Frozen Food Market Expected to Reach $306B by 2020

Freezing food has long been used as an effective technique to preserve food. Unfortunately for much of human history it was limited to colder climates and specific times of the year. This of course changed in the early 20th century with the rise of ice boxes, which would later lead to residential freezers. This allowed everyone to have access to preserving their food through freezing. It didn’t take long for food companies to catch on to the new potential market and started offering frozen food products that are bought this way. The TV dinner was one of the first to pioneer the frozen ready-meals to great success. It wasn’t long before nearly everything was available in a frozen form for those who need it, whether that is meat, vegetables and fruit, or desserts. Today this isn’t even given a second thought but at the time it was an innovation of convenience.

Today the frozen food industry has grown and expanded beyond what they ever thought possible at the time. Consumers can purchase everything from whole meal frozen that just need to be thrown in the oven to small snack that can be heated up in a microwave. According to a report by Allied Market Research in Portland Oregon, it is expected that the global frozen food industry will reach $306 billion of revenue in 2020. Europe and North America account for over 70% of the revenue. A lot of this is thanks to the food service industry within these countries. And while frozen ready-meals are the largest share in the overall market, accounting for about a third of the revenue, frozen healthy snacks drive the retail market. They have experience a surge in popularity as consumers seek out high quality foods and this mini market expected to continue to grow. These numbers will only continue to do up since the frozen foods market has not even peaked yet. Developing markets in Asia and Africa are on the rise and frozen foods will come to the forefront in the coming years.

These figures are just an example of how expansive the frozen food industry is. It spans the globe and relies on multiple places to prepare one product due to ingredients, manufacturing location, and packaging. Due to this it is important for governments and institutions to place regulations on these large corporations in order to ensure that nothing harmful ends up in the food which will then be consumed by the population. One ongoing concern particular is metal. Recent decades have seen a growing reliance on machinery for fast and efficient food production. They are effective and remove instances of human error. Unfortunately these machines are made of metal and fragments finding their way into the product is a possibility. Grocery Manufacturer’s Association (GMA) 2011 study found that 58% of companies in the study have experienced one or more product recalls in the past 5 years due to foreign objects in their packaging. Luckily food grade metal detectors have been developed with the intention of combating this, and are now required in most countries to ensure the safety of the consumers. The investment in these machines are not only required, but it protects everyone involved including the companies that manufactures the food. They protect the company’s brand and reputation amongst consumers and eliminates the possibility of suits being taken against them.

There are many different kinds of industrial metal detectors available on the market for all needs. There is a wide range of quality and ability, and what is needed often is dependent upon the product being manufactured. Some only detect ferrous metals (containing iron and magnetic as a result) while others also will catch non ferrous metals (not containing iron and non-magnetic). For some, non-ferrous metals are not a concern and they have the machines that fit are best in these cases. Most opt for metal detectors which fill find both. This is no surprise considering that most companies would rather be as sure as they can be that no metal fragments are finding their way into the food which will be put into supermarkets. After all, non-ferrous and ferrous metals have no difference in the damage that they could do.

When looking for an industrial metal detector it is important to look into the quality of the machines and the reputation of the metal detector manufacturers. These machines are definitely worth an investment, but it is important to not waste money on one that is poor quality. This will cost even more money in the long run for replacements. Look for manufacturers with machines that have long life spans and can be updated as necessary. This will ultimately protect the brand as well as the general population, let alone save everyone from the expensive process of recalling product.