Major Challenges Facing the Food Processing Industry

The food processing industry faces some key challenges, such as a lack of quality standards in laboratories and variations in climate.

FREMONT, CA: Food processing transforms raw grains, fruits, vegetables, or dairy products into merchandise with a long shelf life. Products like jams, jellies, juices, etc., have a better taste and are more nutritious. All households use products made by the food processing industry on a regular basis, so it has excellent potential. It generates a lot of employment and reduces food waste. 

Occasionally, raw vegetables and fresh fruits go to waste when they cannot be sold. These fruits and vegetables are, however, used in the food processing industry to make good food products. Processed products with a unique taste and high standards of hygiene can generate huge profits. Every day, the food processing industry faces and overcomes several challenges that are as follows:

Standards for food safety are difficult to meet: High food safety standards must be met by processed foods such as juices, jams, and jellies. For processing, fruits and vegetables are stored for longer periods of time. Therefore, they are likely to rot soon.

Jams and juices that do not keep their acidity levels under control begin to harbor microorganisms. Several life-threatening diseases can be caused by bacteria that grow in canned food, such as Botulism and Shigellosis. Due to this, governments worldwide have set very high safety standards.

As a result, food processing industries strive to operate under sterile conditions. By reducing human contact, bacteria are less likely to grow. The growth of bacteria can be significantly reduced if clean automated machines are used for all processes. This is why these industries use automatic can-sealing machines to seal containers, mechanical blades to cut raw materials, etc.

Insufficiency of economic sustainability: There is often a lack of economic sustainability in the food processing industry. In these industries, several factors reduce profit margins, including stiff competition, high food safety compliance burdens, etc. These industries can improve their profit margins in two ways.

Firstly, these industries can cut costs. For expensive machines like food-slicing machines, they can use custom-made spare parts from non-branded companies. Spare part components are being produced for many industries, from shipping to automobiles. Manufacturers of aftermarket car parts produce customized parts that are cheaper and compatible with a wide range of car brands. In the same way, the food processing industry can use spare parts from spare part suppliers.

Increasing sales is another way to increase profit margins. A long-term supply of high-quality products builds a reputation for an industry. In the same way, if the processed products are well advertised, sales can increase. Profits can also be increased by improving packaging and expanding geographical reach.