martin kersh, executive director, foodservice packaging association contemplates the year aheadthe number of meals consumed away from the home is very likely to continue to grow with foodservice operators&rsquo sales expanding across all the daytime eating sectors and the public viewing takeaway food as a costeffective, timeefficient and more attractive alternative to onestop grocery shopping. high street grocers are certainly not sitting back and allowing the takeaway sector to nibble at their sales and are responding strongly.my prediction for 2015 is that we are going to witness a growth in mission shopping whereby consumers conduct a grocery shop with one specific meal in mind. this will lead to growth in singlesize servings that can be stored in the deep freeze, cooked to perfection in the microwave and consumed safely on the go directly from one piece of packaging. the obvious items are hot wraps and sandwiches but packaging ingenuity will see a range of other items presented in this way. the important point is that the packaging will ensure there is no compromise on flavour, texture or taste while providing excellent convenience. this will provide sales to high street grocers but not be at the expense of the foodtogo sector which will continue to grow.street food is undoubtedly going to exert a major impact on foodservice packaging with designs set to mirror the farmtostall freshness, internationalism, imagination and sheer range of the food on offer. new food trends emerge all the time and packaging design will be working to reflect these trends with packaging designed for specific new foodservice items. designs will also ensure more of the contents can be seen while copy will reflect even more so ingredients and provenance.further developments will hopefully take place with regard to reducing food waste with packaging developments enabling food to be kept in prefect condition for longer. this may require some additional packaging material but i believe society is slowly beginning to recognise the role packaging has in reducing food waste and may come to accept that using a little more material can be an acceptable price to pay for greater food protection.packaging will also have to continue to deal with media and political scaremongering with regard to some of its ingredients. of course, if science proves a chemical is unsafe then packaging manufacturers will work to find a safe alternative. we can be confident that the uk packaging industry will respond quickly and intelligently both to the opportunities presented in the foodservice sector and to any threats that are directed its way. 
