Appropriate Food Packaging: Materials and methods for small businesses - Softcover

Fellows, Peter; Axtell, Barrie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853395625 ISBN 13: 9781853395628

Verlag: Practical Action Publishing - IPSUK, 2003

Inhaltsangabe

Food manufacturers operating on a small to medium scale face direct competition from the large-scale food sector whose economies of scale, better presentation and powerful marketing can endanger the future of smaller businesses. High quality packaging not only helps to keep products in good condition it lies at the very heart of food presentation and customer appeal. It is thus an area of vital importance for any small to medium scale food manufacturers competing in today's marketplace. Appropriate Food Packaging is a compendium of packaging materials and cost-effective methods that can be applied at a small to medium scale in developing countries. This book helps manufacturers to face the challenges that improving their packaging systems present, including assessing whether increased sales will justify the investment costs, and the very real difficulties faced in many developing countries of sourcing suitable packaging materials. The economic, operational and human resource implications of changes in packaging methods are considered, as too are the potentially negative environmental effects of modern food packaging.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Dr Peter Fellows is a consultant food technologist specializing in small-scale food processing. Previously he taught food technology at Oxford Brookes University, worked for Practical Action, and has held the UNESCO Chair in Post-Harvest Technology at Makerere University, Uganda. He has practical experience of assisting small-scale food processors in 20 countries and has published 33 books and 40 articles on food processing.

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Appropriate Food Packaging

Materials and Methods for Small Businesses

By Peter Fellows, Barrie Axtell

Practical Action Publishing Ltd

Copyright © 1993 Intermediate Technology Publications
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-85339-562-8

Contents

1 Food and packaging, 1, 
2 Types of food and prevention of deterioration, 5, 
3 Packaging materials, 25, 
4 Filling and labelling, 79, 
5 Production, re-use and re-cycling of packaging, 91, 
6 Implications of introducing packaging, 97, 
7 Benefits and costs of food packaging, 113, 
Glossary, 119, 
Resources, 121, 
A References to literature related to packaging of food, 121, 
B Packaging periodicals, 123, 
C International packaging research institutes, 123, 
D Bilateral packaging research institutes, 123, 
E National institutes of packaging, 125, 
F Selected information sources (on packaging) in Africa, 127, 
G Companies used as information sources for this publication, 131, 
Index, 133, 

CHAPTER 1

Food and packaging

1.1 The importance of food processing

Food has been processed and packaged since the earliest days of man's history on earth. Meat and fish were salted, smoked and dried. Herbs were dried and stored for use as medicines. Alcoholic beverages were made from fruits and cereals. In the early days of traditional food processing the main aim was preservation to maintain a supply of wholesome, nutritious food during the year and in particular to preserve it for hungry periods, for example when hunting was poor. Food was seldom sold but traded and bartered.

While food processing still has the main objective of providing a safe nutritious diet in order to maintain health other aspects, particularly the generation of wealth for the producer and seller, have become increasingly important.

With the change from traditional to industrial food processing there has also been a change in the types of product processed. Traditional processors worked with foods that grew locally and the methods they developed were in harmony with the climate in which they lived. Only simple packaging using leaves, animal skins and pottery was possible and necessary to protect the food for its planned storage life. Nowadays non-traditional crops are grown all over the world. For example, the potato which originated in Peru, rice which came from Asia, and numerous fruits and vegetables are now grown away from their area of origin This together with consumer demand influenced by radio, advertising and television has lead to a demand for non-traditional foods that are not appropriate to the local environment. They need special processing and packaging to protect them for their required storage life.

While most people in the world still rely on traditional foods for their basic diet those in industrialized centres tend more and more to purchase processed and packaged foodstuffs for convenience. The increasing number of women who now work away from home adds additional pressure for such changes. Even people with a heavily traditional diet are demanding external products either as occasional treats, such as gassy drinks or basic commodities such as white sugar and flour.

To meet these demands the industrial food processing sector has emerged. Food and crop processing is generally considered to be the largest industry in most countries. Studies in several developing countries for example have shown that up to 25% of the urban population can be involved in making or selling ready-to-eat meals. While in developed countries food processing is almost totally carried out in large, automated factories small-scale food processing still remains a vitally important economic activity in the developing world. The small-scale food processing sector:

[] is a major source of employment,

[] adds value to crops by processing,

[] is a major source of food in the diet,

[] in some cases, by export, earns valuable foreign exchange,

[] provides opportunities for import substitution,

[] benefits a large number of poor people, such as farmers, packaging suppliers and vendors.

The small-scale food processing sector is however under increasing threat and competition from large manufacturers who, through economies of scale and better presentation and marketing, can put them out of business. The powerful large-scale food sector is also often able to influence government and international policies and laws and so prevent the small manufacturer from entering production or selling in a particular market.

Much of the customer appeal of foods produced in large factories in reality lies less with the food itself than with the appearance, presentation and advertising used to sell it Good packaging lies at the very heart of presentation and thus customer appeal. It is an area of vital importance for small and medium food manufacturers if they are going to continue to compete and expand.

1.2 What is good packaging?

Good packaging serves two purposes which are essentially technical and presentational.

Technical changes in packaging aim to extend the shelf-life of the product by better protecting the food from all the hazards it will meet in storage, distribution and use. Changing from one type of plastic bag to another for example may mean that less moisture from the atmosphere is absorbed into the food so extending the shelf-life. Making the bag re-closable in addition would mean that the customer could keep the food in good condition for longer in the home. If shelf-life is extended then it may be possible to market the product over a bigger area so increasing sales

Presentational aspects of packaging do not actually do anything to make the food keep longer or in better condition. Such packaging increases sales by creating a brand image that the buyer instantly recognises. It also aims to appeal to the customer in terms of shape, size, colour, convenience, etc.

The ultimate aim of good packaging is increased sales against any competition and thus improved income for the producer. This cannot be achieved without a cost. It is not only the direct cost of the packaging material that needs to be considered but other changes such as different processing systems, pun:: base of fillers, staff training, etc.

The small and medium-scale food manufacturer considering improvements to their existing packaging system face difficult decisions that will need careful thought and investigation One of the central problems is the impossibility of really knowing if the proposed changes will indeed result in increased sales that will have to be made to meet the costs involved. In addition, for most small producers, the choice is really not theirs but dictated by what kinds of packaging are locally available. In most cases it will not be possible to select the best type of package but only select the best of available alternatives.

Some of the positive and negative factors that need to be thought about are included in Table 1-1.

1.3 Environmental and economic aspects

As well as considering various types of industrial food packaging and their application, this book also briefly examines related areas such as re-cycling and economic aspects of the use of different materials.

With the increasing use of plastic packaging the whole subject of damage to the environment is becoming of increasing concern. One main problem is that plastic packaging is invariably cheaper than alternatives such as glass. If glass...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Practical Action Publishing - IPSUK
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2003
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1853395625
• ISBN 13: 9781853395628
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 144
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Friedensallee 273; Hamburg; 22763; Deutschland