Food processing is a massive industry in Australia. The sector employs over 500,000 people across the country, sells AU$53 billion of products every year and exports $40 billion worth of meat, fruits, dairy products and processed food items. In such a competitive area of the economy, finding profitable opportunities isn't always easy. Here are three ways that Australian food processors can modernise their operations and make their businesses more efficient.

Track All Ingredients from the Start to the End of the Production Chain

Whatever you produce and wherever you sell your food products, traceability is a key part of modern food processing. Implementing a tracking system has a number of advantages. It helps to isolate product flaws and improve the final product, it allows you to describe your products in minute detail, track any potential contaminants or allergens and also enables you to manage resource flows throughout the manufacturing process. All of these reasons make it a great idea to introduce RFID tracking in your production chains.

Calibrate Your Cold Storage Warehouse Properly

No matter what type of food business you are running, cold storage will almost certainly be required at some point, and it can have a major impact on how efficient your business is. This is particularly the case in Australia, where temperatures can quickly cause perishable foods to spoil. In your refrigerated warehouse units, install equipment that keeps food protected as much as possible from any temperature fluctuations, which could include automated high speed rapid doorways that are designed to work with forklifts.

It's also important to have the right mix of skills in your workforce to keep vehicles and cooling units in good working order, while you can flexibly separate refrigerated areas that work with nuts or other allergens.

Export and Deliver Your Produce Safely With Timber Crates

Transporting foods is another delicate operation where efficiency can be improved. The containers you use need to be lightweight, suitable for use with a standard forklift truck and—most importantly—easy to fumigate and clean so they can take an additional shipment. On all counts, timber crates fit the bill. They may not be as strong as steel, but they are cheaper, they can be easily adapted to change their depth and wooden shelves can be added to separate different products. If you need to transport your products across national borders, fumigating wooden containers with methyl bromide is simple, and complying with British or New Zealand sanitary laws should be easy.

Making food processing businesses more efficient requires a mixture of low-tech and high-tech solutions. Timber crates work in harmony with modern cooling systems and RFID tracking, allowing companies to monitor their resource flows, production quality and transport their goods reliably. When all three are put together, they are a strong basis for a successful food processing operation.