Dr. Begüm Önal

Dr. Begüm Önal: Graduated in Food Engineering from University of Ege, İzmir, she completed her doctoral degree at University of Salerno, Italy, the Department of Industrial Engineering, Curriculum of Chemical Engineering. Her profession is related to Drying of Fruit & Vegetables: Drying Systems & Improvement of Product Quality. She has many international experiences in Turkey, Italy, Spain and Portugal in these following projects: Sustainability, Food Waste Management, New Product Development, Market Segment, Quality Systems etc. After her postdoctoral scientific position in AZTI Tecnalia Bilbao-Spain in Sustainability Department, she moved to Turkey for her career. She currently holds the position of Food Safety & Operations Manager responsible for Quality System Management, Supply Chain Management, Sustainable & Safety Production, Auditing, New Product Development Works with their suppliers, new project collaborations as well.  She is the Founder of B-NL Academy & Consultancy that works with extensive national & international partners. She has +7 years experiences in the Project management with extensive knowledge and experiences in the fields of food science and technology, sustainable business management, as well as in educational activities and consulting. She participates in different international journals as a Reviewer, and she has role in Journal of Sustainability as a Guest Editor.  She also works as a RIS Policy Council Member at EIT Food. She continues her research/work on ‘Sustainable Food Systems’, ‘Circular Economy’ and’ Eco-efficient Production Process’ &’ Food Supply Chain Management’.

Summary

Presentation Title: Consumer Perceptions & Trends of Sustainable Food Packaging - A Conceptual Framework

Packaging has a key role in green & sustainable supply chain management to ensure food safety and quality, traceability and transparency, as well as assessing of consumer acceptability of food products. Last decades, there has been growing attention on sustainability and more environmentally friendly solutions, and it directly affects consumers' understanding, perception and preferences regarding sustainable food packaging. New generation consumers consider sustainable packaging to be based on its circular economy concept and key sustainable packaging attributes as biodegradability, sustainability levels, eco-design elements, recyclability and renewable sources. Furthermore, food labels, smart packaging solutions, nutrition information such as nutrient content and health claims, environmental claims, food quality certifications influence consumers' food choices. This conceptual research enables an importance of effective marketing & communication strategies and an understanding of consumers' trends to sustainable food packaging in a creating a more sustainable food value chain.

Key Words: consumer perception, consumer trends, food packaging, sustainability

Presentation File: PDF