TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION IN FOOD PROCESSING

The agro-food companies are required, despite the traditional nature of its market, to include the rinnovation facto in their technology and production processes.

 

This implies a multilevel process, directly supervised by management of the company, to affect all levels of the organization depertamentales. However, the innovation processes that generate improvements in technology or production systems should only be estimated as to pose a significant contribution outside the company or advantage, whether the market and, preferably, appreciable by the consumer.

 

Innovation in all its facets, can be classified under the following approaches:

  • Product: Improvement and development of new products manufacture and marketing, by providing productive and technological advantages.
  • Process: Implementation of new processes to improve production or  manufacturing efficiency, by technological and commercial perspectives.
  • Service: Development and optimization of services strong market demand.
  • Technique: Focus on existing products, developing consumer appreciable improvements.
  • Applied: Involves the use of existing technologies for producing new products. (biotechnology, microelectronics, ICT, etc.): -
  • Bursting: Through the development of new services, products and processes, this innovation model is certainly the biggest advantages that allows businesses, resulting even in new patterns of consumption.

In any case, the innovation must be conceived as a means of joint activities involving interdependence professional, productive and commercial processes and especially the technologies of the company, both internally and externally, by detecting the needs market and feasibility and implementation.

 

In our context, technological innovation or process through which an improved production process technology is adopted, the average has been, is and will be essential in meeting the basic needs of a growing and increasingly demanding population seeking greater social welfare, thanks to the improvement in the production and marketing of food.

 

Historically, both the use of fire, as the processes of grinding, drying and salting, supposed revolutionary advances in the field of food processing. Today, advances in optimization of Conservation and Quality are the main areas of research in the development of the PIT (Process Innovation), not to mention those related to growing consumer demand in developing new processed products (precooked rations, snacks ...) and improvements in the final processing of the same (eg, nutritional mayor.valor. )

 

Major sectoral research in the field of PIT are oriented towards microbial inactivation techniques , which allow the destruction of germs, among which are : ionizing radiation, HHP , PEF , high pressure homogenization , UV decontamination , high-intensity laser , ultrasound or magnetic fields . The process of high-pressure and pulsed electric field do not require the application of heat , so it is economical treatments with very low residue levels. Other techniques allow increasing the useful life of processed products such as HHP ( hidrstática high pressure ) , which can affect cell membranes, proteins , and impidienfdo eliminating the formation of bacterial pathogens . The use of this technique, which requires no heat increase has already been tested in some processed foods like jams , jellies , sauces and juices , while their natural employment will be in the future of milk and its derivatives (which also reduces the impact of allergenicity .

 

Finally, note the progress made by the Institute of Food Science Research (CSIC and Universidad Autonoma de Madrid) in innovation in new food products: Patent derivative egg white of bacterially innocuous, more manageable, which can be re-installed after a while and make light and soft foams; bread with 45% less calories, more fiber and a homogenous texture ... Or improvements in food freeze drying processes that allow the development of new textures and flavors by freezing and sublimation pressure processed foods.

 

As we see, the possibilities related to the implementation of technology and production processes in the food business innovation constitute a differential advantage competitivaa allows organizations greater and more flexible adaptation to the demands and needs of the market. In GÉMINA we are constantly researching in these fields for adding to our range of machinery and services (http://www.gemina.es/maq.php). We now know them and would also delighted that counted your experiences with PIT in your company.

 

 

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