IoT in Food Industry
Food industry is a complex, global collection of diverse business that supply most of the food consumed by the world population. The food industry include agriculture, manufacturing of food using food processing, marketing, wholesale & retail distribution, food service, grocery, research & development, financial services, etc. is done which also include raising of crops & livestock & seafood, agrichemicals and much more.
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In early days, for the sale of the goods exchange policy was under act, i.e. Farmers used to exchange their goods with other food items or seeds. And as the farmers were not aware of the technology in farming, they used to work very hard. After the industrial revolution, food processing sector farming has become that easy compared to the old days. New machinery has arrived which makes the work easier, safer & faster. This technology has also improved the quality of seeds, fertilizers & crops as well. Before farming of a crop soil testing, seed testing, fertilizer testing, measuring of climatic conditions are strictly studied and examined. Even if one of these terms have negative results, farming of that crop is rejected and different crop is studied & examined.
Modern farming is defined by sophisticated technologies, which include many areas like agricultural machinery originally by TRACTORS, which have been the most important part of farming or may say that it has playing role of HEART in the process of farming of a food crop. TRACTORS have practically eliminated human labour in areas of production. Biotechnology is also diving much change in areas such as agrochemicals, plant breeding & food processing.
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Some of the areas have been adopted by computer technology such as computer networks & specialized software which provides support to infrastructure to allow global movement of the myriad components involved.
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Industrial revolutions were done, these revolutions gave rise to new technologies & these new technologies brought modern food industry. After INTERNET became popular with everything, many industries started adopting INTERNET based machinery, devices which are is known as INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT). Nowadays, Food Industry has been developing a lot with IoT in all ways of profit, marketing, export, quality & most important food safety. Industry analysts are predicting that the INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT) will be one of the next big technology trends, changing how the everyday objects around us interact & therefore helping improve how we live, work & relax.
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According to Wrap.org, 1.9mt of food & drink is wasted by the UK food industry every year, 1mt is avoidable, costing business around £1.9 billion. And to reduce waste, food industry need to be smarter. Food producers are choosing to monitor more of their production & handling operations by utilizing sensors connected to the INTERNET, the vast network of devices communicating over the INTERNET without the involvement of humans.
With IoT, food companies have started using various types of sensors to monitor key production condition, shipping time, numerous other metrics & most important temperature. Temperature has the biggest impact on food safety. Over the INTERNET, these sensors are able to keep constant tabs on the condition & quality of food as its produced, transported & stored.
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Barcode & sensor based on IoT, data is being applied to food chains from their point of origin to their follow-up destinations in processing plants, storage warehouses, distribution plants & the grocery shops.
In 2011, President Obama signed into law, strict food monitoring & traceability measures that include traceability data such as box or case of fruit, its point of origin, name of the transportation provider, etc. According to the estimates, by 2020 there will be 4 times as many non-traditional devices connected to the INTERNET as computers, tablets & smartphones.
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As like other countries, INDIA has been the most well-known country for growing best quality food items. INDIA is being holding about 26 different types of industries of its own production named as INDIAN BRAND EQUITY FOUNDATION (IBEF) www.ibef.org, which is controlled by the INDIAN GOVERNMENT. Amongst these 26 industries, almost 25 industries have exports of their goods in foreign countries at a large scale.
IoT is easy, fast & safer way to get connected to the things around. Similarly, it has also been the same for Restaurants. IoT is the concept that can be simply connected to any random smartphone devices which has on/off button. Concept of application is being already used in sectors such as healthcare, retail, technology, etc. and now Restaurants industry has been using this concept which has been very beneficial in safety & many other factors.
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Here’s how application can avail the advantages of IoT in the best possible manner;
- Ordering from table.
IoT applications in food industry - Improvement in Restaurant operations.
- Direct payment from the table.
- Easy take away.
- Smart menu with IoT.
- Smart Kitchens with Restaurant App.
Technology is going to Completely reshape food Industry in coming days.
See also: Top 10 IoT applications in Food and Beverage Industry
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ABOUT AUTHOR:
AKSHAY NAVARKAR
He is engineering graduate . He is passionate about IoT applications in our day to day life. By profession he is a technical writer.
