the survey regarding food trend that was conducted by dnv business assurance in germany reveals that ecofriendly packaging is an existing major concern in the beverage and food industry. other main concerns are waste management and energy management. first carried out in july 2011, 500 quality managers and directors in the food and packaging industries based in germany have been interviewed for this survey so far. the survey regularly measures the changes on selected industry issues over the span of three years, and episodic analyses are published. the interviewed people rate a set of factors on a range from 3 not active to 3 very active. food manufacturers are facing many challenges regarding selecting the right kind of packaging for their products. dr. andrea niemannhaberhausen is a manager of food services at dnv business assurance based at germany. dr. andrea said that producers must fulfill the needs of the retailer in terms of packaging. she further said that, along with this, the packaging must be easy for the user, capable of containing all the information necessitate by law, yet little enough to still remain sensible and permit for marketing elements. on the top of all this, the packaging must fulfill demands for food safety. on the other hand, among the consumers, environmental requirements are everhigher on the agenda. dr. niemannhaberhausen further mentioned that the packaging should be environmentally friendly and sustainable. companies have a lot of factors to take into consideration in order to select the right solution for their product and to survive in the market competition. there are a lot of options available within environmentally friendly packaging carbon neutral films, biodegradable plastic packaging that is made up of renewable raw materials, packaging made of natural fabrics or laminated plastic and paper. it is also essential to make sure that the material used for packaging itself is conscientiously produced. it is not always that a biodegradable material is sustainably produced. andrea niemannhaberhausen further says that there are a lot options, and what is measured as best practice changes continuously. andrea continues that the situation needs close cooperation between food companies, packaging manufacturers, and retailers to constantly make improvements in packaging materials while adhering with food safety standards. it is a responsibility of each company to search the correct packaging material that fulfills food safety, functional as well as environmental demands, and the companies should practice it as a continuous effort. andrea niemannhaberhausen also mentioned that many companies are taking an active approach for this initiative. source of information httpwww.dnvba.comglobalinformationresourcesnewspagesecofriendlypackagingont…
