15 Dec 2022
The global food supply chain is one of the most crucial but complex logistics programs that our world needs for sustainability. With the ever-evolving scenario, the food supply chain has to face various challenges, which significantly stress F&B businesses and related parties. To help F&B businesses avoid any disruptions, we have noted down 5 distinct challenges that the food supply chain currently faces and will encounter in the future. Read to explore!
1. Food Origin Traceability
These days, consumers are aware of foods’ impacts on health and the dangers of food contamination throughout the food supply chain. Therefore, they require traceability that complies with growing food safety standards. However, most companies are not able to publish information from each and every step of the food supply chain due to outdated tracking systems and manual inspections. This not only weakens consumers’ trust, resulting in lower sales and profits but also gives rise to certain legal issues that can stall new product launches.
2. Communication Amongst Partners
There are multiple parties involved throughout the supply chains. Each stakeholder owns unique transportation and communication methods. In fact, different individuals within the same commodity rarely interact. This can cause mistrust among suppliers and many hurdles, including delays in moving products, the increase of bacteria growth, food poisoning, or spoilage.
3. Food Fraud Potentials
In the food and beverage industry, it is a must to be on the lookout for food fraud. It is defined as the intentional adulteration of food by misbranding, counterfeiting, or substituting one product for another, using approved additives or enhancement, or intentionally contaminating food with various substances. Consequently, businesses may not get what they pay for, and it raises a serious health concern for customers.
4. Growing Regulations
Food fraud increases, and so do regulations with the purpose of protecting the public. Specifically, they are Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules, and the ELD Mandate, along with a wide range of state and local laws. This will add more hurdles within the supply chain, and increase costs and inconveniences for the companies that must adhere to them.
5. Rising Supply Chain Costs
There are many important costs that businesses have to note down while running a food supply chain. The more complex the supply chain is, the more cost control you have to tighten. As such, keeping a check on operating costs is a constant challenge. Some of them are:
- Energy and fuel – the politics and war potentials have given the rapid increase in fuel prices around the world.
- Logistics and freight – since the pandemic, these prices have been much more volatile.
- Manpower – this is a major challenge for many companies, from restaurants to food service and agriculture as manpower costs are continuing to rise.
- Investment in new technology – this can be expensive but can be an ROI for the long run.
There is no getting around it, but the food supply chain is a challenging one. Therefore, very complex supply chains are probably better served with a network solution, so that you only need to integrate into the network once. This makes onboarding fast and fairly painless and ensures you get the maximum return on investment. Leveraging the right technologies, such as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, can help you gain a more efficient supply chain, with quality products and more loyal customers. Synergix Technologies offers our clients integrated and customised ERP solutions with a subsidy of up to 70% to seamlessly streamline their operations. Contact our experts for a free consultation!
