met for these products in interior and remote places in different parts of the country. As a whole there is a good scope for new entrepreneur with manufacturing of good quality of product.