Global trends and competitiveness of the food industry

Food industry has a strategic role in the global economy and it greatly contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, but at the same time it causes significant ecological pollution and resource depletion. Maximizing the benefits and minimizing the costs of the food industry is therefore a challenging task. The subject of this paper are contemporary global trends and factors of competitiveness of the food industry. The purpose of the paper is to determine what contributes to the competitiveness of the food industry and to analyze recent global trends in the food industry in order to draw conclusions about the role and contribution of this industry to sustainable development and competitiveness. The analysis has shown that innovation in the production and processing of food and also diversification of the supply are key contributing factors. The main driver of innovation in the food industry are new consumer expectations and requirements. Consumers are increasingly concerned about their own ecological footprint, which increases the demand for those food products whose production has a minimal negative effect on the environment, and they often choose products of enterprises with socially responsible business practices