On the face of it, food and beverage companies are a world apart from technology enterprises. After all, manufacturing and delivering food products is nothing like creating and delivering computers, software and other technology related services.
But in the 21st-Century the most successful companies in the food and beverage space are increasingly embracing technology, transforming their businesses and using it to create a competitive advantage in a highly competitive marketplace.
Technology in the Food and Beverage Space
While most food and beverage companies use software systems to run its business operations, a select few have taken it a step further. Technology is at the forefront of everything these businesses do. Here are a few examples of what they’re doing.
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Data Mining: Food and beverage operations generate reams of data on a daily basis. Everything from supply chain sustainability information to customer and consumer trends. Typical enterprises never touch that information. But advanced organizations use data mining to note developing trends as they’re happening to address the changing marketplace as it’s happening and not afterwards.
OmniChannel Development: If your business depends on just one channel to sell your products you’re losing out on revenue growth opportunities.
Forward-thinking companies embrace omnichannel opportunities to grow revenues and market share. Companies that used to sell exclusively through big-box stores are now selling through their own online stores, through web retailers like Amazon and Wal-Mart and via web-delivery services like Hello Fresh and others. Each of these channels have differing requirements but forward thinking companies use technology like advanced ERP systems to optimize ordering and quick delivery to each of them.
Personalized Diets: Keto, Low-Carb, Vegetarian, Vegan-the options consumers demand are as varied as the colors of the rainbow and to succeed in the future food and beverage organizations must adapt to a changing marketplace. The question is how best to do it. Successful companies use tools like Artificial Intelligence (AI) like that found in SYSPRO’s business systems to quickly adapt recipe management, gauge how those changes affect operations and what that means to the company. These enterprises are able to quickly offer multiple varieties of products to meet unique demands and they will be able to quickly meet future changes as dietary demands change.
Employee Recruitment and Retention: It’s no secret that hiring and keeping good employees in the industry has been an issue well before the pandemic and the problem has accelerated since.
Forward thinking companies have turned to technology to both automate operations as much as possible and use it as an incentive to attract and keep workers, offering them a chance to both learn new skills and advance in their careers.
ESG Initiatives: It’s not enough today to meet demand, food and beverage companies are increasingly being judged on corporate behavior and held to account around ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) programs and organizations are incorporating more of these programs into operations and culture and leveraging them to attract socially conscious investors and consumers.
As an industry that accounts for 70% of global freshwater withdrawal and a quarter of all global greenhouse gas emissions,
food production will almost certainly come under the same levels of scrutiny as the oil industry
Food and beverage companies are investing in technology to reduce everything from water consumption to lowering carbon footprints and upskilling employees to help reduce waste.
The good news is, according to McKinsey, operations that invest in ESG programs experience a 10% lower cost of capital.
What Does All This Mean to You?
In the last three years the food and beverage vertical has changed dramatically. Usually reliable supply chains have been disrupted.
Global upheaval and the war in Ukraine have upended grain and fuel deliveries. Inflation has put increasing pressure on organizations, squeezing margins and increasing demands from customers to hold the line on price increases.
Food companies are finding it increasingly harder to find and keep good employees.
In short, the old way of doing business is either dead or rapidly dying. The enterprises that will survive and thrive in the future are the ones who willingly embrace technology to modernize and upgrade and use it to build a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Which path will you choose?
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For 25-years Technologies International, Inc. has been working with food and beverage companies to lower costs, protect margins and improve operations and customer satisfaction. Let our experts show you how advanced technology can support you both now and into the future. Call us today at (909)-614-1416 ext. 120 or on the web at https://tech-intl.com