SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — 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. Now, industry expert Kari Hensien, RizePoint CEO, predicts what’s ahead in 2023.
“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. Luckily, tech solutions have become more affordable and accessible for food businesses of all sizes,” Kari explained.
Kari’s 10 key predictions for 2023 include:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Training will change. Historically, food businesses trained employees by explaining how things should be done. But what if you thought about training differently? Train, practice, demonstrate, and reinforce to boost employee confidence and retention. Encourage employees to ask questions, seek feedback, and feel empowered. Create a collaborative culture vs. a punitive one.
The supply chain will become more transparent. It’s critical to implement safety and quality protocols for your business, but it’s not enough. You must also inspect safety, quality, and traceability all along the supply chain. Thanks to more affordable, accessible tech tools, this is now possible for brands of all sizes and budgets, and you can get started without a big investment. Focus on what the regulations require and use digital solutions to seamlessly manage your vendors’ safety and QA certifications.
Consumers will embrace the hybrid model. Customers have become accustomed to the hybrid of in-person, pickup and delivery, so food businesses need to excel at all these models, focusing on safety and accuracy for each.
Operational data and programs will gain credibility in the Board Room. Business intelligence will connect operational data and improvement to business performance.
Remote brand protection. A growing number of companies are looking for ways to protect their locations and/or facilities if they can’t physically reach them for audits or inspections. Maybe it’s a travel issue to that area or maybe it’s cost prohibitive, but tech solutions can save quality teams as much as 70%, which is a huge win at a time when every dollar counts.
RizePoint, builds technology that empowers users to audit, assess results, and determine when/if corrective actions must be taken. Its best-in-class solution is complete, comprehensive, and user-friendly, boosting visibility, accuracy, and efficiency.
About RizePoint
For 25+ years, RizePoint has offered quality management software solutions that help companies keep brand promises through their quality, safety, and compliance efforts. Customers gather better data, see necessary actions earlier, and act faster to correct issues before they become costly liabilities. Visit rizepoint.com.
Contact: Adrienne Walkowiak
RizePoint
[email protected]
603/659-9345
SOURCE RizePoint
