PART ONE
- INDUSTRIAL APPROACH -
Chapter 1. What are you hungry for?
The history of the food industry, from its conception in the early 19th century to the present, represents a vast and ever-changing story. The distinctive informational signals transmitted by its brands have undergone an extraordinary transformation, proving to be significantly complex and in line with the evolution of the social role of processed food, especially in terms of new drivers of consumption. The main goal of this chapter is to address the past and present of this evolution in the processing technology sector.
Chapter content:
1.1. Shelf life
1.2. Food and war
1.3. Taste and health
Chapter 2. Back to the future
The contemporary context in which the food industry is set up instigates a new product conception in which health should be associated with the consumer and society. After the history arc presented in Chapter 1, the interest of this Chapter is to discuss the ongoing dynamics that mark the sector and the technology of food processing.
Chapter content:
2.1. Controversy in the dish: the need for a new product design
2.2. Food and peace
2.3. Recalculating the route
Chapter 3. What is going on?
How effectively does the contemporary market perspective materialize in today's supermarket chains? Are we talking about a niche or is this new food industry route aimed at the general public a path without return? The main purpose of this chapter is to map and discuss the differentiation strategies practiced by the food industry using an innovative approach based on an exploratory study regarding the decoding of information contained in food labels.
Chapter content:
3.1. Keep an eye on the food labeling
3.2. Action inside: product and process developments
3.3. Action outside: unfolding in the food value chain
PART TWO
- ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK -
Chapter 4. Behind the brands
Supermarket chains have shown a movement of brand differentiation conducted inside (product and process engineering) and outside (relationship engineering) of firm boundaries. Why has this happened? What factors can be attributed to this economic decision that may include competencies that are not a part of the core business of food companies and that appear to be more costly? At the heart of this question seems to be the need to break the main analysis bias concerning the strategy of differentiation practiced in food science and technology. Technology - if not backed by other factors - tends to prove fragile in the organizational push for competitive differentials. This is the main subject of interest of this Chapter.
Chapter content:
4.1. Should I stay (inside) or Should I go (outside)
4.2.Espressowars,
4.3. Dolce gusto
Chapter 5. A relationship issue
Differentiation has always been a staple of the organizational world. New health drivers linked to the consumption of processed food cause companies to utilize differentiation aspects that transcend the processing limits. The process to ensure food integrity consists of sensory and nutritional nuances as well. Ensuring an ongoing positive relationship among the food industry and its partnerships in the food value chain consists of mainly rural links. However, direct developments in the governance of the value chain are expected in order to ensure that the new and more complex informational elements associated with the brand are met. This chapter will cover new bases of selection and development of suppliers and review mechanisms of incentive and control. improved quality standards and the incorporation of social nuances such as well-being and empowerment, quality perception associated with origin and shared value programs and discuss the managerial implications in terms of socio differentiation strategies and the new bases of relationship governance in the value chain. Although well-discussed in the applied social sciences and in business/economics, these topics remain marginalized in the mainstream of food science and technology and food engineering.
Chapter content:
5.1. A new time,
5.2. A systemic game, of lesser or greater, complexity
5.3. Reviewing the basics
5.4. Happy food
PART THREE
- HUMAN RESOURCES VIEW -
Chapter 6. Where are we going?
In the evolution of the contemporary food industry, the quest for safe and healthy food continues to drive development and scientific knowledge, but under a complex context. This chapter is concerned with what can be expected to develop from the present story, considering the importance of exercising the out-of-the-box outlook which is essential for the continued process of knowledge generation and human resource formation.
Chapter content:
6.1. Opportunities beyond the horizon
6.2. The best of times
