The consumer's lifestyle dictates what and how people want to eat
Meat industry and meat technology sector have to adapt to the new trends dictated by the consumer desire and this has a direct influence on production processes and subsequent packaging, according to Carola K. Herbst from the DLG’s (German Agricultural Society) Food Competence Center.
"Experience from the German market shows that consumers are getting older; eating more outside the home; eating ideologically or in line with religious beliefs, and their diets reflect individual values as they attempt to optimize their physical and mental performance", mentioned Herbst.
From this perspective, packaging has to respond to the consumer's demand by acting as a direct interface with the public and has to be designed in a way that communicates messages clearly. It needs to reach the consumer on an emotional level, and meet the growing desire for natural packaging materials, as well as conveying other ideals such as beauty, well-being, health and fitness.
These characteristics included the opportunity to exploit mobile and digital technology in modern packaging, said Herbst. "Smart packaging offers an additional function with integrated technologies. These are chemically or electronically based and are used in a market-driven or consumer-oriented manner. Data carriers can inform consumers about the origin or ingredients of a product, while special indicator substances can indicate the degree of freshness or the temperature of the product", explained Carola Herbst.
These new trends require investment in new technologies and processes but product quality and manufacturing costs also had to be optimized, specified the DLG expert.
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