EU food market: Value-added food, a new trend and opportunity for national food industry

Abstract

The food industry is one of the largest and most important manufacturing sectors in the EU. In the last year, the food sector represented 917 billion euros of turnover dealing with approximately 310 000 companies and around 4.8 million employers. Novel food products are generally a consequence of progress in food technology. Developments in food industry, medicine, nutritional sciences etc. have led to increased popularity of food products with added value which may offer a wide range of specific health benefits. Increased consumption of value-added products and their promotion as vehicles to improve the pursuit of consumers' wellness can substantially contribute to the economy of villages by increasing incomes and thus helping to reverse the trend of rural depopulation.

Keywords

• food
• added value
• market