3 Major Challenges for the Food and Beverages Industry

By CIOReview | Friday, June 4, 2021

FREMONT, CA: The food & beverage industry is always one of the fastest-moving in regards to the changes that come every year in terms of tastes, preferences, packaging, food manufacturing, storage, transportation, and many more. The industry has undergone these many changes in the last decade due to the rapidly changing behaviors of consumers, technological advancements, and regulations. These factors have also plagued the industry with a series of obstacles. Being a consumer-driven industry, this industry is facing serious challenges, and here is more about it.

The Plastic Ban

The increased consumption and improper disposal of plastic is one of the major challenges faced by food and beverage managers today. In this scenario, a product that is named as ‘eco-friendly’ has more of a consumer connection and is likely to make lucrative sales than a product that harms the environment. Food and beverage manufacturers are now competing toward making the food manufacturing process highly environment friendly through the adoption of numerous recycling practices.

Health-Conscious Consumers

The increase of food-related disorders has prompted consumers to bring about drastic changes in their diet and lifestyle, making them more health-conscious than ever before. With this, the thought is diverted towards purchasing foods without added preservatives that might hamper health. The demand for products that carry the ‘healthy’ label is then bound to reduce and to stay at the top. The need to eliminate artificial ingredients from products has come to the fore as a significant challenge faced by food and beverage managers.

Concerns About Product Traceability

Traceability is one of the major challenges in the food and beverage industry, not just for record management but also to fulfill the bottom line. Consumers have been taking increasing interest to know what goes into their food, which has led to ingredient labeling becoming a major part of the packaging process. With public trust in food supply chains decreasing drastically and awareness pertaining to glitches in the supply chain since the last few years or so, end-to-end traceability has evolved as one of the megatrends in the food and beverage industry.