Aykan Şişe
General Manager Opack Makine
"For longer shelf life, we need to implement Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) for baked products. During modified atmosphere packaging; gases like oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, ethylene, etc. are added or removed to modify the atmosphere circulating the food product. Gases to be added or removed depends on the product type."
Consumers prefer packaged baked products during global pandemics. The Covid-19 pandemic, unfortunately, claimed many lives and it is still threatening many more in Turkey and the world. Therefore, anxious consumers have turned to packaged food.
Unpackaged baked products were widely preferred in Turkey. Especially bread was being sold without a package. After the Covid-19 pandemic, consumers started to demand packaged bread. Agriculture and Forest Ministry made a decision, supporting consumers and public health. As a result of the decision, bread and similar products are now sold in packages.
Bread market of 215 billion dollars
The size of the Turkish bread market is approximately 30 billion Turkish liras. Packaged bread products constitute only 5 percent of the industry. That is to say, the current size of packaged bread is 1.5 billion Turkish liras, including retail sales and out-of-consumption. We expect that packaged food demand from consumers and the decision of ministry will increase the share of packaged bread rapidly. Turkey is the leading country in the world for per capita bread consumption. Bread is also the most popular food product in the world. The global bread market has been steadily increasing parallel to the rising world population. The size of the market is expected to exceed 215 billion dollars in 2020. In Europe, bread constitutes 79 percent of all baked products sold.
Bread waste MUST END
In Turkey, 4.9 million loaves of bread are wasted each day. Implementing awareness campaigns may help us to prevent bread waste. Increasing packaged bread consumption is also a very important way to prevent waste. The share of hygienic and healthy packaged products is very low in the Turkish bread market when compared with world markets. I think offering many brands and varieties at sales points will help consumption habits to change. Consumers should easily access packaged bread that appeals to their taste buds. As a result, retailers can attract much more customers
Advantages of packed bread for producers
Researches show that the main spoilage source for baked products like bread, cake, or pastry is molding. To prevent molding in baked products, microbiological activities should be decreased. To do that, we have to decrease humidity, Ph value, and liquid activity.
As a result, for longer shelf life, we need to implement Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) for baked products. During modified atmosphere packaging; gases like oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, ethylene, etc. are added or removed to modify the atmosphere circulating the food product. Gases to be added or removed depends on the product type.
MAP packages increase the shelf life of the products from 50 to 400 percent and enable producers to prevent loss and optimize stock and logistic costs.