Challenges In The Food Processing Industry
As the biggest manufacturing sector in the country, the food manufacturing industry is vital to the UK’s economy and provides sustenance and employment to millions of people across the nation. However, there are several critical issues that must be addressed.
From tackling concerns over cross-contamination to reaching industry-wide environmental goals, food manufacturers face numerous obstacles that can significantly impact their capability to effectively produce and distribute products.
Below are three major challenges facing the food and beverage processing industry today.
Cross-Contamination
Cross-contamination and quality control continue to be major issues faced by the food processing industry. Preserving food integrity is key to properly managing food and beverage processing and industrial cooking equipment, particularly controlling temperature and humidity. Food processing sites also risk product contamination outside their facilities. For example, open dock doors allow exterior contaminants to potentially interfere with food products.
Reducing Single-Use Plastic
Reducing single-use plastic in food processing is one of the most important objectives in the industry’s mission to make food and beverage manufacturing more environmentally friendly.
In 2020, industry conglomerates Coca-Cola, Nestle and PepsiCo, circled back on their previous commitments to eradicate plastic waste by using 100% reusable and recyclable packaging. The pressure from consumers who value companies dedicated to doing their bit for the environment has also encouraged those in the industry to find new ways to adapt.
Increased Energy Costs
Like all UK businesses, the recent increase in energy prices has significantly affected companies in the food and beverage sector, particularly since the food and drink manufacturing industry uses 34,506,210 MWh of energy each year. As a result, many businesses are turning to new ways to manage rising energy costs, for example, by investing in fully automated industrial cooking equipment to improve process efficiency and reduce overall energy use.
At S4 Engineering, our in-depth knowledge of food processing automation helps companies overcome many of the challenges faced by the food processing industry. We’ve worked with some of the UK’s leading food companies, like Hain Daniels and Greencore Spalding, to make their manufacturing systems more efficient and cost-effective.
To see how S4 Engineering can improve the preparation, composition, preservation and packaging of your product lines, get in contact with us today.