Unintended Innovation Consequences of Skirting the Environmental Regulation: Evidence from the Food Processing Industry in China

Internet of Things in food processing and its potential in Industry 4.0 era: A review

We surveyed publicly available records published by the U.S. government between the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and 30 September 2021 to identify documents containing resources or guidelines about COVID-19 mitigation relevant to the U.S. food manufacturing and processing industry. Among 35 documents identified and reviewed (including 34 from government agencies and 1 from a relevant professional association), we extracted 19 categories of mitigation strategies covering the themes of employee biosafety, surveillance, vaccination, social distancing, and worker education. We concluded that the priority of COVID-19 mitigation in the food processing industry was to protect the health and safety of industry workers while maintaining food supply chain resilience to minimize disturbance in the food market and avoid food crises. This collated list of the identified documents and their comprehensive review will (i) aid researchers and public health workers in interpreting the potential impacts of the recommended mitigations on the epidemiology of the disease among workers in the food processing industry and (ii) help the food processing industry sort out the most essential strategies to use during a pandemic.

Vietnam’s food processing and production industries in the past have managed to receive many achievements, contributing heavily to the growth of the country’s economic growth, especially the production index. Even with an increase of 7% per year over the past five years, the industry currently also faces problems and struggles that require business managers to rewrite legal documents and redevelop the business environment as well as the production conditions in order to compete better and use the available resources. Xanthan gum (a food additive and a thickener) is one of the most used ingredients in the food-processing industry. Xanthan gum is utilized in a number of variety of products such as canned products, ice cream, meats, breads, candies, drinks, milk products, and many others. Therefore, in order to improve competitiveness, the stage of selecting raw-material suppliers is a complicated task. The purpose of this study was to develop a new composite model using Triple Bottom Line Metrics, the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) method, and the Combined Compromise Solution (CoCoSo) algorithm for the selection of suppliers. The application process was accomplished for the Xanthan-gum (β-glucopyranose (C35H49O29)n) supplier selection in a food processing industry. In this study, the model building, solution, and application processes of the proposed integrated model for the supplier selection in the food-processing industry are presented.

The food processing industry in India is a sunrise industry, which has been growing above-average and is expected to grow further. Even though India has a large agricultural sector, the food processing industry has traditionally played a small role and it is only recently that it has been promoted as a measure to increase food security and generate employment. Germany’s food processing industry is a well-developed industry that is globally competitive. Nevertheless, it is faced with saturation in the domestic market, as far as conventional foods are concerned. Emerging, significant trends in Germany are health and wellness-enhancing and disease-preventing food products that are often organically produced, procured through fair trade and are increasingly plant-based (vegetarian/vegan), which coincides with the increasing popularity of Ayurveda and Yoga. These trends can be seen as areas where India has been traditionally strong. The two countries, thus, have enormous opportunities to collaborate. While German firms can participate in the growing market of India, Indian firms can benefit from the emerging trends in Germany, which play to India’s deep-rooted advantages. Indian companies can also benefit from the vocational trainings and other skill development programmes well-entrenched in the German food processing industry. In addition, India and Germany can engage in collaborative technology development efforts to develop frugal innovations in the food processing industry and in related sectors such as food processing and packaging equipment. Indo-German collaboration in the food processing industry has benefits that go well beyond the geographic limits of the two nations. The joining of forces can enhance the sustainability of the global food security and contribute to the fight against global food wastage & loss, hunger and poverty.

This paper investigates how inter-organizational learning in networks and global value chains (GVCs) has contributed to resilience in Poland's food processing and clothing industries. The Polish economy has been widely accepted as resilient since Poland's transition from a planned to a market economy. Through drawing on the regional resilience literature, this paper develops a network-oriented framework of sectoral resilience that integrates network evolution, inter-organizational learning in networks, and the role of history. It uses unique primary data from the period of Poland's abovementioned transition (1989–2001), which is complemented with secondary data on the networking activities of Polish firms in the two abovementioned sectors between 2004 and 2018. In turn, the firms' interactive learning is found to function as an important contributor to their path-dependent network trajectories and resilience. Moreover, knowledge networks and GVCs present different dynamics in terms of their effects on learning and result in uneven sectoral resilience. Learning from knowledge spillovers and by interacting with the co-existence of adaptation- and adaptability-related network characteristics has guided both the studied sectors towards developing short-term adaptive capacity for path-extension and sustainability. Learning from advanced science and technology (S&T) and education regarding exclusive adaptability-related network characteristics has driven Poland's food-processing industry's path-evolving long-term capability to be fully resilient.

