SSOFT

With a new era of digitalisation dawning, augmented reality (AR) – a technology that adds digital elements to a physical environment – is gaining traction with food processing and packaging businesses across the globe. In an increasingly virtual world, AR has the potential to create a fully immersive, interactive experience that can improve customer service, while also delivering significant ROI. Meanwhile, streamlining operations and making savings on valuable resources is becoming more important than ever.

Over the last decade, advances in remote connectivity have revolutionised the way we service and maintain food processing and packaging equipment. For manufacturers, this means phone consultations and on-the-ground maintenance and service visits are a thing of the past. Now, remote access – where an authorised technician is given access to food processing and packaging systems remotely through a secure network connection – has become a key part of manufacturers’ toolkits – and for good reason. Here, we outline three ways upgrading your food packaging system to include remote connectivity features can improve downtime and equipment serviceability.

According to TrendSights Analysis 2022: Health and Wellness, released in July of 2022 by GlobalData1, at the start of last year 66% of global consumers were always or often influenced by how a product or service impacts their health and wellbeing. With consumers making more considered choices a new generation of fried foods is being ushered in, facilitated by innovative frying technology.

The global confectionery industry is seeing stable growth in volumes and values after recovery in 2021. Beyond 2022, the market is forecast to grow by 6% year-on-year to 2026 in value terms. The volume growth is predicted to be limited to just below 2% as consumers are cutting back on non-essentials due to cost-of-living crisis. At the same time consumers are looking for better value for money and a wider range of product offerings to suit various budgets and tastes, according to GlobalData . Confectionery producers, therefore, need faster, smarter and more versatile processing technology that can cater to these demands.

As we approach 2024, there are trends both existing and emerging that food manufacturers must keep in mind to continue to exceed the expectations of their customers and the all-important end-consumer. The industry continues to be placed under the microscope, and challenges persist that have brought the relationship between manufacturer and processing partner closer than ever before.

According to the IndustryARC report, the global potato processing market is projected to reach a value of $53,6 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period. For manufacturers, growth equals opportunity, opening the door for both expansion and innovation.