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FOOD INDUSTRY RESEARCH AND

DEVELOPMENT

Mary D. Earle and Richard L. Earle

INTRODUCTION

The basic aim of food industry research and development (R&D) is to

create new products and launch them successfully m the market. Some
specific aims of strategic R&D are to: reduce costs which lowers product
prices; enhance sensory properties that make food more attractive;
improve nutritional value to provide for dietary needs; improve food
safety; add convenience; and offer greater choices of food items to
consumers. These benefits come either from constant gradual product
improvement or a significant product step change. The latter usually
comes from new technology-crop, ingredient, process, storage-but it can
also come from a new understanding of consumer needs.
R&D extends over the total food system and uses multidisciplinary
research because of the great diversity in the biological sciences and
technologies that are the scientific base of the food system. The end is
always consumer satisfaction, which includes not only the health and
safety of the consumer but also the environment and those who produce the
food .
The processing and manufacturing sections of the food industry include
a few large multinationals and many small companies. While the
ultimate aim of all of their R&D is the same, their knowledge and
resource bases are very different. Small companies usually concentrate
their R&D where they have strong specialist knowledge. A large
company needs research in many areas and is faced with the problems of
integrating the research and coordinating it with the company's operating
sections. Both sized companies aim at effective product development and
successful launching of new products. Communication and complexity in
L. T. Wallace et al. (eds.), Government and the Food Industry: Economic and Political Effects of
Conflict and Co-Operation, © Kluwer Academic Publishers 1997
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the food system itself pose problems for both large and small firms.
Should government have a part in food industry R&D? The answer is
yes because of three main interests: the protection of public health, the
creation of wealth, and the enhancement of scientific knowledge. All
people are food consumers, and most are aware of the risks and benefits of
food research and its technological applications. Political pressure has
been exerted for over 150 years to provide inexpensive and abundant food;
for over 75 years to provide safe foods; and within the last 25 years, to
produce food while sustaining the environment.
The food industry is always a substantial component of any country's
industrial base and export potential. Recent concerns about food
increasingly extend across governments and trade areas, activated by
issues such as hunger, famine, contamination problems, and the
complexities of modem food science and technology.

RESEARCH IN THE FOOD SYSTEM

The food system, which is an involved network, moves materials and

products along a chain. It includes production input people, farmers and
fishers, processors, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and distributors.
For example, wheat from the farm is sorted and cleaned by specialized
technology; then ground into flours and brans which are separated into
flour, starch and glutens; the starch is treated to change its properties; and
the flour, starch and gluten are recombined to make bread, cookies,
extruded snacks, gravy powders, cake mixes, soup mixes, canned meals, and
sausages. For some raw food materials, the process may involve even more
steps, while for others, the material can go almost directly to restaurants
or retailers. Hence, food research means many things, ,md often, the only
common feature is that the final food product is eaten.
Production Research. Everything starts with gathering or
cultivating crops, raising or hunting fish, birds and animals. Commercial
farming produces most raw food materials and is also rapidly becoming
important for fish cultivation. Food production research includes design of
the final foods, design of the raw materials to satisfy the next customer
link in the food chain, and control of production to give consistent quality
and food safety.
With increasing consumer demands for "natural" and "fresh" foods,
there is corresponding pressure to start food product design in the field.
Recent developments in molecular biology related to plant breeding
promise real possibilities for multidisciplinary research by molecular
biologists, plant breeders and food scientists to design and develop specific
foods. These will be a source of step-change innovation. Already, the
apple industry is developing and launching a continuous stream of
different types of apples (Braebum, Fuji, Pacific Rosp). The kiwifruit