In February 2024, The European Commission received a letter from an industry organisation representing 90% of the European coffee trade. The contents voiced the body’s concerns about the fast-approaching EUDR regulations coming in December.
Lack of understanding around how supply chains work and not enough digital solutions being in place were cited as reasons the industry wasn’t ready to adopt the new regulations.
It was a fascinating insight into an industry that has been asked to reconsider its relationship with traceability for some time. It got the Foods Connected team thinking.
With different regulations and legislations rolling out across the globe – from FSMA 204 in the US to EUDR in Europe - why does the food sector still feel conflicted about integrating supply chain transparency into its daily processes?
To find the answer we surveyed 500 industry professionals across the US and the UK about traceability.
Our aim – to understand how they are feeling and what actions they are taking to help evolve the sector in the years to come.
Our survey touched on food safety, digital adoption, and of course traceability to gauge the blockers holding them back, and to assess both how ready businesses feel and in reality, how prepared they truly are.
We also got input from five industry experts who specialise in food supply chain traceability to gain extra insight into our survey findings.
An efficient traceability strategy can be massively beneficial to a business. It can help:
But it still isn’t a standard across the industry. We wanted to learn why.
In this blog we’ll outline some of our key findings from our research, and touch on what they mean for the food and drink industry’s approach to traceability.
To read the full report, download your copy here.
The Food Standards Agency defines traceability as “the ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food-producing animal or substance”.
But what began as a need to trace and track products for our food security, has evolved to include supply chain mapping, sustainability and a wider 360-degree supplier compliance discussion.
New legislations and regulations are providing the means and mechanisms to achieve a more transparent global view of our industry. But that means that food businesses – both big and small – are having to reassess and revolutionise the ways they work to keep in step with this evolution of ideas.
But traceability isn’t just about the then and now – it also about the future of food. We are on the precipice of the some of the most monumental changes to the sector since the industrial revolution – and traceability is part of that; a vital building block in the sector’s full transition to Industry 4.0.
Without digital traceability solutions in place to ensure a clear 360-degree view of the ways we work it will be impossible to embrace the new ideas innovations like artificial intelligence offer.
If we want to make the food supply chain safer, more efficient, and more resilient, as we fight to feed future generations, then we need to make traceability a priority now.
Want to dig deeper into the research? Download your copy of the report to get all the insights.