From 5 to 8 July this year SuperFood took part in the international exhibition “Innoprom”, which was held in Yekaterinburg.
The event was dedicated to the topic of flexible manufacturing. Innoprom is about innovation, science and international business.
The development of robotics, new technologies, digitalization – all this, it would seem, is difficult to correlate with the topic of specialized nutrition. But only at first glance.
One of the discussed projects at the exhibition is FoodNet, and from the word “Food” it is easy to guess that food is “involved” here.
In this article, we will discuss the prospects for the food market and why the specialty food segment is conceived as “smart” and technological.
So, in short, FoodNet is the world’s largest food market focused on the creation and development of technologies in the food and agricultural industries. Simply put – the plan for the development of domestic agriculture, which optimizes all stages of the “life” of products – from production to production and disposal. The main goal of the project is the availability and improvement of the quality of our food.
FoodNet has a specific set of market segment groups, and here are the key ones:
- “Smart” agriculture, which is characterized by high productivity through the introduction of new technologies and systems;
- High-tech product supply chains;
- Organic and biologized agriculture (where environmental friendliness plays a significant role);
- Alternative sources of both raw materials and food;
- And of course, personalized and specialized meals.
All of these groups have common “levers” for the development of the industry. Namely, high-tech solutions. According to FoodNet’s idea, by 2035 it is necessary to introduce the main technological trends:
- Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence;
- Optimization of domestic systems and information bases, their transparency and security, including the introduction of financial technologies;
- Systems for sounding and mapping the terrain;
- Introduction of new biomaterials;
- Development of robotics, automation of processes in the food industry;
- 3D-printing;
- Raising the level of consumer knowledge about products and equipment, building an emotional connection with the client;
- The development of genomic and biotechnology and so on.
Let’s return to our special food market – no less important than others within the FoodNet project. According to the idea, the quality of food will increase significantly if you pay attention to each segment: products and equipment for specialized and functional food – their quality, availability; implementation of digital solutions – services, databases of information about products, consumer health, and so on; products and equipment (including home equipment) for personalized nutrition, individual nutritional supplements;
Therefore, robotics, information technology, environmental friendliness of products and packaging, new technologies are not something “distant”: these are prospects that are aimed at improving the quality of life. Manufacturing is cyclical, flexible, and all changes, innovations and trends strongly influence the market for specialized products.