Food industry

Packaged food aisles at an American grocery store

Parmigiano reggiano Cheese in a modern factory

Hens in a battery cage in Brazil, an example of intensive animal farming

The food industry is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that supply most of the food consumed by the world population. Only subsistence farmers, those who survive on what they grow, can be considered outside of the scope of the modern food industry.

The food industry includes:

• Agriculture: raising of crops and livestock, and seafood
• Manufacturing: agrichemicals, agricultural construction, farm machinery and supplies, seed, etc.
• Food processing: preparation of fresh products for market, and manufacture of prepared food products
• Marketing: promotion of generic products (e.g., milk board), new products, advertising, marketing campaigns, packaging, public relations, etc.
• Wholesale and distribution: logistics, transportation, warehousing
• Foodservice (which includes Catering)
• Grocery, farmers' markets, public markets and other retailing
• Regulation: local, regional, national, and international rules and regulations for food production and sale, including food quality, food safety, marketing/advertising, and industry lobbying activities
• Education: academic, consultancy, vocational
• Research and development: food technology
• Financial services: credit, insurance

Definitions

It is challenging to find an inclusive way to cover all aspects of food production and sale. The Food Standards Agency, a government body in India, describes it thusly:

"...the whole food industry – from farming and food production, packaging and distribution, to retail and catering."

The Economic Research Service of the USDA uses the term food system to describe the same thing:

"The U.S. food system is a complex network of farmers and the industries that link to them. Those links include makers of farm equipment and chemicals as well as firms that provide services to agribusinesses, such as providers of transportation and financial services. The system also includes the food marketing industries that link farms to consumers, and which include food and fiber processors, wholesalers, retailers, and foodservice establishments."

Agriculture and agronomy

Main articles: Agriculture and Agronomy

A soybean field in Junin, Argentina

Agriculture is the process of producing food, feeding products, fiber and other desired products by the cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (livestock). The practice of agriculture is also known as "farming". Scientists, inventors, and others devoted to improving farming methods and implements are also said to be engaged in agriculture. 1 in 3 people worldwide are employed in agriculture, yet it only contributes 3% to global GDP.

Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, fibre, and land reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences. Agronomists today are involved with many issues including producing food, creating healthier food, managing environmental impact of agriculture, and extracting energy from plants.

Food processing

Main article: Food processing

Packaged meat in a supermarket

Food processing includes the methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food for human consumption. Food processing takes clean, harvested or slaughtered and butchered components and uses them to produce marketable food products. There are several different ways in which food can be produced.

One off production: This method is used when customers make an order for something to be made to their own specifications, for example a wedding cake. The making of one-off products could take days depending on how intricate the design is.

Batch production: This method is used when the size of the market for a product is not clear, and where there is a range within a product line. A certain number of the same goods will be produced to make up a batch or run, for example a bakery may bake a limited number of cupcakes. This method involves estimating consumer demand.

Mass production: This method is used when there is a mass market for a large number of identical products, for example chocolate bars, ready meals and canned food. The product passes from one stage of production to another along a production line.

Just-in-time (JIT) (production): This method of production is mainly used in restaurants. All components of the product are available in-house and the customer chooses what they want in the product. It is then prepared in a kitchen, or in front of the buyer as in sandwich delicatessens, pizzerias, and sushi bars.

Wholesale and distribution

A foodservice truck at a loading dock. Trucks commonly distribute food products to commercial businesses and organizations.

A vast global cargo network connects the numerous parts of the industry. These include suppliers, manufacturers, warehousers, retailers and the end consumers. Wholesale markets for fresh food products have tended to decline in importance in urbanizing countries, including Latin America and some Asian countries as a result of the growth of supermarkets, which procure directly from farmers or through preferred suppliers, rather than going through markets.

The constant and uninterrupted flow of product from distribution centers to store locations is a critical link in food industry operations. Distribution centers run more efficiently, throughput can be increased, costs can be lowered, and manpower better utilized if the proper steps are taken when setting up a material handling system in a warehouse.

Retail

With worldwide urbanization, food buying is increasingly removed from food production. During the 20th century, the supermarket became the defining retail element of the food industry. There, tens of thousands of products are gathered in one location, in continuous, year-round supply.

Food preparation is another area where the change in recent decades has been dramatic. Today, two food industry sectors are in apparent competition for the retail food dollar. The grocery industry sells fresh and largely raw products for consumers to use as ingredients in home cooking. The food service industry by contrast offers prepared food, either as finished products, or as partially prepared components for final "assembly". Restaurants, cafes, bakeries and mobile food trucks provide opportunities for consumers to purchase food.

Food industry technologies

The Passaic Agricultural Chemical Works, an agrochemical company, in Newark, New Jersey, 1876

Modern food production is defined by sophisticated technologies. These include many areas. Agricultural machinery, originally led by the tractor, has practically eliminated human labor in many areas of production. Biotechnology is driving much change, in areas as diverse as agrochemicals, plant breeding and food processing. Many other types of technology are also involved, to the point where it is hard to find an area that does not have a direct impact on the food industry. As in other fields, computer technology is also a central force, with computer networks and specialized software providing the support infrastructure to allow global movement of the myriad components involved.

Marketing

Main articles: Food marketing and Agricultural marketing

As consumers grow increasingly removed from food production, the role of product creation, advertising, and publicity become the primary vehicles for information about food. With processed food as the dominant category, marketers have almost infinite possibilities in product creation.

Labor and education

Some equipment at Tartu Mill, the largest grain milling company in the Baltic states. Modern food processing factories are often highly automated and need few workers.

Until the last 100 years, agriculture was labor intensive. Farming was a common occupation and millions of people were involved in food production. Farmers, largely trained from generation to generation, carried on the family business. That situation has changed dramatically today. In North America, only a few decades ago over 50% of the population were farm families. Now, that figure is around 1-2%, and about 80% of the population lives in cities. The food industry as a complex whole requires an incredibly wide range of skills. Several hundred occupation types exist within the food industry.

By country

• Food industry in Bangladesh
• Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (Moldova)
• Food industry of Russia

See also

General:

• Agricultural economics
• Dietary supplement
• Factory farming
• Flavor masker
• Food and Bioprocess Technology
• Food chemistry
• Food engineering
• Food fortification
• Food grading
• Food microbiology
• Food packaging
• Food preservation
• Food rheology
• Food safety
• Food science
• Food storage
• Food supplements
• Food technology
• Geography of food
• Nutraceutical
• Nutrification (aka food enrichment or fortification)
• Produce

Book, film, TV and web-related exposés and critiques of the food industry:

• Criticism of fast food
• Eat This, Not That (nonfiction series published in Men's Health magazine)
• Fast Food Nation (2001 nonfiction book)
  • Chew On This (2005 book adaptation of Fast Food Nation for younger readers)
  • Fast Food Nation (2006 documentary film)
• Food, Inc. (2008 documentary film)
• Panic Nation (2006 nonfiction book)
• Super Size Me (2004 documentary film)
• The Jungle (1906 novel by Upton Sinclair that exposed health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century, based on an investigation he did for a socialist newspaper)

Further reading

• 534 pages.
• 448 pages.
• 836 pages.
• 301 pages.