Book excerpt: Applying the proven success of modern process engineering economics to the food industry, Food Plant Economics considers the design and economic analysis of food preservation, food manufacturing, and food ingredients plants with regard to a number of representative food processes. Economic analysis of food plants requires the evaluation of quantitative data from the design and operation of food processes and processing plants. Accompanying downloadable resources include prepared Excel spreadsheets for calculating various food plants scenarios by applying appropriate data regarding the cost of equipment and equipment sizing, material and energy balances, and plant operating costs. Beginning with a thorough background in the economics of a food plant, the first three chapters summarize recent advances in food process and research technology, the structure of the food system in the US and EU, and the principles of modern design in food processes, processing equipment, and processing plants. The second three chapters discuss process economics in relation to the food industry by applying the concepts of capital cost, operating cost, and cash flow to estimations of plant profitability. Detailed chapters cover estimations of capital investment and operating costs including statistical data, empirical models, and useful rules of thumb. The remaining three chapters apply the techniques of the previous discussions to food preservation plants such as concentration, canning, and dehydration; manufacturing plants including wine, bread, and yogurt; as well as ingredients plants that produce sugars and oils. A useful appendix contains a glossary, tables, conversions, nomenclature, food properties, and heat transfer coefficients. A practical and comprehensive treatment of process economics, Food Plant Economics provides a complete introduction to the application of this efficient technique to the food industry.