Industry quizzed on emerging technology
A recent survey asked the food and beverage industry what objectives are currently the most important when considering investment in new technology.
Results revealed that over 55 per cent still considered that, despite big moves within the industry to improve sustainability and resource efficiency, the primary technology innovations needed remain focused on the product – either to deliver better quality or new products.
‘Health and wellness’ was considered as less of a priority, according to the Leatherhead food Research survey, which may indicate a tide of change in the focus of development teams for the coming years, observes Steve Osborn, business innovation manager at Leatherhead.
“This also suggests that ‘health and wellness’ is no longer the domain of the ‘innovators’ but is a mainstream trend that is considered the core of any development activity, since it is a still a priority agenda item across the industry,” he says.
The survey also showed that ‘product’ centred innovations outweighed ‘greener’ agendas for investment in emerging technology, yet the same population conceded that new technology was more important in achieving the step change required on those issues.
“While emerging technologies were seen as being key to meeting strategic objectives, opinions were generally split as to whether greatest commercial gains would be from new or existing technologies,” adds Osborn. “With an expectation of product launches and return on investment coming within two to three years, it’s easy to see why renovation is seen as the easier option.”
