Food and beverages industry contributes significantly in social as well as economic growth of a country. Market players operating in the food industry are focused on manufacture of food ingredients, processed food, animal food, food testing and processing equipment, customer health & hospitality services, and logistics. The beverage industry covers two bulk sectors; alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages includes beer, wine, spirit whereas non-alcoholic beverages include juice, water, coffee, tea and soft drinks. Rapid urbanization along with improved health awareness is driving demand for food and beverage products. Improving standard of living is one of the key factors contributing to demand for processed and ready-to-eat food. Availability of natural alternatives to artificial flavors and colors, as well as healthier alternatives, and government campaigns for food and foodborne diseases are attracting manufacturers, investors, retailers, raw material providers to invest in the food and beverage industry. Globalization has made the world smaller and the food and beverages market is characterized by significant trade activities across the globe. This has led to an increase in import and export of food and beverage products across all regions.

Owing to lifestyle shifts and increasing demand for functional food products is expected to influence market players to invest in product development. North America is expected to dominate the global food and beverages market due to growing health awareness among the populace which has led to an increase in demand for natural and organic processed food. Moreover, the North America market accounts for a share of over 65% in the food testing and food testing equipment market. Asia Pacific is expected to witness significant growth due to an increase in disposable income, rapidly expanding population, and growing health awareness among consumers. According to Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF)—a trust established by the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India—food industry in India is expected to reach US$ 63.5 billion by the end of 2018. Europe food and beverages industry is expected to grow significantly due to increasing demand for food additives and flavoring agents in the region.

In case of the global beverage market, North America dominated the global beverage market followed by Asia Pacific and Europe in 2016. The trend is expected to be continue during for the following decade, due to increasing demand for alcoholic beverages in North America. The growth of the Asia Pacific market is driven by the increasing number of youths in the populations and adoption of western culture is expected to fuel growth of alcoholic beverages in this region.

Key challenges in front of global food and beverage market

On a global scale, the food and beverages industries needs to evaluate challenges before production and distribution of its products to end users. For instance:

• Government regulations

Stringent government regulations and time consuming approval processes are expected to hamper the market growth to some extent. Leading food associations such as Food and Drug Administration, U.S. (FDA), European Food and Safety Association (EFSA) and Food Safety and Standards Authorities of India (FSSAI) have set a criteria for the ingredients used in the production of certain food and beverage products which are as follows:

• In April 2016, Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. issued a statement that gaur gum, a natural substance which is obtained from maceration of the seed of the gaur plant, are safe and can be used in a specified limit.
• European Food and Safety Authorities (EFSA) approved dietary food supplements based on Lactoferrin as a consumable dietary food supplement for infant formula, sports nutrition.
• In June 2016, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) introduced new regulations for 11,000 food additives used in various food categories. The new list of food additives bans the usage of potassium bromate and cyclamates in any food category.

• Investment in automation

Increasing adoption of automation by mature and developed markets is driving regional players in emerging markets to invest in technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), programmable logic controllers (PLC), Internet of Things (IoT). This is likely to result in higher expenditure and investments.

• AuAffordability

Rising energy prices are leading to high production prices of end products which results in poses a challenge in terms of affordability of goods and services in low- and middle-income countries.

Key Global conferences

Global conferences in the food and beverages industry are listed below. Problems associated with food and beverages such as proper food utilization, food loss, food safety, food and beverage operational constraints and ways to overcome these challenges are dealt with in these conferences.

• 18^th International global summit on food and beverages - 2017, Chicago.
• 2^nd International conference on food security and sustainability - 2017, San Diego, U.S.
• 3^rd global conference on food security - 2017, Cape Town, South Africa
• International conference on food quality, safety and security – 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka
• Institute for food technologist – Annual meeting 2017, Las Vegas, U.S.
• 19^thInternational Conference on Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity – 2017, Tampa, Florida, U.S.
• 21^st International conference on food and nutrition - 2018, Chicago, U.S.

Key players in food and beverage global market

Some of the key players operating in the global food and beverages market are Cargill, Incorporated (U.S.), Ingredion Incorporated (U.S.), Archer Daniels Midland Company (U.S.), Kerry Group PLC (Ireland), Associated British Foods PLC (U.K.), Unilever Group, Danon, Fonterra, General Mills, E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company (U.S.), Arla Foods (Denmark), BASF SE (Germany), Koninklijke DSM N.V. (Netherlands), DMH Ingredients (U.S.), and Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (Japan). The recent mergers of food companies such as Kraft with Heinz, and AB InBev with SABMiller is creating a highly competitive environment with major growth prospects for players.

Companies such as Nestle, Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Inc., Diageo plc, and Heineken also operate in this market.