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The food processing industry is a mature sector which is experiencing a turbulent period due to the growing global demands for food safety, increasing food insecurity and consumer demand for higher quality and sustainability.
There is a significant economic impact of getting food safety wrong if modern food supply chains are incorrectly assessed and risk mitigation is absent. Even a small impact on a supply chain can have a large economic impact.
The processed food industries are valued at over $2 trillion dollars globally and consist of over 400,000 businesses.
Food processing is also significantly impacted by multiple external factors, including economic trends, climate change, demographic shifts, emerging power markets, new trade partnerships and world population growth predictions.
Today’s food supply chain is more globalised, longer and far more complex than ever before. With growing imports and exports, processed foods are dependent on longer supply chains which poses a great challenge to assuring food safety.
In many countries, the food processing industry is a major contributor to the health of the national economy. In the same way too, the sector is impacted by both the local economy where it manufactures as well as by the global economy in terms of food logistics and imports and exports.
Shifts and changes in regional economies, population size, food consumption, and the food and drinks industry in general all have significant implications for food processing.
According to the European Food and Drink Industry there are three leading production regions worldwide:
The turnover of the EU food & drink processing industry alone is double that of the USA and China. However, this will change significantly in the next few decades.
In order to feed the growing world population, predicted to reach 9.3 billion by 2050, agricultural production needs to grow by 70% and by nearly 100% in fast growing economies.
By 2030, India will have the largest population in the world, representing 1/3 of the Asian population and 17% of world population.
In fact, by 2050, India, China, Indonesia, Philippines and Pakistan will represent more than 50% of the world’s population.
By 2050, two thirds of the world population will be living in cities, increasing demand for processed foods and meat protein — in Asia protein consumption will have grown by 128%.
By 2030, E7 countries (China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia, Turkey) will overtake the G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, US) in size and purchasing power.
The growth in demand and high growth of both exports and imports in key emerging markets is making food safety and hygiene in this sector a priority.
The emerging markets (India, Indonesia, China, Malaysia) will increasingly drive global growth. The share of both exports and imports for food and drink products in these markets is growing rapidly. Manufacturing & processing will increasingly shift to these markets, to be close to a growing customer base.
65% of the world’s middle class will be living in the Asia Pacific region by 2030. The increasing disposable income in emerging economies will drive demand for manufactured food products.
The increasing prevalence of the Internet of Things (IoT) within the food industry is set to have a major impact on the food supply chain. This innovative technology utilises tools such as big data analytics and connected devices to help support your food processing business improve food safety compliance and reduce the risk of contamination especially when food is being produced and manufactured in large quantities to meet growing customer demands.
Technology and data-driven digital pest monitoring for effective, smart pest management solutions