The food industry enters the "new normal" after a pandemic with a stronger approach to food safety.
The food industry enters the "new normal" after a pandemic with a stronger approach to food safety.
The food industry is a very dynamic sector of the community. It changes yearly and is easily influenced by customer preferences and health concerns. If there is one evident thing that changed the whole dynamics of the food industry, particularly the aspect of food safety, it would be the arrival of COVID-19. This phenomenon shifted every food safety trend predicted in the past years and significantly altered how businesses approach food safety in their everyday services.
As the economy copes with the new normal, the food industry regains a foothold and is projected to grow in sales by $899 billion by the end of 2022. Consumers are to expect a more diverse and stricter approach to food safety as food manufacturers find more effective ways to protect the supply chain.
As the industry is more aware of the potential problems that a pandemic may bring, the supply chain system can expect stricter food regulations to control food safety and protect public health.
This article looks into the most recent food safety trends brought about by the sudden shift in the food industry.
Over the many events of food safety issues throughout the years, food safety agencies have put more attention to keeping the food supply chain safer. Occurrences such as the outbreak of E.coli 0157:H7 in 1993 shook the industry and prompted several agencies to work and harmonize government efforts with consumer interest and safety.
With a deeper understanding of the behavior of pathogens and the complexity of foods, the food industry has found more ways to protect public health. From a system where the responsibility of cooking foods correctly is placed upon the consumers, central government agencies have now shifted their focus to strengthening food safety regulations ensuring that the food released to the public is safe.
Laws such as the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 paved the way for risk-based preventive controls that reduce the likelihood of foodborne illness outbreaks. Agencies also now have proper guidelines to follow on implementing improvements in food service safety and sanctions in case of non-compliance.
In addition to regulations, the industry has also started to embrace technology and the use of software programs for a more transparent food supply chain. Food businesses have gone paperless for a more sustainable operation and have streamlined their processes to make it easier to integrate with other programs.
The very meaning of the word trend translates to how a particular topic develops or changes and implies the effects of its surroundings. Such is also the case with food safety trends. The food industry's approach to changes in food safety and other aspects of the process is often a response to the demands of consumers and their effects on the environment.
The following are some of the main factors that affect food safety trends:
Food safety trends are significantly influenced by external factors, especially consumer demands. The food industry is a service-oriented business that continuously finds ways to sustain the needs and wants of consumers while protecting them from potential harm. It is the responsibility of every food business to implement food safety systems that will ensure safe food production.
The global phenomenon that is COVID-19 undeniably struck the food industry hard. Restrictions imposed by government agencies to reduce the transmission rate of the virus resulted in a significantly limited interaction within the food service industry.
Food workers were limited, some businesses were forced to close, and restrictions made it harder for suppliers to ship their products. The whole scenario that the pandemic caused has put significant pressure on the supply chain.
Although the community is seeing the nearing end of the pandemic, and there is no evidence that the virus can be transmitted through food, businesses remain vigilant against person-person transmission. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of food safety for food businesses and increased consumer awareness.
The long-term effects of the pandemic have prompted food businesses to increase awareness, improve staff training on food hygiene, and add practices particular to controlling COVID-19. In addition to the efforts of individual food businesses, food agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration have extended their efforts to draw guidelines for safer operations.
The United States saw significant changes when the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 was passed. It was considered one of the most comprehensive revisions to the food safety system of the country and changed its approach.
Now, to meet the challenges left by the ongoing pandemic, the US supply chain continues to come up with smarter solutions.
Here are some of the latest food safety trends in the US:
Smarter food safety by the FDA. As part of the objective of the FSMA and the FDA's program "The New Era of Smarter Food Safety," the food agency will continue to make more modern approaches to food safety. This program's center is developing a technology-driven traceability system, smart tools for addressing outbreaks, more modern business models, and highlighting food safety culture.
This trend is seen to pave the way for more enhanced predictive assessments for food safety purposes and more effective and efficient responses to issues and outbreaks. The technology-driven trend aims to make the whole supply chain more visible to the customers throughout the stages of production.
Post-pandemic approach to food service. Although the world is learning how to combat the virus and the cases of infection are continuously decreasing, the virus is here to stay. As such, food businesses are finding more ways to protect their consumers. Businesses are going beyond just providing alcohol and thermal scanners. Emphasis is given to a stricter cleaning and sanitation schedule, including a more aggressive approach to preventing cross-contamination.
