Nofima Mat has a great deal of competence in processed raw materials that are packed and presented in the shops, and our environmental focus is that all food produced at the primary stage and processed by the industry is eaten. Reducing wastage in the production and sale of food makes a positive environmental contribution, as well as giving efficient production that reduces costs and increases income.
In order to avoid food wastage, competence and knowledge is needed throughout the entire value chain:
- Process optimisation: - Natural variations in raw materials and methods that can control and counteract these variations - Reducing wastage when changing over to new products
- Production planning in relation to turnover rate
- Optimized packaging
- Distribution and presentation of food
- Consumer behaviour
The optimized packaging is based on the food and its value chain. The most important task of packaging is to protect the product's properties and quality until its shelf life expires, without over-packaging. Much of a product's costs are related to its packaging and finding packaging that is good enough can contribute to increased incomes. Packaging that is good enough reflects not only product quality but also the ability to protect the product from mechanical effects throughout the entire distribution chain to the customer. Another very important aspect of packaging is that it should be attractive and should sell. At the same time it should be efficient in terms of transportation, so that there is as little "air" on the pallet as possible. By reducing the gas volume in the packaging, the size of the pack can be reduced and there will be room for more packs on the pallet and fewer trucks on the road. Nofima Mat has developed a CO2 emitter that makes it possible to reduce gas volume, at the moment only for packing fish. The packaging material must also be recyclable (energy recycling, materials recycling or reuse).
There has been increased focus on biomaterials in recent years and there is disagreement about how sustainable these materials are. Nofima Mat is focusing on the properties of these materials for the packaging of food, especially with regard to quality and wastage.
