bake - January/February 2024 - 33

robots, according to the PMMI report.
More than one in four (25%) warehouses
will have some form of automation
installed by 2027, leaping from
just 14% in 2017 and 18% at the end of
2021. The PMMI survey shows that less
than 20% of CPG firms operate mostly
automated warehouses today, and very
few report they are fully automated.
As another PMMI report, 2022 The
Future of Automation in Packaging and Processing,
highlights, the most immediate challenge in 2022 was
the lack of available labor. For some companies, it was
a case of automating the line or stopping production.
Firms are starting to realize that a piecemeal approach
to automation can be effective. Companies are increasingly
demanding flexibility from their operations and
the ability to alter output from production lines to meet
fluctuating levels of demand.
Technology and sustainability
What is clear is that environmental factors are influencing
the future of the bakery packaging industry and related
factors. The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a
nonprofit scientific organization committed to advancing
the science of food and its application across the global
food system, recently released a white paper that examines
how existing and novel processing technologies
could help improve global food and nutrition security.
" With the global population
expected to reach nearly 10 billion
by 2050, the demand for safe,
nutritious, and accessible food
will only continue to increase. "
IFT chief science and technology officer Bryan Hitchcock
Food Science and Technology Solutions to Improve
Food and Nutrition Security: Sustainable Production of
Nutritious Foods Through Processing Technology is the
result of a virtual roundtable discussion organized by IFT's
Food & Nutrition Security Steering Committee (FNSSC)
that focused on utilizing existing and novel processing
technologies to help better preserve nutritional quality.
IFT's Food and Nutrition Security Steering Committee
(FNSSC), formed in 2021, previously organized a roundtable
on the biggest food loss and waste challenges,
resulting in the release of a white paper in 2023.
" With the global population expected to reach nearly
10 billion by 2050, the demand for safe, nutritious, and
accessible food will only continue to increase, as will
the need to conserve natural resources. Processing
technology can help bridge the gap between these two
necessities, " says IFT chief science and technology officer
Bryan Hitchcock. " This white paper highlights the important
role of food processing and identifies opportunities
for scaling processing technologies
to improve nutrition quality. "
Some of the challenges outlined
in the white paper that the global
food community must address
to maximize the benefits of
processing technology include
a lack of up-to-date and aligned
regulations, limited public-private
funding support, unoptimized technology,
and inaccurate consumer
knowledge about food processing.
Innovative equipment
Hobart has announced the availability
of its new HSL130 spiral
mixer. This 130-pound capacity
model rounds out the company's
spiral mixer offering, which also
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