write 10 challenges faced by food and beverage industry
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Answer:
Top 8 challenges of food and beverage industry to watch out for
The 'Plastic ban' ...
The rise of health-consciousness among consumers. ...
The rising concerns about product traceability. ...
The ascent of meat-free & veganism trend. ...
The optimum level of stringency in the regulatory landscape. ...
The increasing complications of inventory management. ...
The pervasive presence of eCommerce.
. The ‘Plastic ban’
The enforcement of the ‘plastic ban’ is rooted in an ideology that has lasted several years amid discussions on international platforms and has now come to fruition. The consistent growth pace of industrialization, of which the F&B sector is a major arm, has had a disastrous impact on the environment, and has led to eco-friendliness becoming the next big mantra out there. Knowingly or unknowingly, the excess consumption and improper disposal of plastic has come up as one of the major challenges faced by food and beverage managers today.
In this scenario, a product that is tagged as ‘eco-friendly’, quite naturally, has more of a consumer connection and is likely to accrue lucrative sales than a product that is popularized to harm the environment. Food and beverage manufacturers and retailers are now striving toward making the food manufacturing process highly conducive to the environment through the adoption of numerous recycling practices. The deployment of green business practices – right from the production to the packaging and supply chain management is a crucial solution to tackling the current issues in the food industry.
Another environment-related constituent that forms a part of the present challenges of food and beverage industry is the issue of waste management. Undeniably, the food industry generates a considerable amount of waste, right from sourcing the raw material to food retailing and distribution. The negative impact of the same has been identified as one of the most crucial environmental issues in food and beverage industry that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. In response, manufacturers have been striving to bring about eco-friendly manufacturing practices, waste management programs, recycling techniques, and more.
A major example of how F&B industry contenders have been complying to the plastic ban is that of Nestle. Last year, Nestle declared its decision to use 100% recyclable/reusable packaging by 2025. Additionally, retailers such as Asda, Café Coffee Day, and McDonald’s have also announced their commitment to go plastic-free and bring about sustainable practices in production and packaging.
2. The rise of health-consciousness among consumers
The increasing incidences of food-related disorders have prompted consumers to bring about vital changes in their diet and lifestyle, making them more health-conscious than ever. Automatically, the train of thought is diverted towards purchasing foods without added preservatives that might hamper one’s health. The demand for products that do not carry the ‘healthy’ label is then bound to reduce, and to stay at the top, the need to eliminate artificial constituents from products has come to the fore as one of the major challenges faced by food and beverage managers.
One of the major factors that has led to increased diabetes prevalence is obesity, linked to a major intake of sugar via processed foods and cereals. This realization has, since the last half a decade, led to consumers shying away from products containing artificial sweeteners and other added preservatives.
Thus, one of the biggest challenges of food and beverage industry is for manufacturers to come up with healthy products that provide ample nutrients; yet, at the same time, do not take away from the aesthetics of the brand. This has led to a variety of nutrient-rich foods making it to supermarket aisles, labelled ‘gluten-free’, ‘dairy-free’, ‘sugar-free’, and the like. The widespread expansion of food supplement ingredients market is an apt example justifying the aforesaid.
As consumers tend to purchase products with value addition, food products reinforced with proteins, vitamins, and other nutrients have better chances of a massive sale, fueling food additives market, which is slated to register revenues over USD 115 billion by 2024. Adding value to food products without diminishing their quality or compromising on taste, and yet maintaining the cost-effectiveness, adds to the long list of current issues in the food industry.
Yet another trend that forms the crux of the challenges faced by food and beverage managers is the rising demand for organic food. The drastic reduction in the demand for processed foods has fueled the organic food market, increasing awareness levels regarding natural foods and their positive health impact. This has favored the demand for natural, healthy, food products, pushing organic rice protein market trends.
The dramatic no-show of consumers from the ‘center of store’ aisle products also demonstrates that consumers prefer to stay away from packaged goods, which is why brainstorming strategies to combat the increasing demand for organic products is one of the major challenges faced by food and beverage managers today. A recent example of how beverage manufacturers have been tackling this challenge is that of Coca Cola, which has recently launched the first sugar-free flavored water in Japan, under the brand “I LOHAS”.