The demand for a variety of food has increased in the modern era. Consumers expect high-quality, affordable, and safe food. To fulfill the demand for efficiency, the food supply chain plays an important role. Every food product is manufactured with an expiry date, the quality and time of food received by the consumer decides the efficiency of the food supply chain.
Continue reading this blog to learn more about food chain supply and factors that play a crucial role in the food chain.
Contributors to the food chain:
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Farm
The origin of the raw material for the food. i.e., crops and animals.
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Manufacturer
The place where raw materials are cleaned and converted into eatables.
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Distributor
The caretaker and supplier of the finished food products. The products are stored in the warehouses before being supplied to the next chain.
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Retailer
The link between the consumer and distributor such as a physical store, supermarket or food website.
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Consumer
The last link of the food chain to utilize the finished food products.
Production, Manufacturing, Distribution, etc., are the direct contributors to the food chain. For example, companies like Highbury Canco are responsible for co-packing and organizing the transport for third-party products to ensure the safety of the products.
How to boost the efficiency of the food supply chain?
Food production is in abundance, yet due to poor supply management, the food is often expired, or quality is degraded. The timely delivery of the finished food product is essential for consumer’s health and the reputation of the supplier. The factors that can boost the efficiency of the supply chain are as follows:
Stock Rotation
As the food products are manufactured, the stopwatch for its due date begins. The first in, first out technique ensures that food products reach the consumer before their expiry. Technically speaking, when the order arrives, the item that comes first in the storage or warehouse should primarily be sent out for delivery.
Warehouse Architecture
The storage of the stocks should be in an appropriate position so that the FIFO method can be implemented easily. The position of the stock in the warehouses is one of the deciding factors of the speed of delivery. Adapting various inventory techniques with necessary tools might give a boost to supply.
IoT Solutions
Adopting IoT solutions to store the stock in the warehouse and supply crates is another great revolution. The use of sensors makes it easy to locate the position and type of stocks, date, and time of arrival, and a regular quality check can be performed. Sensors allow the monitoring of stocks at any link of the supply chain.
Environmental Condition
Temperature and humidity are the major contributors to the degradation of food items. So, there is a need for special attention to the environmental condition in which the stock is stored. Installation of refrigerators and other temperature adjusting machinery is necessary to avoid food degradation and wastage.
Distance and Time
The delivery time depends on the distance between the warehouse and the target market. Setting up warehouses near the consumer market can reduce the delivery time, and hence the risk of delivery of expired food is less. For example, the reputed co-packing company, Highbury Canco, is situated in southern Ontario. This makes it easy for them to deliver fresh food products to half of North America within just 24 hours.
Speed and Medium of Transport
The expiry date of products decides the speed and medium of transport. Products that expire within 1-7 days, such as veggies, require faster transport than an entire bottle of tomato sauce with an expiry period of six months or more.
What is the impact of social factors?
The social factors are responsible for the failure or success of any food product. Consumers are biased towards transparency and demand the ingredients and materials used in manufacturing. Increased transparency of details gains the attention and loyalty of the consumers. Dishonesty and fraudulent supply of food are the other reasons for the failure of the food chain.
The latest example of the impact of social factors on food supply chain management is the need to raise food packaging hygiene after the outbreak of Covid-19. Not following the social norms often result in losing consumers’ trust, accompanied by the wrecked reputation of the brand.
Conclusion
Transport, Storage, Quality, Trust are the lifelines of the supply chain system. Mastering the process of managing the supply can result in the success of the brand and food items. Industries often consider their supply system as complete and the best, yet there are always areas to improvise— advancing in those areas might unleash the new doors of success.
The Highbury Corp’s Highbury Canco is one of the leading industries for co-packing and 3PL (3rd party logistics). We have a properly maintained supply chain that helps deliver products within time-bound to the midwest and east coast of America.
We believe in quality assurance and try to make the freshest and safest products available for our consumers at affordable rates. Our research and development teams are constantly working on improvising our supply chain to fulfill the needs of our consumers.
