< Previous20 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net T he rising cost of living and inflation has placed food prices under intense scrutiny, and retailers are looking for anywhere they can shift the blame. As money becomes tighter for many, companies are going to have to take a long hard look at their systems to try and highlight any areas where things can be made more efficient. Every year, produce is lost and spoiled due to poor temperature control and storage, particularly in nations with less developed infrastructures. The global refrigerated warehousing and storage market was said to be worth over $140 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow to over $155 billion in 2022, representing a CAGR of 10%, and yet as consumers scramble for more alternative options, and with frozen food being an affordable way to access fruit and vegetables, it may not be enough to handle what could well be a © stock.adobe.com/markobe Crisis or opportunity Rising food prices and the cost of living is seeing a return to favouring frozen foods, which is set to place an unbearable burden – and a lucrative opportunity – on the refrigerated warehousing and storage industry. Crisis or opportunity 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 28/06/2022 09:24 Page 1Food & Drink International 21 www.fdiforum.net COLD STORAGE heavy demand on the sector. This demand was felt keenly during the pandemic and lockdown, placing undue pressure on the market, and it hasn’t abated despite a release of lockdown conditions. In fact, many believe it will continue, and new developments and investments in refrigerated storage are already being undertaken to try and control the demand. Frozen foods are anticipated to grow in 2022, and the war in Ukraine is likely 22 Á to make that even higher due to the loss of grain used in other products. In the UK and Europe, the cold chain is robust, but in locations like India – which is one of the world’s largest exporters of fruit, vegetables and meat – the infrastructure is lacking, and in dire need of modernisation. The weaknesses in the system have led to food waste in the supply chain that is being passed on in costs to manufacturers and retailers. Driving the investment in cold storage – which is anticipated to be a market worth over $372 billion by 2030 – is both the success of the frozen foods industry, but also efforts to reduce carbon impact, which will both target the cold storage sector and force new technology to be implemented. Primarily, the driving factors are positive, with high demand from retailers being a major one, but the challenges of implementing it will still be present. New builds are happening across the world, with many focusing on new builds and clever construction to heighten efficiency by custom- building the perfect cold storage NewCold grows again Europe’s largest ‘deep freeze’, on former steelworks land in Corby, is months away from completion. Automated cold storage specialist, NewCold, started work on the development in late 2020 to meet growing demand from the food manufacturing sector. Ross Hunter, Supply Chain Director, explains; “The company already has a strong demand for its services at its Wakefield site and sees Corby as a prime location in the logistics ‘golden triangle’, with proximity to frozen distribution centres of large retail and food service customers. This will enable NewCold to help our customers reduce food miles and cut costs.” When fully operational the site will employ more than 250 people, but industry-leading automation will play a key part in the facility’s operation for NewCold, which has headquarters in the Netherlands and operates from fourteen locations on three continents. The Corby operation will enable NewCold to offer their services to customers for whom Wakefield may not be geographically well-situated or who have run out of space. 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 28/06/2022 09:24 Page 222 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net COLD STORAGE Gressenhall | Dereham | Norfolk | NR20 4DT | +44 (0)1362 861066 | www.premierpalletinverter.co.uk warehouse. What could be labelled as a crisis still retains itself as an opportunity, especially for those with the capital to invest in new builds. With technology being more affordable and readily available than ever before (and with the labour market being worse) a focus on more automated and software-led warehouses could create an opportunity to tighten belts and increase efficiency. A leaner, more resilient, style of warehouse may be what is needed for a world fraught with peril and uncertainty, and a company that can offer such reliability is sure to look very attractive indeed to retailers not only in the food and drink industry, but in pharmaceuticals as well. In fact, the cold storage sector could be facing increased demand from both industries, culminating in even more reason for the food and drink industry to get on top of the wagon sooner rather than later. As demand grows both for refrigerated storage and refrigerated transport, those waiting for the perfect solution may find themselves without one at all. A difference will come between passive and active cold storage, with differing facilities for both. Active cold storage is the more commonly known brand with temperatures kept low to actively keep frozen goods in said state, whereas passive cold storage usually works at slightly higher