Expiration dates, packaging conditions, and product look, feel and taste are all considerations in consumer purchase decisions when reaching for meat and poultry.

How are sustainability efforts affecting packaging decisions?

While still being released at a staggered pace, some compliance and enforcement deadlines for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) are finally seeing the light of day.

It's no secret that e-commerce differs from traditional retail outlets, with more touchpoints involved before a product reaches a customer. And thus, the changes in shopping habits will also mean packaging and supply chain challenges.

The demand for easily recyclable material (and machinery that can handle such material) in this sector is expected to continue growing, according to the State of the Industry – U.S. Packaging Machinery Report 2017 from PMMI.

As brand manufacturers continue to source from an ever-growing list of ingredients and suppliers, food is now the fourth most valuable counterfeit market, according to the 2016 Brand Protection and Product Traceability Market Research Report.

The U.S. packaging machinery market is expected to increase 4.8 percent from 2015 to 2016, coming in with a total market value of $9.8 billion.

Within the layered approach to brand protection are overt technologies — barcodes, holograms, watermarks, embossing and etching — and covert technologies — taggants, UV, infrared and fluorescent inks, Smart technology and radio frequency identification (RFID).

Amazon recently bought Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, and as soon as it was finalized, the eCommerce giant started including more groceries online — successfully.