What is Included in Food Industry?
Food processing is one of the important aspects of the food industry. The food industry consists of a vast, interrelated set of different businesses that provides all the food eaten by the entire world. The word food industries encompass a whole series of business activities aimed at the manufacturing, conversion, preparation, packaging and preservation of foodstuffs for consumption.
The processing stage of food processing include the identification of what is to be processed, identification of the product that needs to undergo processing, its specification, selection of raw materials and methods of processing. After the initial processing stage, the food is prepared for consumption. A whole series of activities are involved in the whole process of food processing.
Agriculture is one of the major parts of the food industry. Agriculture is defined as the production of food and the management of its agricultural resources. Agriculture is further subdivided into yield-based agriculture which produces food in relation to the yield available on an area.
This means that high-yielding crops will be those that produce a relatively small amount per unit area and low-yield crops which yield a large amount per unit area. Agriculture further includes animal husbandry, farming, fishing, forestry and farming based on mineral fuels.
Fishing and hunting are also part of food production. They refer to the process of catching, capturing, or killing fish or wildlife. They may be part of the agricultural production but are also a significant feature of the food industry. In the case of fishing and hunting, the term food system refers to the set of practices used to ensure that the yield from the various agricultural, marine, or hunting activities is maximized.
The other aspect of food that needs to be highlighted is food safety. Food safety is a term used to define the way in which the environment should be managed when handling food. It is also used in the context of food processing and retail food retailing. It aims at preventing the transfer of foodborne diseases, preventing the exposure of animals to contaminated food, and maintaining the quality and safety of food.
Obesity has become one of the most widely spreading diseases affecting most developed countries. Millions of people around the globe are affected by obesity. There has been a marked increase in the number of food companies seeking ways to improve nutrition and food quality. As such, there has been an increased demand for the services of food companies, which have increased their research and development budgets in response to this demand.
Another important facet of food production is a product creation. Basically, food companies create food products in factories, using genetically modified organisms (such as maize and cotton) to increase the productivity of food production. This has created food product chains that are increasingly removed from local communities and highly localized economies. These food product chains have significantly reduced local employment and thereby reduced the income levels of most rural people. The increased poverty levels and widening income gap in many developing countries have also resulted in the rising consumption of meat and other animal products, which has been responsible for the rise in obesity.
Agriculture is the primary source of food production. Agriculture has been the major driver behind food processing innovations. Agriculture is the process of converting land into food. Agriculture is classified into four key categories: food production, food processing, food distribution and food processing industries. Agriculture largely uses natural resources such as water, fuel, land, fertilizer and labor.
The rise in food demand and obesity has given rise to increased interest in food technology and innovation. The increased availability of food products has caused price increases and demand-based solutions such as the introduction of supermarket loyalty cards. These loyalty cards are linked with the retail food industry and allow customers to pay according to the items they buy and the number of items they order.
Some fast food chains have gone to the extent of having customized loyalty cards where customers can pay a different amount of money for specific types of food. This ‘shop till you drop’ attitude has seen food industry giants like McDonalds and KFC introduce customized buying cards that cover a wide range of products and allow customers to pay according to their choice.
