With government funding drying up and businesses curtailing in-house programs, food technology research often has an entrepreneurial feel in the 21st century.
Entrepreneurs thought wine in stackable, single-serving, “stemless glasses” made of recyclable plastic would be a great idea. Realizing it was a little more involved.
Production improvement is always a driver in manufacturing, but there are other areas of concern in food and beverage, as survey participants make clear.
Animal feed recovery used to constitute best practice in food plant wastewater treatment. Technology and sustainability efforts are pushing manufacturers far beyond that.
Over the past few months, the news media have been full of reports about novel weight loss drugs and new findings about calories, metabolism and diets, as well continued reports on the obesity epidemic.
Plant investments must compete with new product development and other priorities for limited capital, and the challenge is particularly difficult for infrastructure and utility improvements.