Industrial Innovation At The Service Of A Connected Consumer

With the advancement of technology and communication, consumers have changed our vision of the world and, therefore, also of purchase. According to Innova Market Insights, the focus of consumers in the next year will be on the healthy aspects of the ingredients of food products, on labeling, the way of production, and packaging.

On the other hand, food companies have the obligation to diversify their products and improve them so that they adapt to new trends, which means a great challenge but -at the same time- a great opportunity.

Changes in the lifestyle and mentality of our target should be key to govern our innovation processes. This new consumer is now hyperconnected, looking for experiences, caring about their well-being and the environment but without sacrificing quality.

According to the Spanish technology center AINIA, the main advances in food technology that will have an impact in the future are the following:

• Process digitization: A report by Accenture estimates that global investment in the Internet of Things (IoT) will reach a level of $ 500 billion by 2020. Basically, this represents an automated, flexible, smart, social, sustainable, and connected factory, where people, machines and information systems are able to cooperate efficiently.  
• Microencapsulation: It is one of the most demanded alternatives by the food industry to maintain the conservation of product properties. It is a tool to stabilize and control the release of active compounds obtained from fruits, vegetables, or waste materials from agro-industrial processes. Thanks to this process, bioactive substances from food are introduced into a product matrix to prevent their loss. 
• Active packaging: An active packaging is one that is capable of chemically or biologically interacting with the food product to improve shelf life. In this case, the food, the packaging, and the environment work together to improve the healthiness of the packaged food; This is done to increase conservation time of the food. For example, packaging with oxygen barriers, antimicrobial agents, and moisture absorbers have been created. 

Scientific and technical advances allow today to produce food and beverages that better adapt to consumer demands in a safe way, with more sustainable and efficient production processes, meeting the demand of global markets.