Future of Food Ready Supply Chains

Our food value chain depends on interconnected actors: farmers, processors, distributors, retailers, and consumers. Economic volatility, consumer behavior changes, and trade and movement restrictions have sent shockwaves across the value chain and will continue doing so (Brexit is nearing!).

Trade disruptions including e.g. import and export restrictions, and shipping limitations have impacted exporters and importers alike. Farmers and food processors that rely on e.g. migrant workers to harvest crops are struggling to secure enough labor and COVID-19 is exposing vulnerabilities to working conditions.

Expected business closures and rising unemployment will affect consumer spending and shifts in behavior, placing pressure on actors across the food value chain.

Farmers and processors may continue to see falling demand for fresh food products, including produce and dairy, impacting food waste. The shift to online is putting pressure on retailers and distributors, especially those delivering e.g. to horeca given current circumstances.

How to make food supply chains more resilient?

Resilient food value chains are able to withstand supply chain shocks – either driven by a consumer or supply disruptions – , and continue operations relatively seamlessly. They must be diverse, flexible, and efficient.

Across the supply chain, this means different things.

Sourcing and distribution diversity are critical for supply chains to continue functioning effectively. Part of the answer relies on strategic partnerships that are strengthened through coordinated planning and investment, enabled amongst others via supplier collaboration.

Flexible food supply chains are better able to match demand with supply. So for demand and supply planning teams this requires e.g. greater visibility, standardization, and improved scenario analyses to enable the food supply chains to respond on time in the face of disruptions, mitigating risks and minimizing food waste.

Standardization in e.g. processes and packaging can help to  shift production and distribution quickly to respond to consumer demand swings by  delivering items bound for bulk buyers to grocery stores or directly to consumers by low effort repackaging.

Closing

Economic volatility, consumer behavior changes, and trade and movement restrictions will continue to serve as a catalyst to reassess the food value chain to drive resilience, mitigating the impacts, both human and economic, of future shocks.

How are you building resiliency into your food supply chains?