M&J Retail - Volume 6, Issue 3, September 2011

This year's Africa Big Seven (AB7) exhibition recorded the best attendance ever in its 10-year history. The composite food and beverage trade show, the biggest on the African continent, attracted exhibitors and visitors from 54 countries, with a visitor total of 8 518, 11% more than in 2010.

Cheese wax is specially made for coating cheeses to prevent moisture loss, reduce mechanical damage and prevent mould growth. It is also a valuable marketing tool, due to the appeal of the various colours used for the different types of cheeses and the emotional appeal of these colours to the consumer.

The popularity of extended shelf life (ESL) products is on the increase worldwide, as consumers enjoy the convenience of a product with a longer shelf life that still tastes fresh, with more of the natural goodness of raw milk remaining intact.

After 17 years of hard work, South Africa will finally see its new food labelling and advertising legislation come into effect in March 2012.

All role-players in the South African food industry must take note of the important changes that are taking place in the local market.

The use of continuous cold chain monitoring technology that transmits real-time data during the entire cold storage and distribution process is becoming increasingly popular in the fruit industry, particularly because it enables retailers to implement 'first expired first out' (FEFO) management, potentially saving millions of rands annually.

For a number of years now, unexpected electricity outages have been a reality in South Africa. Load shedding, cable theft and other technical problems not only interrupt the flow of production, but leave huge losses of both time and money in their wake.

Someone once said: "You do the best you know how - and when you know better, you do better." This is as true in business as it is in life, and it is for this very reason that ongoing research and development is critical for the survival and growth of any industry sector.

The more we know about the properties of milk, the better we can use it to develop more and improved products that will add value to the lives of all our consumers - and the better we can market these products to those very same consumers by informing them of the benefits of including these in their diets. We are then no longer selling products, but rather health and wellbeing.

"A food safety crisis is a crisis of confidence, which leads to distrust in the food safety and quality assurance system, as well as a general distrust of the brand. Inspiring consumer confidence in the safety of the food product is therefore imperative for food companies."

Dairy processing is a sensitive business, mainly due to the fact that the core ingredient, milk, is prone to contamination and spoilage. Every ingredient and every step of the process has to be carefully monitored to ensure that the final product is safe for the consumer. However, manufacturing a safe product is not the end of the line: the product still has to reach the consumer in perfectly good order, which is why package integrity is yet another critical aspect of this business.