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F&B makers see need to fulfil health demands of customers: Ranga Pothula
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Thursday, 16 July, 2020, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
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Food and beverage manufacturers are doing their best to meet the health and wellness demands of customers. This has led to a trend for cleaner labels, plant-based options, and ethically sourced foods, according to Ranga Pothula, MD, India sub-continent & SVP global delivery services, Infor.
“Both new product introductions and long-standing products in the market are being updated with healthier ingredients to replace preservatives, saturated fat, sugar, sodium, or genetically modified organisms (GMO) ingredients,” he stated.
In a narration on ‘New consumer realities are driving changes in the food and beverage supply chain’ Pothula said that for years, food and beverage manufacturers have been concerned with short shelf life, inventory planning, and margin pressures. But in the current competitive landscape, supply chains are changing to respond to consumer expectations of healthier choices, ingredient transparency, and options for online or e-commerce shopping.
“Consumers want a healthier lifestyle which they are demanding from their food habits and purchases. We see them taking products off the shelf to immediately see if they can read or even pronounce the ingredients on the label. They want to know what they are eating and serving their families. There is a huge interest to know product’s raw materials and details of the farm where the poultry was raised,” he said.
In addition to opting for healthy products, consumers also want to ensure that the manufacturer has a social presence. They are keen to ascertain the manufacturers’ sustainability effort. “For instance, whether the poultry eggs are from free-range or cage-free hens. Besides, they also query on the kind of fertiliser was being used. Now all this seen to a challenge for the manufacturer because of the amount of data that is required to be stored and made available to consumers,” he noted.
There is also a major transformation on how consumers shop for healthy products. Food and beverage companies and retailers are learning about the term omni-channel in regards to delivering their products to the end-consumer. Hence buying groceries online is expected to triple over the next three years.
Therefore it is imperative for the food and beverage companies not only have to be innovative about creating new products, but they must meet the needs of the consumer and deliver value at the same time. “These include details on the availability, price, and perceived benefits. Supply chain improvements in any areas of value delivery add to competitiveness and with social media platforms, the information flow from company to consumer is seamless,” he pointed out.
All of this drives a unique requirement for agility in the supply chain. To keep up, an effective food and beverage manufacturing or retailing, the supply chain must be in sync with the consumer through technology-enabled sensing. This would allow multiple channels to function with visibility and fulfillment, according to Pothula.
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