Sustainability of operations. While not new, sustainability remains a top trend among food businesses. Communities and the food industry consider achieving complete sustainability a great performance measure. More companies are expected to pursue sustainability as one of their main objectives in the next years. As businesses in the food industry are some of the most reliant entities on nature, their roles in sustainability movements are seen as invaluable.
Food safety rules on food deliveries. The pandemic has significantly shifted how consumers access food and businesses provide services. In 2021, food deliveries tripled in value compared to the services in 2017, amounting to around $150 billion. This trend is not going anywhere any time soon. With the fast-paced setting and busier lifestyle of consumers, the convenience of food deliveries has become an integral part of their routines. With the continuous growth of this sector, more new guidelines on logistics and food hygiene practices for the transport of food are being established.
The effects of the pandemic globally hit the food industry. The UK food industry is no exception to this. In recent months, the country took steps toward unifying policymakers and academics to strengthen its approach to combating foodborne illnesses. This served as an answer to the falling number of audits in the country due to the pandemic and the recent Brexit.
The following trends are seen to rise as a response to the continuous pressure of the pandemic and other national crises:
Generally, trends across the globe are almost the same. Most trends focus on bouncing back from the effects of the pandemic by setting up stricter protocols for food safety. Additionally, most of the trends predicted for 2022 and the coming years also focus on improving the immunity of consumers through functional products and streamlining food operations through digitization and automation of operations.
The top food industry trends in 2022 are significantly influenced by the effects of the pandemic and the need for the workforce to adapt to digitalization. The industry can expect to see more movements toward automation and the use of smart technology for processing and food safety.
In addition, the continuing demand of the public to see beyond the label will push food manufacturers to improve on data transparency. In this section, we collected some of the most widely noted trends in 2022 and some information from our team at FoodDocs.
A good example of this is how software and application are linked to machines and sensors so that data recording is streamlined and done automatically without human intervention. Such digital solutions do not intend to replace the human workforce because the information still needs to be verified. Rather, the process makes food safety recording faster and less prone to error.
In the coming months, the industry can expect to see more participants in the supply chain jumping in on the data-driven environment. Access to information by consumers may become more pronounced, forcing manufacturers to be more accountable for their operations and promoting stricter food safety systems. As consumers become more aware of how foods are processed, more community members are more conscious about how the food they are eating was produced. Consumers are also now concerned about whether the food they consume is sustainably produced and free of pesticides or other chemical residues.
Food safety trends this year and in the coming months are not limited to what is listed in this piece. In general, the industry is expected to see stricter food safety regulations brought about by the effects of the pandemic. The industry is also expected to shift towards a more digitally oriented approach to food safety.
Your best bet to help your food business adapt to the digitalization of food safety is to let our digital solution handle the transition. In just an average of 15 minutes, you can get a comprehensive digital Food Safety Management System powered by artificial intelligence. Easily streamline your processes and let our digital solution help your team get food safety tasks done accurately.
The economy may be gradually opening, but it will take some time before the consumers get used to the new normal after a pandemic. For food businesses, this is an opportunity to plan and stay on top of what might occur in the coming days.
The devastating effects of the pandemic on food businesses only prove that planning has its benefits and can set you apart from others. As a recovering food business, your team would need to find ways to gain stability in the new environment while staying on top of food safety trends.
Here are some industry trends in food safety and sanitation that you can do to keep your business as competitive as possible:
Update operations. Do not expect that you will be operating how you did pre-pandemic. While the industry is slowly starting to open again, you must adapt your operations to accommodate safety guidelines while making consumers feel safe. This can be shown in your establishment layout that reduces contact, adapting to the use of digital menus and ordering or even visibly stricter food hygiene protocols.
Research about new preferences. You can never go wrong when you are fully equipped with information. Before creating a plan to operate your business post-pandemic, research how the market has behaved recently and how it is projected to act in the coming days.
Explore contactless services. Food deliveries were a big hit when everyone was on lockdown. Although face-to-face services will start operating again, the convenience and popularity of delivery services will not go anywhere. Plan your operations and include its expansion to catering deliveries. Operating self-service kiosks in your food business may also apply contactless services.
Digitize food safety. The fastest and most versatile way for your food business to cope with the ever-changing food industry is to use the aid of trends in food safety software. Artificial intelligence and machine learning systems can better understand consumers' movements. Additionally, digital solutions can help you comply with food safety regulations with just a few clicks.
