2nd International Conference on Food and Beverage Packaging June 13-14, 2016 Rome, Italy

The quality and safety of food packaging and other food contact-related materials, is a primary concern for all consumers, businesses, and governments across the global supply chain. Food safety testing measures the effects and interactions of the levels of packaging, the package contents, external forces, and end-use. Testing is of qualitative or quantitative procedure. Package testing is often a physical test. Chemical tests are conducted to determine suitability of food contact materials. Food packaging analysis expertise includes food safety testing, quality assessment and control, problem solving and support in research and development. From testing the food safety and quality of the food packaging material till support in development and failure analyses. 

Food Packaging has developed strongly during recent years, mainly due to increased demand on product safety, shelf-life extension, cost efficiency, enviromental issues and customer convinience. In order to improve the performance of packaging in meeting these varied demands, innovative modified and controlled-atmosphere packaging, and active and intelligent packaging systems are being developed. Other elements of increasing importance in food packaging include traceability, tamper indication, and sustainability. Consumers demand products with fewer synthetic additives but increased safety and shelf-life. These demands have increased the importance of natural antimicrobials which prevent the growth of pathogenic and spoilage micro-organisms. The emergence of ‘minimal’ processing techniques, which have limited impact on a food’s nutritional and sensory properties, has been a major new development in the food industry. 

The food and beverage markets represent the largest consumption group for packaging materials and machinery. Sales for one top growing segment alone—pet food packaging—are expected to reach $2.5 billion in 2018 in the U.S., according to market research firm Freedonia Group. And growth in beverage packaging market is projected at a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4%, to hit $131.1 billion by 2019, according to analysis by Markets and Markets. Packaging machinery consists of equipment for uses such as canning; container cleaning, filling, and forming; bagging, packing, unpacking, bottling, sealing and lidding; inspection and check weighing; wrapping, shrink film and heat sealing; case forming, labeling, marking, and other product identification machines and encoding; palletizing and depalletizing, and related uses. Food & beverage industry comprises of ample varieties and those varieties require different types of packaging techniques as Beverages needs consistent seal integrity for greater protection against leaks and Dairy products requires to retain freshness and flavor in their packaging.

Manufacturers of food processing and packaging equipment are being driven to offer a broader selection of products at lower costs and supplement their offerings with smart technologies, design and other services. Packaging logistics is a multidisciplinary approach, integrating the packaging system and logistic system to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire supply chain. The design principles for sustainable packaging can be summarized as  effective, efficient, cyclic and safe. Research and development spending, along with increasing competition, patent expiries and new technologies are leading the market in a new direction. The overall revenue for the market increased from 2011 to 2013 due to new advancements, new product launches and changing lifestyles, which will all influence market growth in the foreseeable future. 

Nanomaterials are increasingly being used in the food packaging industry due to the range of advanced functional properties they can bring to packaging materials. Nanotechnology-enabled food packaging can generally be divided into three main categories - improved packaging, active packaging, intelligent/smart packaging. A coating of metal or glass, which are totally impermeable to gases, would prevent this from happening - this is obviously impractical however, as it would reduce flexibility, and would be much more expensive than plastic packaging.This is where nanotechnology comes to the rescue - a coating of clay nanoparticles just a few nanometres thick is sufficient to create an impermeable layer, without compromising on flexibility or adding a great deal to the cost. The most active area of food nanoscience research and development is packaging: the global nano-enabled food and beverage packaging market was 4.13 billion US dollars in 2008 and has been projected to grow to 7.3 billion by 2014, representing an annual growth rate of 11.65%. 

Food waste is prevented and resources are preserved with effective food packaging designs. This is why flexible food packaging like tetra pack is growing in popularity among consumers. Its light weight, increased shelf life and creative graphics are all advantages that greatly benefit the buyers. Consumers are looking for food in packages that are easier to open. Sustainability is a driving force among many food and beverage producers, providing food that suits the consumer's evolving values around sustainability. Consumers expect F & B products to be natural, healthy and tasty at the same time. Consumers also expect packaging to reflect their changing lifestyles.  Smaller, individual on-the-go formats are better suited to the lifestyles of today’s more mobile generation, while larger multi-pack formats are ideal for the separate habits of today’s bigger families.

When introducing new product to consumers it need to display originality in the packaging design. Consumers look for packaging that is visually pleasing and representative of the actual product. The package should demonstrate the company’s ability to uniquely display the product through color, size, and logo. Effectively balancing innovation with cost-efficiency keeps the consumer’s needs at the forefront while still remaining effective in demonstrating the product and its benefits. Today’s packaging professionals must account for how a package must function, who is to use it, and what is the easiest and most suitable format for reuse, recycle, or refill. Innovation need to be managed with cost effective packaging.

Many consumers in the United States and Europe become more concerned with the global impact of their purchases, companies are meeting new concerns with more recycled materials and biodegradable materials. Growing awareness about environmental issues. Consumers search for new products and experiences tailored to their needs. Health awareness is going mainstream nowadys. The growing need for reassurance that products are trustworthy when food safety is at risk. Convenient products becoming a key need for 'on-the-go' consumers looking for instant gratification. The growing influence of healthy and sustainable life, diet watching, consumer packaged goods, ageing boomers and smaller households and the need for fresh and non-processed foods are among the factors driving the shift in what and how consumers eat.

Italy is the 4th largest food and drinks manufacturer in the European Union (EU) and Italy’s food and drinks industry is the country’s second-largest manufacturing sector. It accounts for about 12% of GDP and had a total sales value of US$168 billion in 2008. Italy is a significant producer and exporter of food and beverage products. The main exports are wine, pasta, canned tomatoes, cheese and olive oil. In 2007, F&B exports were worth an estimated US$26.1 billion, while imports were worth US$20.5 billion. Products with potential demand trends in the Italian market are organic foods, functional foods and low fat food products.  Coop Italia is the largest supermarket chain in Italy and Esselunga is the main one in the north-west, and is a leader in terms of quality of products and service. Esselunga is also strong on private label ranges of products.

Gradually changing food habits and two working parents are increasing the demand for frozen and easy to prepare products. A gradual increase in female participation in the workforce is likely to raise demand for convenience and packaged food as well as eating out. The economy plays a central role in influencing the size and growth of the market. In the packaging market, a great deal of attention has been devoted to ensuring that the offer responds to the demands of particular demographic segments, and takes into account the ageing boomers of the world’s population that is now occurring. Lifestyle trends are positive, encouraging innovation and expandsion of chilled cabinet selections in supermarkets. Consumers are becoming increasingly demanding and short of time, seeking out convenience food solutions that represent an advance on more traditional processed foods. The expectations of food quality are rising and growing awareness of health and other issues present new challenges to retailers, packers and packaging suppliers alike.

Bio-based food packaging materials are derived from renewable sources and are potentially biodegradable that is composting (which is a technique for waste management). Bio based packaging materials include both edible coatings and edible films along with primary and secondary packaging materials. At the turn of the last century most non-fuel industrial products; dyes, inks, paint, medicines, chemicals, clothing, synthetic fibres and plastics were made from bio based resources. During the last years, the leading world research teams have been working on developing new biodegradable and edible packaging based on renewable biological sources, the so called “regulated life cycle materials”. By the 1970s petroleum derived materials had, to a large extent, replaced those materials derived from natural resources. Recent developments are raising the prospects that naturally derived resources again will be a major contributor to the production of industrial products. Bio based /green polymers in food packaging are the wave of the future. The Scientific challenge is to find such applications and thus to create the demand for large scale production of biopolymers/ biomaterials that would help in attaining the sustainable development of green materials in contrast to petroleum.