CHICAGO — Although today's food supply chain infrastructure is efficient, the underlying assumptions that form its foundation are becoming less relevant. Consumers are demanding more locally sourced, fresh and sustainable food products from companies who are environmental stewards and good corporate citizens. Food Industry Logistics: Trends That Matter, a whitepaper compiled by foodservice industry research leader, Technomic, and powerhouse consultant, Deloitte Advisory, provides trusted food industry expertise to help industry stakeholders build a strategy for capitalizing on these logistic trends.
"Consumer demand patterns are evolving fast, and food spend is increasingly diverted to an expanding number of innovative niches such as fast-casual restaurants and specialty markets," explains Bob Goldin, Technomic executive vice president. "This is a real and material threat to the underlying assumptions that food industry business models and food supply chains are built on."
The ability to deliver new logistics solutions to meet the rapidly changing supply-chain challenges will be essential for companies that want to remain competitive. From smaller, closer-to-market and more responsive distribution and consumption sites, all the way to entire production systems built to predictive demand analytics and retail-time information, organizations must remain flexible and know how the market is changing in order to anticipate the next market move.
"Consumers have expanded their set of purchase criteria beyond cost and convenience to include benefits such as wellness, transparency, and social responsibility," says James Cascone, global restaurant and food services leader and Deloitte Advisory partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP. "Providing safe, fresh food that meets this consumer expectation in an anytime-anywhere on demand delivery basis presents emerging strategic risks that restaurants and food service companies need to consider."
Food Industry Logistics: Trends That Matter is one of many topics in Technomic's research series, offering the most current analysis, insight and opportunities to help grow your business. Technomic's best-in-class intelligence combines nearly 50 years of foodservice expertise with the largest group of industry experts.
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Only Technomic delivers a 360-degree view of the food industry. We impact growth and profitability for our clients by providing consumer-grounded vision and channel-relevant strategic insights. Our services range from major research studies and management consulting solutions to online databases and simple fact-finding assignments. Our clients include food manufacturers and distributors, restaurants and retailers, other foodservice organizations, and various institutions aligned with the food industry. Visit us at technomic.com
Source: Technomic
