Food Industry - Food Processing

Food Processing

Food processing includes the methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food for human consumption. Food processing takes clean, harvested or slaughtered and butchered components and uses them to produce marketable food products. There are several different ways in which food can be produced.

One Off Production This method is used when customers make an order for something to be made to their own specifications, for example a wedding cake. The making of One Off Products could take days depending on how intricate the design is and also the ability of the chef involved.

Batch Production This method is used when the size of the market for a product is not clear, and where there is a range within a product line. A certain number of the same goods will be produced to make up a batch or run, for example at Gregg's Bakery they will bake a certain number of chicken bakes. This method involves estimating the number of customers that will want to buy that product.

Mass production This method is used when there is a mass market for a large number of identical products, for example chocolate bars, ready meals and canned food. The product passes from one stage of production to another along a production line.

Just In Time This method of production is mainly used in sandwich bars such as Subway. All the components of the product are available right there and the customer chooses what they want in their product. It is then prepared with fresh ingredients in front of the buyer.