Supply chain integration has been established as one of the key factors in influencing supply chain effectiveness. In relation to the food processing industry, the need to integrate supply chain initiatives has become more critical as those involved in the food processing and distribution industry are deemed key players whose roles are pertinent in determining supply chain success. Drawing upon the importance of integration, this study establishes the link between supply chain social capital constructs with integration. Based on a final sample size of 184 food manufacturers, a survey was conducted to determine the influence of supply chain relational capital, supply chain structural and supply chain cognitive on the integration of the food processing supply chain. The findings reveal that all three dimensions of supply chain social capital exert significant influence on supply chain integration, thus indicating the importance and relevance of integration among members in the food processing industry. With such findings, the study establishes that both structural and relational elements are of significant importance in ensuring the achievement of ultimate business performance. Although the study has not directly relate supply chain integration with business performance, the direction of the study is substantial to postulate that such relationships is possible and this therefore will be the direction of future study.

This study aims to determine the effect of environmental performance on firm performance and green innovation as mediator in food processing industry companies in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. The type of research used is hypothesis testing with quantitative methods. The sampling technique in this research was non-probability sampling with a purposive sampling technique. The considerations or criteria determined in this study are food processing companies with large and medium scale. The number of samples used in this study were 60 companies. Testing in this study was assisted by the SmartPLS 3.3.3 software. And the results obtained are as follows: Environmental performance has a positive and significant effect on green innovation in the food processing industry in the Special Region of Yogyakarta; Environmental performance has a positive and significant effect on firm performance in the food processing industry in the Special Region of Yogyakarta; Green innovation has a positive and significant effect on company performance in the food processing industry in the Special Region of Yogyakarta; and environmental performance has a positive and significant effect on company performance through green innovation in the food processing industry in the Special Region of Yogyakarta.

Product innovation is an important factor for the performance of enterprises. Based on the Schumpeter’s New Combination theory, this paper analyzes the impact of product innovation on the performance of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in the food processing industry, specifically those led by women. The study utilized a cross-sectional design, and employed stratified random sampling, whereby a total of 297 women entrepreneurs from Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Morogoro, and Dodoma regions participated by completing a structured questionnaire. Additionally, seven (7) women owners of business from each of the involved regions were selected through purposive sampling for Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and one SIDO officer for structured interview. The collected data were analyzed using the Smart PLS Version 3 Software, employing Structural equation modeling (SEM) for measurement purposes. The PLS Algorithm was employed to establish the reliability and validity of the data through a measurement model. Subsequently, the Bootstrap method was utilized in the structural model to assess the relationship between product innovation and the performance of women-led MSEs.The results showed a significant positive effect between product innovation and the performance of food processing women-led MSEs (t=4.261, p=0.000). Furthermore, the study revealed a significant mediating effect of innovative performance between product innovation and women-led food processing MSEs (t=1.981, p=0.006). In conclusion, the study highlights that product innovation enhances the performance of women-led food processing MSEs. This contributes to the theoretical understanding of product innovation and women-led MSEs in the food processing industry, while also providing empirical evidence to support promotion of product innovation by the government agencies responsible for managing women's businesses, with a view to improving their performance.

Ultrafiltration for Food Processing

Purpose - Firms embrace green supply chain management (GSCM) practices to minimize the environmental repercussions of their operations. The food processing industry is one of the largest industries globally, engendering massive waste and emitting greenhouse gases, raising environmental concerns. GSCM has recently gained momentum in developing countries like India due to increasing environmental issues. This exploratory study examines the GSCM practices adopted by Indian food processing firms and investigates their impact on sustainable performance. Methodology/Technique - This study has employed a case study methodology to fulfill the research objectives. Two food processing firms operating in Goa were selected for this purpose. The case study involved semi-structured interviews with supply chain professionals from both firms. Findings - Various GSCM practices identified in the literature are observable within the case study. The results highlight the importance of GSCM practices for attaining sustainability. Findings reveal and reinforce that adopting GSCM practices improves the firms' sustainable performance. Novelty - This article is one of the earliest studies on GSCM in the food processing industry in the Indian context. The research outcomes provide an overview to managers of the food processing firms regarding GSCM practices, their execution, and sustainable performance. Type of Paper - Empirical Keywords: Food Processing Industry; Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM); GSCM Practices; Sustainability; Sustainable Performance. JEL Classification: M10, M11. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Durgaprasad, A.V.S; Prasad, C.V.V.S.N.V. (2022). Green Supply Chain Management Practices: An Exploratory Study of Indian Food Processing Firms, J. Mgt. Mkt. Review, 7(4), 185 – 193. https://doi.org/10.35609/jmmr.2022.7.4(1)

