The need to remain flexible in an era of industry consolidation and economic uncertainty is the driving force behind expenditures for new food plant construction, expansions and renovations.
While increased spending on automation and higher levels of plant hygiene is what you can expect to see in place in more food plants in the 21st Century, recent consolidations and economic turmoil did not hinder our efforts to uncover over 525 projects planned or underway in 2001. The need for food plants to remain flexible is proven by the statistics of this survey: plant renovations and expansions outnumbered greenfield projects by a margin of about three to one.