Packaging is critical to reducing food waste.
In 2014, China's modified atmosphere
packaging market accounted for about 40.7% of the Asia-Pacific modified atmosphere packaging market. The average annual growth rate from 2015 to 2020 is expected to be 5.9%, and China is the fastest growing in the Asia-Pacific region.
"SAVE FOOD" aims to drive innovation, foster interdisciplinary dialogue and spark discussions to build solutions for the entire value chain "from field to fork".
In order to combat food loss and waste in China, "SAVE FOOD" landed in China for the first time at the swop Packaging World (Shanghai) Expo held at Shanghai New International Expo Center from November 7 to 10, 2017. This "SAVE FOOD" as swop 2017 Special themes are presented in the form of theme exhibitions and summit forums.
SAVE FOOD China Theme Exhibition
The SAVE FOOD China theme exhibition is dedicated to combating food waste and loss. Product and technology suppliers related to the food supply chain jointly display the following six technologies: high-barrier film, sterilization technology, modified atmosphere packaging technology, vacuum packaging technology, testing technology and refrigeration technology.
A group of packaging industry suppliers with a sense of social responsibility and innovative skills, such as MULTIVAC, Berry Group, TOMRA Sorting, Pupai, and Beijing Lancai, demonstrated the concept of saving food and advanced packaging technology on the spot.
"SAVE FOOD China" Summit Forum
According to statistics, out of the 7 billion people in the world, about 1 billion people are affected by hunger every day. Are we not producing enough food?
However, 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted or lost every year, equivalent to 1/3 of global food production!
These figures are shocking. How to reduce the loss and waste of food is an urgent problem to be solved!
"SAVE FOOD" received enthusiastic response when it was introduced to China for the first time. The summit forum held yesterday (November 8) was full! About 200 big names in the food industry participated in the event to discuss how to combat food loss and waste through advanced processing and packaging technologies, innovative packaging materials and processing methods throughout the industry chain.
Vincent Martin, the representative of China and North Korea from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, was invited to attend the "SAVE FOOD China" summit forum and gave a wonderful speech on "Reducing Global Food Waste through Innovation and Partnership". “1.3 billion tons of food is wasted or lost every year, equivalent to one-third of global food production and half of global cereal production, while 15 million people suffer from hunger,” Vincent Martin noted. In Asia Pacific, the lack of correct and sustainable packaging solutions is one of the main causes of food waste, and packaging is critical to reducing food waste. How to reduce food waste? The food industry must work closely with the packaging industry to make contribute."
Zhou Bin, Sales Director and Distributor Manager of Southern China of MULTIVAC (Shanghai) Trading Co., Ltd., talked about how to reduce and solve food waste from the perspective of "innovative packaging". He introduced: "Usually, the shelf life of food can be extended through suitable packaging technology, one of which is modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), according to different products, the gas in the package is replaced by a set proportion of mixed gas, which can maintain the product's quality. Shape, color, consistency and freshness. Dynamic Modified Atmosphere Packaging (EMAP) is mainly used for fresh fruits and vegetables, through the micro-perforation technology of the packaging film, so that the product inside the packaging can breathe effectively.”
Modified atmosphere packaging preserves the shape, color, consistency and freshness of a product.
Zhou Bin also mentioned shrink packaging, which is a fine vacuum packaging, especially suitable for packaging fresh meat. Another emerging form of packaging is body packaging. The body-on-body film is tightly attached to the surface of the product like a layer of skin, and the product is squeezed very little, which can keep the product in its original shape.
The skin-on film is tightly attached to the surface of the product like a layer of skin, and the extrusion of the product is very small, which can keep the product in its original shape, which is also the principle of skin-to-body packaging to extend the shelf life.
Steven Van Geel, Sales Director of TOMRA Sorting Technology (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. shared "Improving Food Quality and Safety, Increasing Yield Rates - Solutions from Farm to Fork". Through fast and energy-saving sorting technology, food processing enterprises can significantly reduce the energy consumption of food processing, bringing real cost savings and benefit improvement.
Wang Danfeng, the representative of US MOCON in China, talked about the topic of saving food from the perspective of improving packaging and extending shelf life. She said that the gas content in modified atmosphere packaging is critical, and that too much or too little gas ratio can cause quality defects, cost waste, packaging collapse and other problems. Modified atmosphere packaging testing equipment can accurately evaluate the barrier performance of packaging, prevent food from being oxidized and deteriorated due to moisture, and can effectively help nuts, cheese, meat products, baked goods, vegetables, fruits, seafood and other products to extend the shelf life and reduce waste.
MOCON's modified atmosphere packaging testing equipment - portable headspace analyzer.
From the data, the development trend of modified atmosphere packaging:
In 2014, the Asia-Pacific modified atmosphere packaging market accounted for approximately 26.0% of the global modified atmosphere packaging market, and the average annual growth rate from 2015 to 2020 is expected to be 5.4%;
In 2014, China's modified atmosphere packaging market accounted for about 40.7% of the Asia-Pacific modified atmosphere packaging market. The average annual growth rate from 2015 to 2020 is expected to be 5.9%, and China is the fastest growing in the Asia-Pacific region.
Zheng Wei from Xiamen Changsu Industrial Co., Ltd. introduced high-barrier BOPA. High-barrier packaging materials provide a new solution for reducing the amount of food additives and ensuring food safety, which is of great significance for extending the shelf life of food.
Intelligent packaging is a hot topic in the current industry. Dr. Zhang Chao, Chief Technology Officer of Beijing Lancai Technology Co., Ltd., introduced the traceability and detection of the source of food production by smart labels. The patented product smart label developed by Beijing Lancai Technology Co., Ltd. provides a strong impetus for smart packaging. This technology is based on big data of product deterioration under abnormal storage and transportation conditions, and can monitor the product quality of products in logistics and sales, as well as the temperature and time inside and outside the packaging. Consumers can intuitively identify whether the quality of the product is fresh or deteriorated through the color gradient from green to red, which avoids the potential safety hazards of the current printed expiration date labels, thereby avoiding food waste.
Through the color gradient from green to red of the smart label, it is possible to intuitively identify whether the quality of the product is fresh or deteriorated, which avoids the potential safety hazards of the current printed expiration date labels, thereby avoiding food waste.
