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Food Business Review | Wednesday, February 03, 2021
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Covid-19 has expedited technology implementation in the global food and beverage supply chain.
The COVID-19 epidemic has played a catalyst for change, prompting the food and beverage industry to consider new approaches to overcoming constraints and challenges. Thus, interest in and use of digital solutions has increased dramatically.
Patients getting cancer treatment have several adverse effects, including hunger and taste alterations. New food looks at a few of the food innovations created to deal with these issues. For instance, coloring foods are viable substitutes for color additives since today's customers demand supportable, clean-label products.
How do you manage these natural alternatives best?
Embracing technology
Food firms must innovate to stand up to this technological transition and compete, facing rising competition from other industries. Technology is collected to transform the global grocery market beyond recognition over the next decade, from virtual reality (VR) headsets that allow customers to shop from their own homes to drone deliveries and 3D printed food.
Shopping habits
Due to the lockdown, consumers' purchasing habits and means of obtaining items have also changed.
Based on a statistic, many UK customers decrease the number of times they visit a store each week. As a result, Brits have reverted to a weekly visit to a well-planned 'buy-what-you-need' store after several weekly visits.
It might be attributed to the popularity of online purchasing, which is likely due to government limitations, individual fears of contracting the virus, and the desire to avoid long lines. However, due to the higher demand, many have had the same disappointing experience — unable to acquire an online delivery location. Because of particular needs, Ocado had to prioritize its orders and develop a waiting list.
Niche food producers
We've seen a rise in meal packages and online shopping delivery. Therefore, these businesses are now getting traction and recruiting top personnel.
Because IT businesses are continuously innovating and striving to be better and more robust, they can provide new solutions and ideas through the software regularly. Hence, they will gradually eat into the market share of conventional supermarkets and grocery stores. It all be down to delivering the consumer absolutely what they want.
Delivery of goods
Just-in-time delivery has got broadly embraced as a cost-effective way of maintaining optimal output while lowering expenses. However, the epidemic has underlined the reliance on manual labor as a weak point in the supply chain. Thus, there is a new push toward automation to solve this issue.
For instance, warehouse management systems combined with Artificial Intelligence (AI) assist in optimizing warehouse operation and distribution while also lowering the number of personnel necessary.