Globalization has become an essential way to expand international food trade and to bridge the gap between demand and supply. However, this expansion has also increased the threat...
Food safety has always been a major concern among consumers but recently there's been rising awareness on healthy and nutritive diet. In addition, mishaps surrounding food contamination incidents coupled with increasing awareness on the ingredients and food production has been influencing consumer preferences towards safer and healthier products, according to a report by IndustryARC. Due to mounting food contamination cases across the globe, the food & beverages industry has been under consistent pressure to comply with the procurement, processing and packaging standards set by respective regulatory agencies. Furthermore, governments in many countries have been tightening regulatory frameworks and mandating food testing in the value chain to ensure consumer safety and health. Tracing food through the production and distribution chain is essential to identify and address risks and to protect public health. Traceability is a risk-management tool which allows food business operators or authorities to withdraw or recall products which have been identified as unsafe. The global market for food traceability technologies is set to reach USD15 billion by 2021 from USD10.7 billion in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7%, from 2016 to 2021, according to a recent report by BCC Research. The market is categorized based on equipment, technology, software, services, applications and end user markets. Equipment, technology, and software segment include smartPDA with GPS, thermal printers, 2D and 1D scanners, durable labels and tags, sensors, barcodes, RFID/RTLS,GPS, infrared technology and biometrics. Service segments may include online traceability services, technology integration services, customized services and others. Key application areas comprise of meat traceability, fresh produce and seeds, dairy products, beverages, fisheries and aquaculture and others. The end user markets include food manufacturers, warehouse/pack farm, food retailer, defense and security departments, government departments and others. The barcode technology segment of the global food traceability market is the largest market. It is expected to grow from USD7.8 billion in 2016 to USD9.5 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 4.2% between 2016 and 2021. The RFID/RTLS technology segment is expected to grow from USD2 billion in 2016 to USD4.3 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 17% for the period 2016-2021. Food traceability is an important part of quality control, which helps with brand enhancement by the manufacturer. When a company culture focuses on food safety, it makes it not only commercially viable, but also ensures longevity and competitiveness as a result of its strong reputation. High quality products produced by market-leaders offer reliability to customers and where food producers operate in the business to business sector, clients can be confident of their own protection as a supplier to the public. When manufactures adopt traceability to ensure food safety, this will enable them to control production and maintain high standards, but it requires team engagement from the boardroom to distribution. It is vital for food businesses when identifying a risk to trace it back to its source in order to swiftly isolate the problem and prevent contaminated products from reaching consumers.