Statistical Process Control for the Food Industry

2Food Industry and its Contribution to the Global Economy

2.1 Introduction

This chapter will provide an overview of the food industry and begins to bring the reasons behind Statistical Process Control (SPC) implementation in the industry. Food industry is a complex multitiered system of producers and consumers, which regulated by the state of agriculture, Ministry of Health and other governmental bodies that establish many regulations. In addition to the numerous law and regulations, today low margins, globalisation, decrease‐trained employees' number and changing consumer distribution pattern also challenge food businesses to operate efficiently (Kennedy, Nantel, and Shetty 2004).

In the United Kingdom (UK), the food and beverage industry employ more than 100 000 workers, which is nearly a third of the European Union workforce (Malone 2017). The food and beverage industry contributed more than 28 billion GBP to the economy, and exports more than 20 billion GBP worth of food and drinks to the rest of the world last year (Malone 2017).

Interestingly, more than 96% of the businesses in the food and beverage industry in the UK are made out of SMEs, making it a competitive industry (Malone 2017). On the other hand, according to the Unnevehr (2017), the food and beverage industry accounts for at least 5% of the total gross domestic product in the United States. The food industry also contributes at least 10% of the employment rate, and more than 10% of consumers' disposable incomes ...