In an interview with our CEO and Co-founder of FoodDocs, Katrin Liivat, she noted a looming problem with meeting compliance guidelines in food safety and maintaining them. To perform all activities to keep food safe, food businesses usually resort to hiring more staff or spending more time on these critical operations.
Solutions such as the digital Food Safety Management System from FoodDocs can help food businesses comply with food safety laws more efficiently and allow them to focus on other activities such as achieving sustainability.
"With the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning, our FoodDocs team has made a way to help you make compliance easier."
the co-founder of FoodDocs mentioned. Digital solutions and technology will greatly help food businesses achieve their goals in different aspects faster and more accurately. What is usually achieved through hours and hours of conceptualization and trials, such as a food safety management system, can now be done in mere minutes.
Using digital solutions is your fastest gateway to coping with the trends in the food industry. A great example is our digital Food Safety Management System. Our digital solution offers features such as a smart notification program that can remind employees of upcoming tasks. This feature is paired with detailed instructions on monitoring significant parameters for food safety compliance installed in our mobile app.
Product innovation stopped for a while due to the effects of the pandemic. Despite this, the coming months are seen as an avenue to release new food products into the market. Innovations do not have to mean new products. Some restaurants are expected to lower the number of dishes on their menus. This movement aims to improve efficiency while promoting profit gains. As such, some food businesses aim to expand in terms of services rather than their product list.
Here are the top 3 food trends that are currently dominating the food industry:
These industry movements aim to fuel consumers' desire to eat healthier food products and protect themselves from sickness by improving their immune systems. This trend has seen a significant increase in attraction in 2020. The Information Resources, Inc or IRI reported that products with nutritional claims grew in sales by 10%.
In general, the industry can expect health consciousness to be a main market driver in the coming days. As consumers become more socially aware, food businesses are also expected to include the environment's welfare in their agenda. The current climate of the food industry suggests that food businesses must be more inclusive when it comes to offering healthier options and finding more environment-friendly operations.
The food industry is a very competitive niche. It has been shown in statistics that at least 30% of newly opened restaurants fail in their first year. Keeping up with the current trends in the food industry may just be a way to stay alive in a cut-throat environment.
While new trends in the food industry often move fast and easily change, some trends can help your food business flourish and work more efficiently. Trends such as shifting your operations to become more digitally centered can help improve efficiency and accuracy for a very long time.
Keeping up with food trends is often seen as a driver for competitive advantage. For example, trends that are related to food safety can help your food business become more secure and protect your customers more effectively from foodborne illnesses.
Technology has become a significant part of the development of the food industry over the years. Not only is the use of technology a great help in helping to create processes that will aid in the betterment of the environment, but it has also become a necessity to resolve the issues from the pandemic.
Technology has helped the food industry ride with the effects of limited interactions and speeds up the process of adapting to consumer needs. Nowadays, technological trends are more of an integral part of the food industry rather than just an option for some.
Here is a list of what are some trends in the food industry:
Use of social media for marketing. Even before the pandemic hit the community, social media and the internet have been great avenues for marketing products. Social media, in particular, serves as a free marketing tool for most businesses. During the pandemic, it was one of the biggest ways for people to get information as they are mostly tied to the internet.
In recent times, social media is by far one of the best ways to reach consumers. In addition, people often mimic or patronize what they see is trending on this platform. It affects consumers' buying patterns and influences industry trends significantly.
Data-driven processing. The use of algorithms and machine learning programs are some of the latest trends in the food processing industry and have completely improved customer service. These programs have helped understand consumers better and serve them beyond their needs. They use the information gathered from the previous selections of customers to generate suggestions that may help them in the future.
Contactless payment. Convenience is a big part of how contactless transactions became a big hit over the years. Consumers can order and pay in advance to limit contact with food servers. Contactless payments and services contribute to food hygiene. It reduces the need to hold cash as well as human contact.
Contactless payments in the form of Point of Sale Systems (POS) also improve ordering efficiency. Orders go directly to the kitchen without having contact with a third-person server, and orders can be integrated into other store sections, such as inventory and stock management.
Automation of manufacturing process. This technological trend is related to contactless payments. Recently, there has been an uptick in the use of restaurant software to manage service, stocks, payments, accounting activities, and even food safety. The restaurant industry has started to accommodate the efficiencies that software programs bring.
Automation can be in the form of using programs to integrate several different operations in your food business. A POS system can be connected to accounting and inventory software. This process can give your team an immediate overview of your business status.
