Frozen food manufacturing can be demanding on the environment. Wasted ingredients and irresponsible sourcing of materials can cause strain on the food supply chain and food assembly itself. However, we now have the technology to make food production processes much more sustainable.
Our team at Quantum Technical Services is dedicated to making food manufacturing more sustainable, including creating ways to make frozen food assembly more ethical. As industry leaders, we’ll suggest ways your brand can find ethically sourced materials for manufacturing and how to contribute to an ethical supply chain. However, let’s briefly review ethical sourcing and how it affects the overall food supply chain.
Ethical Sourcing and Food Production
Ethical sourcing in food production refers to buying and incorporating ingredients that were gathered by protected employees. Ethical sourcing requires that these employees are safe as they work and it also refers to sourcing that follows international laws and regulations.
Ethical sourcing is critical in the food supply chain– it ensures that everyone is treated and paid fairly for their work. Companies in food manufacturing must do their part to adhere to these standards to maintain an equitable environment and industry. Unfortunately, human rights violations are rampant in ingredient sourcing, so following these standards demonstrates that your company is dedicated to protecting workers and their labor. In addition to respecting workers’ rights, ethical sourcing brings other benefits to food production and the food supply chain:
Benefits of Ethical Sourcing
- Connects Communities- If your brand chooses to source ingredients from local areas, this provides a great opportunity to connect with local farms. Purchasing ingredients also supports the local food economy. Keeping support within a close area bolsters local economies and can create long-lasting business relationships between farms and food manufacturers.
- Improves Food Quality- Locally sourced ingredients are more likely to be healthier and grown using environmentally friendly practices. Local farmers can monitor their crops more closely. The result is better and fresher ingredients, allowing your brand to create better and fresher meals.
- Attracts Customers- Sustainable manufacturing and ethical food supply chain has an impact on the planet, and these philosophies are becoming more and more important to customers. Not only can your frozen meal company do its part in protecting the environment and workers throughout the supply chain, but your brand can also provide sustainable meals for consumers.
Sourcing ingredients is a critical part of food manufacturing– why not do it responsibly? Ethical sourcing is important for maintaining a fair supply chain and sustainable business practices. Next, let’s explore finding ethically sourced materials for making frozen meals.
Finding Ethically Sourced Materials
Ethically sourced materials and ingredients can help define your brand. Featuring on your packaging that your meals include ethically sourced materials can set your products apart from the rest. Customers care about ethical sourcing and some would even spend more money to purchase ethically sourced goods. Using ethically sourced ingredients can benefit the bottom line. Here are some places where your brand can find ethically sourced materials for its frozen meal products:
Local Produce Farms
As we’ve mentioned above, acquiring your produce ingredients from local farms is a great way to incorporate ethically sourced materials in your food manufacturing. By working with local farms, your brand can build important business relationships within the local community to help the businesses involved thrive. As food manufacturers get their ingredients from local sources, they can monitor the quality more easily, allowing them to create better products. If your brand is near a local farm or it can’t find the ingredients it needs, it can also connect with online sources for ethically sourced ingredients.
Cage-Free Livestock Farms
If your brand uses meat and dairy products, it should consider sourcing these ingredients from cage-free livestock farms, another ethical source of ingredients. Using cage-free ingredients shows that your brand cares about the treatment of animals from which these ingredients are sourced. In turn, you can feature this commitment on your packaging to connect with customers who care about the fair treatment of livestock.
Finding and incorporating ethically sourced ingredients can broaden your business horizons and create a stronger image. It also helps your company do its part in an ethical food supply chain, which is crucial for sustainability. Next, let’s explore how your brand can contribute to an ethical supply chain with Quantum equipment.
Contributing to an Ethical Supply Chain with Quantum Equipment
Food manufacturing demands a lot of resources, like ingredients, water, and energy. If food manufacturers aren’t responsible, they can cause more harm to the environment as they produce their meals. However, at Quantum, we’ve created industry-leading automated food equipment that conserves ingredients, water, and energy. We’ve designed our automated food equipment to contribute to an ethical supply chain, encouraging companies to make their production lines more environmentally friendly.
Quantum Equipment and Sustainability
Quantum equipment is built to save ingredients and resources, helping food manufacturers save on overhead costs and limiting unnecessary waste. Conserving resources and cutting down on wasted materials are key aspects of an ethical supply chain, which is why we’ve designed our equipment to be sustainable.
Our ingredient applicators have either target or waterfall application, each having its own way of conserving ingredients. Brands can specify the exact amount of ingredient application per meal with our target applicators, such as our target sauce applicators and meat/pepperoni slicers. This ensures that the machines don’t apply more ingredients than needed. On the other hand, our waterfall ingredient applicators can have reclaim capabilities, allowing the system to recirculate and reapply any unused ingredients. In addition to saving toppings, our equipment is energy-efficient and is built to conserve water use where possible, increasing the sustainability of your production line.
Create an Ethical Production Line With Quantum
Quantum Technical Services is the industry leader in automated food production equipment. We’re dedicated to creating innovative and sustainable automated food equipment to facilitate ethical food production. Food production is harsh on the environment, but Quantum equipment helps brands alleviate this demand. Contact our team today to implement the latest sustainable and future-proof automated food equipment.