There’s always room for innovation in packaging and processing, and snack producers have a few ideas in mind for packaging and processing machinery to improve their operations.
That’s according to PMMI Business Intelligence’s 2024 “Snack Foods Packaging Trends” report, where Business Intelligence researchers surveyed and interviewed several snack producers on their outlook of the snack foods market, emerging machinery and market trends, and current challenges.
A push for automation
One factor participants say drives innovation is the consumer-driven market growth for on-the-go products. This is fostering innovation in both new products and automation and is top of mind for these snack producers.
Demand for these on-the-go products could be a contributing factor in an overall push for packaging automation. As one director of quality assurance for a dessert company explains, “I think everybody is finding that they’re needing to automate their processes more. There’s going to be a big push to get more automation on the packaging side, and that’s going to be a boon for the industry.”
Snack producers also want their automated equipment to be better equipped for troubleshooting. Participants noted a desire for parts that are better labeled for cleaning and reassembling, as well as better self-cleaning equipment.
Added versatility in automated machinery to handle multiple packaging types and food items would be beneficial, participants also noted.
“Our ownership is really interested in growing through innovation. Innovation in both new products and new packaging,” said a manager of packaging at a candy company in the report. “Typically, what we try to do is kick off new products with minimal investment. We’ll either kick them off at a co-packer, or we will kick them off on a slower line that’s more hand packed and not quite so automated. And then, if it does really well, in year one or year two we’ll make the investment. Our ownership is so interested in innovation and has made it very clear that that’s going to be a very big priority for us moving forward. At some point in the future, we’re going to have to invest in it to support that.”
Innovation in food safety and modularity of packaging and processing machinery
Participants noted a desire for improved processes for x-rays, magnets, and other ways to keep food safe, even though these technologies take up additional room in their plants.
Though most snack foods are considered dry foods and have less USDA/FDA regulation, ensuring products are safe and free of foreign materials is top of mind for people in the industry.
Snack producers also would like an increased focus on modularity. They would like the ability to add or subtract machinery pieces based on what is being packaged that day. The focus is on using machinery to do any tasks that can free a person’s time for other activities.
SOURCE: PMMI Business Intelligence: 2024 Snack Foods Packaging Trends
For more insights from PMMI’s Business Intelligence team, find reports, including “2024 The AI Advantage in Equipment: Boosting Performance and Bridging Skills Gap” and “2024 Transforming Packaging and Processing Operations” at pmmi.org/business-intelligence.
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