The food industry continues to face significant, simultaneous crises, including labor shortages, inflation, product shortages, supply chain disruptions, an ongoing war overseas, and climate change putting food production at risk.
As we continue to face serious threats to our food supply, food businesses should be mindful of key trends and predictions for 2023. In the coming year, we should be focusing on sustainable food production, prioritizing DEI, training differently, and relying on digital solutions that can help boost transparency, accuracy, safety, and quality.
Here are 10 key predictions for what’s ahead in 2023:
1) A focus on sustainable food production. Climate change is putting food production at risk. Therefore, there will be a renewed effort around sustainable food production, like vertical farming, hydroponics, and aquaponics.
2) Quality and accuracy are king. To make your customers feel valued and appreciated, get their orders right! Implement solutions to boost accuracy, which will elevate a variety of critical metrics, including improved customer satisfaction and loyalty, increased revenue, positive reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations, etc.
3) Digital solutions will become more affordable and widely used. Digital efforts don’t have to break the bank. Organize supplier certifications and streamline supplier collaboration in the process. Gain visibility and identify/predict the operational improvements that will maximize your business success.
4) Continued efforts to overcome conflicts. The food industry continues to face major, concurrent crises, including production delays, food shortages, and extreme weather impacting crops. Food businesses will have to work hard to keep the lights on and deliver products (and promises) to customers.
5) A rise in workplace accountability. Moving forward, organizations will need to prioritize broader social accountability. This includes a focus on hiring a diverse workforce to ensure your products and services are being delivered by people that represent your increasingly diverse customer base. Now more than ever, treating employees fairly and equitably is key to securing a knowledgeable, stable, and productive workforce.