Insights into food packaging trends 1

Urbanization has promoted the rapid development of the food packaging industry. What are the trends of food packaging in the future?

Food packaging has become an increasingly indispensable basic part of our daily life, which is closely related to the trend of global urbanization. The reason is very simple. When half of the world's population lives in cities, and the cities cannot provide the land and environment required for agriculture, the food is processed and packaged and placed on the shelves of the supermarket for people to buy. Busy urbanites. An increasingly easy choice.

For food, good packaging can improve the cleaning and freshness of food, and also allow the brand effect of food manufacturers to be displayed. In addition, good food packaging can prevent food spoilage and prolong the shelf life of food, thereby reducing food waste. According to statistics, 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted in the world every year. Just reducing waste is enough to feed 1 billion hungry people in the world.

According to the information provided by the World Packaging Organization (WPO), the global packaging industry turnover has exceeded 500 billion US dollars, of which food packaging is the pillar field. But food packaging is also influenced by local dietary preferences in different countries and regions. Japanese consumers strongly resent packaging that looks incomplete – even small insignificant creases can leave supermarket food unattended. Fish and seafood are an important part of Japanese recipes, so they must be kept fresh and protected from spoilage. A small bag of silica gel or starch polymer is often placed in food packaging to absorb moisture. European consumers, on the other hand, are skeptical of moisture repellents, and putting them in food packaging may lead to doubts about the food itself.

Although regional preferences may make food packaging differences in different countries, we can still gain insight into several trends in the development of the food packaging industry.

1. Freshness comes first

People have high requirements for food packaging. Since food often needs to be transported long distances from the place of origin to the supermarket shelf, it is especially important to ensure that food is fresh and hygienic. And it may take longer for food to go from the shelf to the basket to the dinner table. Cutting-edge technology can help packaging ensure absolute freshness and hygiene. The synthesis of composite materials with different properties provides ideal packaging for food. For example, the properties of the packaging bottom material are very different from those of the lid or packaging film.

Wear-resistant composites made from a variety of materials are suitable for modified atmosphere packaging. This technology selects different protective gases to replace the air around the food according to different food types. Replacing oxygen with inert gases like nitrogen and carbon dioxide, for example, slows bacterial growth without the use of any additives. For the solution to work, packaging materials must have good gas barrier properties. Otherwise the protective gas will be quickly lost.

Shopping for food from supermarket shelves is an increasingly convenient option for busy urbanites.