The new consumer trends determine the development directions of the food industry and rearrange the food market

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 01. 30. 12:12

New consumer trends, such as the increase in demand for alternative diets and ready-made meals, as well as the intensification of the geopolitical and climate situation, strongly determine the development directions of agriculture and the food industry, and rearrange the food market. New solutions must be found for all of this, in the implementation of which motivated and knowledge-oriented young agricultural professionals have a special role, the K&H award for sustainable agriculture therefore recognized their work for the ninth time. This year’s winners deal with research areas such as nutrient replenishment technologies in crop cultivation, sustainable water management or the use of plant-based antibiotics in animal husbandry.

The climatic pressure on agriculture continues to increase. Based on the data of Hungaromet, 2023 was the warmest year since 1901, and according to the data of the European space program Copernicus, it was the first year when every day was at least 1°C warmer than in the pre-industrial period. In addition, the ESG Act that entered into force this year also sets specific expectations for companies. All of this strengthens the shift in agriculture towards the cultivation of climate-friendly, resistant plant varieties, while digital solutions such as precision or data-based animal husbandry may come to the fore in livestock breeding, which can increase biological efficiency in connection with genetics or feeding.

In addition to the climate situation, geopolitics strongly shapes agricultural and food industry production.

“More and more conflicts require long-term solutions and changes from the sector. The supply chain is disrupted and food security is reduced in many areas, as a result of which food is increasingly becoming a strategic product. As a result, efforts towards food autonomy and self-sufficiency come to the fore”

– said Zoltán Demeter, head of K&H’s Agricultural Department.