We visit Tyson today. I’m excited for this visit, but I’m also a little sad because this is the last time that the whole group will be together. The rump-trippers are on a separate bus from everyone else because we will be leaving the Tyson visit early. We had lucked out and gotten the bus without air conditioning – I’d like to file this under the “only in India” category. I didn’t realize how much A/C was a blessing on the buses until we had to go without. It was actually cooler outside of the bus than it was on the bus.
At the Tyson visit, I learned that the Godrej group is one of the oldest groups in India and that in 2008 a partnership between Godrej and Tyson was formed. I was particularly interested to see how Tyson managed for find success as a meat protein company in a country that is largely vegetarian.
Tyson in India is under two brands: RealGood and Yummiez. India turned out to not be as vegetarian as I thought it was with 56.6 grams per day a protein consumption. The top two snacking segments are biscuits and savory snacks. Most snacking is vegetarian. The only portfolio for vegetarian goods by Tyson as an India. Tyson India has vegetarian and non-vegetarian products. They also sell street food products that are safer and cheaper than what can actually be found on the streets.
I wish that I had been able to spend more time at Tyson and learn more about their process, but I was very eager to get the rump trip started. It was more difficult than I thought it would be to tell the others in our group goodbye. We had all grown so close in the weeks that we had been together in India – I didn’t even realize how attached I had become to everyone.
We had to pack for the train ride. I had managed to cram all of my necessary items into a duffel bag and my backpack and I was ready to go for the rump trip. This time the train ride would be an overnight train ride. We stayed in the upper class area of the train with A/C and bunked beds. The area of the train we were staying in was very simple – it just had the two bunked beds and a small table. It wasn’t very nice, but I didn’t expect anything like the last hotel that we’d stayed at. It was okay and it served its purpose and by Indian standards it was not bad at all.
I was very excited to get to sleep on the train. I had loved the train ride that we had taken earlier in the trip. However, this time our window was permanently fogged so I wasn’t able to look out window. Regardless of the minor challenges, this was definitely a memorable experience. I’m so glad that I chose to do the rump trip. I feel like if I had been leaving to go home today that would have been way too soon for me. I wanted to spend more time in India, I wanted to explore. I didn’t want to let go just yet, and thankfully, I didn’t have to.
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