Food innovation

Innovations are an important part of the further advancement of societies in

general as well as of companies in particular. Individuals can benefit from the

advantages of innovations, while companies can maintain or increase their market

share and profitability. However, especially in the food sector, scientific or technological

innovations often encounter mistrust and rejecting reactions from consumers, resulting

in decreasing acceptance of those innovations. Therefore, this paper aims to gain a

deeper comprehension of consumer acceptance of innovative food products as well as

to identify antecedent factors of innovation-related perception. ( Albertsen et al.,2022)

Such products represent an innovation both in terms of technology and

commerce for Italian food companies, and the segment of young consumers, would

appear especially interested in them. Our results showed that a different cultural

education, hence the degree of knowledge cumulated by young consumers, is a key

element in the preference for, and perception of FFs. This implies the need to identify

highly differentiated marketing strategies \for firms seeking to reach this segment of FF

demand in Italy. ( Innsbruck-Igls, 2009)

Innovative initiates include technological activities that businesses in the

industry try to exploit and gain a competitive adventage in the market. The five top

trends in the food and beverage industry are the production of nutritional products with

high nutrional value, the fuc=nctional drinks, the convenience food products, the supply

chain transparency, and the innovative packaging. Innovation can be found everywhere

in the food production supply chain. Good practices and strategies

promote innovation in the food industry under an appropriate business model (Zaridis,

2020)

Food preservation

The development of food preservation processes has been driven by the need

to extend the shelf-life of foods. Food preservation is a continuous fight against

microorganisms spoiling the food or making it unsafe. Several food preservation

systems such as heating refrigeration and addition of antimicrobial compounds can be

used to reduce the risk of outbreaks of food poisoning ; however, these techniques

frequently have associated adverse changes in organoleptic characteristics and loss of

nutrients. Within the disposable arsenal of preservation techniques, the food industry

investigates more and more the replacement of traditional food preservation techniques

by new preservation techniques due to the increased consumer demand for tasty,

nutritious, natural and easy to handle food products. Improvements in the cold

distribution chain have made international trade of perishable foods possible, but

refrigeration alone cannot assure the quality and safety of all perishable foods,

( Rasooli, 2007)

Food preservation involves different food processing steps to maintain food

quality at a desired level so that maximum benefits and nutrition values can be

achieved. Food preservation methods include growing, harvesting, processing,

packaging, and distribution of foods. The key objectives of food preservation are to

overcome inappropriate planning in agriculture, to produce value-added products, and

to provide variation in diet. Food spoilage could be caused by a wide range of chemical

and biochemical reactions. ( Amit et al.,2017)