In other areas, automation can be applied through software that can take out the repetitive tasks in your operations and do them for you. An example of this is the auto-fill system used by our team in FoodDocs. Using our smart and automatically generated monitoring forms, our system can prefill the logs for you, which will only need verification. Such digital solutions can save your team a significant amount of time.
The food service scene has significantly changed over the years. The food service industry is slowly trying to adapt to the many new challenges of the pandemic, climate change, and falling economy. Changes in the service process of different food companies and how they handle remaining staff to reduce turnover rate are evident over the past months.
Here are three major trends in the food service industry:
Like other trends in the food industry, food service is significantly affected by what is happening in its environment. The main drivers of what will come next in food service have something to do with what the consumer wants, what the industry can give, and what would be good for the environment.
Food service trends are often new avenues to create a competitive advantage in your niche. These trends can be internal improvements or those concerning your organization or external ones concerning the services and products you offer in your establishment.
Keeping up with food service trends used to be just for attracting new customers. Nowadays, food service trends also focus on maintaining good relations with customers and employees. The food service workplace is implementing more and more activities that help show the value of the work being done.
In addition, when your food business is up-to-date with the latest food trends, you can often find more efficient ways to operate and fulfill your customers' needs. Useful tools are often introduced in the food service industry to help employees keep up with the demands regarding the safety and quality of products.
Food technology innovations are expected to move towards a more sustainable production process. The trends that are observed in food technology are mostly geared towards solving problems brought about by environmental problems and the effects of COVID-19. As a result, more technology for automating processes and digitizing systems is emerging in the industry.
The food and beverage industry is seen to be focusing more on improving the lifestyle of consumers and boosting immunity as a barrier against different types of illnesses. To fulfill this, businesses must incorporate more functional and immune-boosting ingredients into products. In addition, more alternative food diets are expected to be offered in the market.
The food truck industry could not dodge the effects of the recent pandemic. Just when this industry's sales skyrocketed, the pandemic hit and immobilized food trucks. Food trucks need to find ways to ensure safety among consumers and their employees for food businesses that rely on mobility.
Now that the economy is opening up, aspiring restauranteurs must know what are the trends in the food truck industry:
Location apps can also be used to promote your food truck for hiring customers, such as for parties, catering events, or festival gatherings. A great example is Roaming Hunger which is a tracker app that can disseminate your location to potential customers and, at the same time, connect your business to events that may be in need of your food service. Other location apps that may be a bit simpler to use include StreetFoodFinder, which is limited to some cities in the US.
Software such as the digital Food Safety Management System of FoodDocs can automatically generate monitoring forms related to your operations. What's even greater is that these forms come with an auto-fill feature that prefills the forms based on your previous logs. This software also comes with a smart notification system that alerts food handlers of any food safety task that needs your attention.
Other software such as SafetyChain Compliance Manager can help streamline the process of selecting, auditing, and monitoring your food suppliers. This app can help food trucks and other restaurant operations ensure that their suppliers uphold the same standards as you do in your establishment. It also makes their evaluation more effective in reducing food safety risks.
Moving forward, learning what technological trends affect the food truck industry can significantly help you cope with the changes in the food service scene. Technological trends such as software programs can help you jumpstart your business again as the economy opens up while maintaining the safety of your customers.
The food industry has grown a lot over the years, and we can expect more growth in the next. Improvements will inevitably come as solutions to problems such as climate change, depleting resources, human errors, and emerging foodborne diseases.
As the food industry opens up globally, consumers can expect more diversity in choices. Food businesses must ensure that there will be enough food safety guidelines to protect consumers from foodborne illnesses or other food safety issues.
In the coming years, we can expect food businesses to be more progressive in choosing the food operations they will implement in their system. Sustainability and regard for the environment will be a priority. As consumers learn to demand accountability from businesses, we expect these movements to be reciprocated by more environmentally friendly operations and responsibly sourced products.
Technology will play a great role in this shift to help businesses attain efficiency and sustainability together for a safer working environment. Software programs and workforce automation will undeniably help resolve issues arising from human error. They will also greatly help reduce the burden of performing repetitive tasks in their operations.
Despite the many obstacles presented to the food industry by the pandemic and rising food safety issues, innovations and the use of technology will guide food businesses across them. Digitalization of operations will be the biggest solution to achieving sustainable, fast, and healthy products and services.
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