Appropriate Food Packaging (Materials and methods for small businesses)

Food manufacturers operating on a small to medium scale face direct competition from the large-scale food sector whose economies of scale, better presentation and powerful marketing can endanger the future of smaller businesses. High quality packaging not only helps to keep products in good condition it lies at the very heart of food presentation and customer appeal. It is thus an area of vital importance for any small to medium scale food manufacturers competing in today's marketplace. Appropriate Food Packaging is a compendium of packaging materials and cost-effective methods that can be applied at a small to medium scale in developing countries. This book helps manufacturers to face the challenges that improving their packaging systems present, including assessing whether increased sales will justify the investment costs, and the very real difficulties faced in many developing countries of sourcing suitable packaging materials. The economic, operational and human resource implications of changes in packaging methods are considered, as too are the potentially negative environmental effects of modern food packaging.