temperatures for longer periods of time and is meant to keep perishable but longer-lasting foods like seeds, potatoes and © stock.adobe.com/Grispb 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 28/06/2022 09:24 Page 3Food & Drink International 23 www.fdiforum.net COLD STORAGE info@munters.co.uk munters.com Improve safety & climate conditions in cold storage Ice, frost and fog in cold stores can create slippery and dangerous conditions. Munters IceDry ® is a specially designed dehumidifier that targets moisture from inside the cold store to create the optimal climate conditions. Suitable for use in manufacturing facilities, cold rooms, cold stores and process freezers, this desiccant dehumidifier is proven to: •Reduce & prevent ice, frost and fog build up on floors, walls and ceilings •Reduce defrosts by up to 1/3 •Lower maintenance requirements and costs •Improve safety for staff, visitors & forklifts •Improve evaporator efficiency •Thousands of proven installations globally CONTACT US TODAY FOR A FREE SITE SURVEY Example - Before After “The cold store is the best it’s ever been for excessive ice & snow” - Kitchen Range Foods such fresh and, importantly, free from excessive moisture. The greater bill in terms of carbon footprint and financial footprint is felt by active cold storage, requiring lower temperatures and more regular shipping in and out, passive cold storage solutions are no less important for providing fresh, affordable food to retailers and consumers. Given that human intervention in opening or even passing through airways can lead to contaminations, if minor, passive cold storage facilities may have the greater need for automation and may be able to benefit from it more. Whatever the case, the challenges faced by the cold storage industry will continue, and as the world teeters closer and closer to a recession, one can expect for those that fail to modernise and update their warehouses to suffer as retailers continue to try and cut costs. © stock.adobe.com/Sakuramos 20-23.qxp_Layout 1 28/06/2022 09:24 Page 424 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net PACKAGING P ackaging waste continues to be a major problem for the planet and ever conscious consumers are pushing the demand for less, none or alternative forms of packaging. This is nothing new and has been going on for years. Until now, most savings have been through reduction of packaging via intelligent design, pouch packaging or trays and films. However, new developments in plant-based packaging material may mean there is a new solution on the horizon, and it may be the industry’s greenest one yet. Scientists at Rutger University in New Jersey have created a starch-based biopolymer that is not only fully biodegradable but also has antimicrobial properties making it perfect for use in food and drink packaging. This material is said to be stringy but malleable, and to have simplistic integration in shrink wrapping applications. The coating can be applied to food directly, even going so far as to protect them from foodborne infections like E. Coli and Listeria and can be washed off under water. So, will this revolutionise the food packaging industry? The answer should be yes, but the reality may not be there. The sad truth is that much of the sustainable effort put into packaging is lip service at best and downright misleading at worst. Manufacturers have taken steps to reduce packaging insofar as doing so lowers their own costs, but investment in new systems to create genuinely sustainable packaging is still low, showing that many don’t understand or refuse to accept the idea that it can be a profitable move. This is at odds with the fact that the same companies regularly claim and boast of sustainable packaging and environmental concern, showing that while they do believe appealing to those demographics to be a profitable business decision, they for some reason don’t believe it enough. Sustainable packaging remains a secondary concern for many in the industry – and the fault does not lie on designers and manufacturers of packaging machines, who have been pushing technology further and further 26 Á When to change There are many exciting developments in the packaging sector and yet food manufacturers are slow to embrace and make the most of them. With the cost of living rising and a recession within sight, the question becomes – if not now, then when? 24-29.qxp_Layout 1 28/06/2022 11:15 Page 1Food & Drink International 25 www.fdiforum.net PACKAGING © stock.adobe.com/Seventyfour 24-29.qxp_Layout 1 28/06/2022 11:15 Page 226 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net PACKAGING © stock.adobe.com/ArtCookStudio toward lower emissions. The technology is very much out there and very much in use by some, but many food manufacturers, especially in the UK, are lagging behind their European competitors. With intense focus on this new biopolymer in the US and China, there may be even more competitors to fall behind. Undoubtedly, the costs and difficulties of the pandemic have left many feeling that it is not a good time to invest in a new packaging line, and by that same notion with a recession potentially on the horizon (or the early parts of it being felt now) that situation isn’t going to come any sooner. That said, one might argue that the squeeze being felt by manufacturers and the customers being lost to foreign rivals might precisely be because of the “wait and see” attitude being taken. If