2017 Trends in Food Processing Operations

The next fifteen years might bring significant changes to food manufacturing and sourcing, such as shorter supply chains because of transportation expense, growth of local production, stronger competition for land use as food, fuel and fiber battle for space and benefits of microtechnology and nanotechnology for more sustainable production of food and improved taste.  Many of these changes can be attributed to a changing consumer landscape, for example a growing middle class – expected to double by 2030, with Asia as a significant consumer of value-added nutritional food, changing consumer habits, such as on-the-go eating and clean labels, with 37% of U.S. consumers finding it important to understand ingredients on food labels.