With new challenging trends that include the rise of convenience and health-food snacks, as well as more mouths to feed globally, increased demand is being placed on the food processing and handling (FP&H) industry.
The key to coping with this growth is understanding the new and different types of demand from consumers. For example, we now hear calls for beverage machines that allow users to create and customise the flavour of their drinks. Then there is the impact of changing demographics, such as rising demand for healthy food on-the-go, with 63% of millennials replacing meals with snacks because of busy lifestyles2. Add to that China’s working age population, due to grow 20% by 20203, and there will inevitably be an increased demand for specialized on-the-go food.
Emerging markets are leading the way, with 35% of the US$100 billion FP&H equipment market originating in Asia—expected to account for 50% of growth in the sector by 20214.
Are we on the brink of a global food shortage crisis?
The first need to address is that of producing significantly more food, at scale and speed, and safely, for a changing demographic, without adding to the 1.3 billion tonnes of food that is lost or wasted globally each year5.
There are of course different regional regulations to consider, as well as the implications these have on the processes, equipment and chemicals used on the production line. While MERCOSUR, the South America trading bloc, recognises FDA or EU10/2011 approval, this is not the case for both China and Japan, which are both migrating to independent approval systems.
Then there is the increased demand for meat and health foods coming from the growing middle-class population. A 2015 Grantham Mayo van Otterloo report stated that the middle class are eating more meat than ever before, while also putting a strain on soy and grain reserves. The report also stated that the prices of wheat, corn, soybeans, and rice were twice what they were in 2000, with prices expected to double again in the next couple of decades6. To counter this, the FP&H industry must look for ways to keep costs down, from processing methods to packaging.
If we don’t achieve the flexibility to meet the various regional regulations, or maintain the strength in the supply chain to meet the growing demands for meat, soy, rice and more, then that global food shortage crisis may not be as far away as it first seemed.
Measures to help take more control
To help reduce waste requires an even bigger focus on quality and hygiene on the production line. The adoption of regulatory compliant materials such as the recently introduced VICTREX FG™ polymers7 for food manufacturing equipment and components can result in lower maintenance, reduced contaminants and less risk of product recalls. This is because they are resilient to stringent industrial cleaning processes, harsh chemicals, and powerful processing methods, without suffering degradation.
Non-thermal food processing methods continue to help extend shelf-life by inhibiting or killing microorganisms, with minimal impact on the nutrition and quality of the food; these technologies are estimated to grow at CAGR 8.4% to US$1.22 billion by 20228. Methods include ultra-high-pressure processing (HPP) techniques, ionizing radiation, ultrasound, pulsed light and pulsed electric fields to name a few. Based on a 2017 survey in the US, the most frequently adopted non-thermal processing technique was HPP, with a 36% share9.
Other more rapid food-safety techniques are also being developed, with microbiological testing and new biosensor technology to identify pathogens in food samples more quickly and accurately; fast and efficient transcriptomics, proteomics and biosensor-based solutions aim to help improve screening for chemical contaminants10.
For manufacturing equipment, technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) are helping to reduce the risk of food illness epidemics and further food waste from recalls, with sensors that monitor production state, shipping time, and temperature.
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