a food manufacturer chooses to fall behind the competition and loses custom as a result, that cannot truly be blamed on the business environment or the economy – that was a failure of leadership. This combined with bans for single- use and certain types of plastics commonly used in packaging across the world will force the issue for many businesses. Taiwan has become the latest country to ban PVC as a food packaging material, after South Kora did so in 2020 and New Zealand in 2022. The true shock is that change might come by way of government interference at all, and whether it should need to. Governments are naturally slow to react and force change for fear of upsetting the economy, and it is mostly assumed in a capitalistic environment that businesses themselves will drive change in a competitive effort to corner more customers. That food packaging 28 Á SICK’s Fill Level Monitoring keeps packaging machines topped up A digital service that gives instant visibility to filling levels in packaging machinery has been developed by SICK in collaboration with industry end- users. SICK Filling Level Monitoring avoids machine stoppages by giving real-time data to operators via smartwatch or phone, so that levels of carton blanks, adhesive or film wraps, for example, stay topped up. Instead of having to check each magazine or film roll level in person, machine operators monitor fill levels on their watch or phone and are alerted by SICK’s Filling Level Monitoring system before levels become critical. The SICK Filling Level Monitoring digital service can be used with any SICK smart level sensors. The SICK Filling Level Monitoring cloud-based dashboard provides easy-to- interpret graphical information about the real-time status of machines from any internet- enabled device. Automatic push notifications on the fill levels can be set up for smart devices to alert with an acoustic signal and vibration. Meanwhile, production managers can monitor the fill levels of all machines across a packaging line, shift or entire production facility. 24-29.qxp_Layout 1 28/06/2022 11:15 Page 3Countdown to EPR. Are you ready? Independent | Pioneering | Expert | Ethical Find out more at www.oprl.org.uk/EPR Not a member of OPRL? Join us at oprl.org.uk/join/ Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is coming. With its introduction, the Government will require businesses to be responsible for the packaging they place on the UK market at the end of its life. The new EPR system will replace the current Packaging Waste Regulations, and implementation is due to be phased in soon. 1 As a member of OPRL, we will keep you up-to-date and give you information on what this means to you. 1 Currently anticipated to start 2024 24-29.qxp_Layout 1 28/06/2022 11:15 Page 428 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net PACKAGING has stagnated and fallen behind despite clear trends and consumer buying habits showing a preference for environmentally conscious goods, highlights an odd antipathy in the packaging sector, one where it is good to claim to care about the environment but not worth investing in being so. If food manufacturers are so slow to change that governments beat them to the punch, how then can they expect to remain competitive in today’s ever more global world? And when will it be time to stop harping and promoting about being environmentally conscious, and start actually being so? The packaging industry is ready and willing, and any visit to one of many trade shows will see seminars and talks on environmental packaging and the numerous innovations in the sector. The packaging industry well understands the challenges and advantages of investment in new technology, but it seems food manufacturers are struggling to see the same. © stock.adobe.com/ Joaquin Corbalan 24-29.qxp_Layout 1 28/06/2022 11:15 Page 5Food & Drink International 29 www.fdiforum.net PACKAGING K ite Packaging Group Limited was first verified as Carbon Neutral in 2021 and April 2022 brought with it a renewed confirmation by Carbon Neutral Britain that Kite has offset carbon emissions for the current year. In 2021, Kite successfully achieved carbon neutrality for Scopes 1 and 2 which included offsetting all their own fuel. For 2022, the company have extended their offsetting to include their third-party deliveries which falls into Scope 3. As a result, all Kite trucks and outbound deliveries made by their third-party couriers will be offset and hence, carbon neutral. This means that the whole group now operates with carbon neutral delivery, whether that’s between Kite’s RDCs and NDC or directly to their customers. This will be shown on all customer delivery notes. To illustrate additional advancement on 2021’s certification of carbon neutrality, the employee share-owned company reveals that 70.64 tonnes of CO2 emissions were removed from the total this year by using renewable energy for electrical consumption. This reflects their strategy to only sign new contracts with renewable energy sources to bring their emissions to zero in this area. Kite continue to express their ambitions to go above and beyond the normal expectations of a business, stemming from a collective desire to do the right thing environmentally and care for the wellbeing of our planet. Kite Packaging’s second year of carbon neutrality powered by employee share-ownership To find out more visit www.kitepackaging.co.uk 24-29.qxp_Layout 1 28/06/2022 11:15 Page 6Next >