Safety concerns of processed foods in terms of neo-formed contaminants and NOVA classification

A central characteristic of the modern food system in much of the world is an increasing distance between producer and consumer. With the rise of the food industry, especially over the last two hundred years, most agricultural products undergo varying degrees of processing between the farm and the table. This article explores many different aspects of the industry that has arisen around those food processing steps, which turn raw materials from nature into processed food products that are then marketed to consumers. The “food processing industry” as used here refers to the commercial activities that accompany the transformation of raw plants and living animals into mass-produced food products, which can include a wide variety of physical, chemical, and biological processing steps. The food products that result range from minimally processed to ultra-processed (to use terms common under the widely-used NOVA classification scheme developed by researchers in Brazil), but all have some degree of transformation from their original state as plants and animals. Many of the works cited here focus on the United States, given its outsized influence in the agrifood industry, but attention is also paid to aspects of the food processing industry in other parts of the world, as a global food system has grown, often shaped by the market forces and corporate decisions of companies in the United States. The US-focused scholarship offers central insights to understanding the past, present, and future of the food processing industry around the world. Outside of industry professionals themselves, scholars from a wide variety of disciplines have studied the food processing industry—including from history, geography, sociology, public health, political science, economics, cultural studies, journalism, and many others—with all the methods and approaches these fields offer. These studies have variously examined the technologies used in food processing and preservation; the nutrition science that has informed food fortification; specific sectors of the food processing industry (with the meat industry highlighted in this article); specific demographics for which specialty processed foods are prepared (with an example of infant feeding here); and the labor issues and organization efforts that the food processing industry has experienced. Beyond the food processing factories themselves, studies of the regulatory, financial, economic, transportation, and marketing structures that inform the food processing industry and its impacts have also been central. The food industry in the twenty-first century has become the subject of many debates that are key to determining the direction of our modern world. Activists push back against the food processing industry for the ways in which it can endanger human and environmental health, along with the safety, autonomy, and security of the communities it affects. Commentators and stakeholders debate whether and how processed food can contribute to a sustainable future.

Industrial food processing and its possible adverse effects on health are widely debated in scientific literature and media. There is not much known about consumers’ attitudes towards the processing of foods. Therefore, a questionnaire (n = 463) was distributed and interviews (n = 11) were conducted with Dutch consumers to evaluate the attitudes and associations towards industrial food processing and to assess opinions about communications on food processing and health. The results showed that 51% of the respondents had a neutral, 23% had a positive, and 26% had a negative attitude towards food processing. Respondents with a background in food by profession or education (n = 159) had more frequently a positive attitude towards food processing (P = 0.008). Respondents and interviewees pointed out both positive and negative associations with industrial processing: additives, artificial, not fresh, low nutritional value, unnatural, but also palatability, food safety, shelf life, and convenience. The questionnaire showed that 70% of the respondents thought food processing had a (slightly) negative health effect. Most interviewees indicated that when doing groceries, food processing per se is not relevant in food choices, although some critically inspected the ingredients. Furthermore, interviewees indicated that communication about food and health is scattered and complex. They would like to gain easy and straightforward information from a central source. From the questionnaire respondents, 60% indicated that they would like to have more information about food processing. In conclusion, most Dutch consumers in this study have a neutral and nuanced attitude towards industrial food processing. A connection with food via profession or education showed a more positive attitude, which may indicate the importance of knowledge and the need for clear communication about nutrition, ingredients, and food processing.

Food processing using local materials has the potential to create employment and income-generating opportunities for smallholder farmers and rural communities. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), the food manufacturing sector is small, and is dominated by a small number of foreign companies using primarily imported ingredients. To address these issues, the “Development of a food processing and preservation industry” was identified by the PNG government as one of the priority programs for agricultural development in the National Agricultural Development Plan. The objective of this study was to assess the challenges and opportunities for developing a locally owned food processing sector in PNG using sweetpotato as a test case. The research involved an extensive literature review of sweetpotato processing research and development activities in PNG, as well as in China and Africa where such research and development activities have been the most extensive. Results showed that, given the current environment, promoting sweetpotato processing into commercially viable enterprises will be challenging. However, if the PNG government is determined to develop a food processing industry, sweetpotato processing can be used as a pilot both to build research and development capacity for food processing and to investigate whether and how an efficient food processing industry can be developed.

Chapter 13 - Food Processing and Beverage Industry