Future Food is one of the up-and-coming trends in the food industry these days. It is also one of the key industries driving the country’s economic development, as Thailand has an advantage in both being an agricultural country and possessing vast knowledge of food processing techniques. With a push in the right direction, the Thai food industry can certainly grow exponentially and achieve stability, prosperity, and sustainability.
The National Food Institute (NFI) has been assigned by The Ministry of Industry to develop the Thai food industry. In this connection, it organised “Elevating Food Manufacturers for Future Food Industry Project” in 2017. Objectives of this project include elevating the quality, safety, and nutrition of Thai food industry products and services, elevating quality of life for Thai farmers by encouraging them to add more value to their produce and produce agricultural goods that respond to global trends.
Future Food can be divided into four categories as follows:
Functional Food is a type of food consumed for an additional function, mostly health promotion or disease prevention. A functional food is produced by adding new ingredients with physiological benefits and/or that reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutritional functions.
Medical Food is a type of food specially formulated and intended for the dietary management of a disease that has distinctive nutritional needs. Medical foods are usually modified for special medical purposes to suit the needs of consumers; for example, reducing sodium levels in food for patients with kidney disease or modifying carbohydrates in food for diabetic patients.
Organic Foods are foods that have been grown or been farmed without use of artificial chemicals, hormones or antibiotics and are free from artificial food additives. Organic foods have become very popular and comprise one of the fastest-growing food sectors in Thailand.
Novel Foods refer to highly-innovative foods that can be described as foods that do not have a significant history of consumption or are produced by a method that has not previously been used for food.
With the current trends in the Future Food industry, and Thailand’s advantages in food producing and processing, and the right support and direction, the Thai food industry has great potential to grow sustainably.
The food processing industry is very vital to the country’s economy as it hires the largest number of workers and has the highest investment value and highest value-added.
Under BOI Announcement No. 10/2558 for cluster investment promotion incentives and privileges in Special Economic Development Zones, the Board of Investment promotes investment in Medical Food and Food Supplement industries, as well as food processing products made from alternative forms of proteins such as textured vegetable protein.
The main objective of the NFI’s project in 2017 is to upgrade standards in the Future Food industry by creating a network and production bases for the entire supply chain of Future Food covering all five regions of Thailand. Other objectives of the project include: increasing the efficiency of food safety management in order to ensure the quality, safety, and nutrition of all food ingredients; improving the capabilities and knowledge of skilled labour, management and top executives in the industry; and encouraging investors to invest in Future Food.
It is expected that the aforementioned project will increase the value of agricultural products and generate more revenue from both domestic and international markets.