With the food and beverage industry facing so many challenges, from rising raw material costs and implementing more stringent food safety plans to GMO labeling legislation changes and workforce shortages, here’s some good news for a change.
Food and beverage manufacturers at all levels are opening up their wallets, it seems. Preliminary results from Food Engineering’s Annual State of Food Manufacturing Survey point not only to increased plant throughput, but also to increased capital spending. According to study respondents, current budgets are earmarked for updating processing and packaging equipment—an essential way for operations to improve efficiency and tackle flexibility challenges. Food Engineering will reveal the full results of this key study in the September issue.