The Biggest Challenges for Food Industry in 2021
In the last three years, the food industry has gone through significant changes, primarily due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Food businesses dealt with various health, safety, logistic, technological, and economic concerns to deliver their services to customers. Here are some of the challenges faced by the food industry in 2021.
Constant Shutdowns
The frequent lockdowns caused many companies and restaurants to hit a slump in terms of sales. Paying off salaries became a huge problem which led to the firing of many employees. The closure of international exports and imports had a massive impact on the supply chain in the food industry as many companies faced considerable difficulties in attaining essential raw materials.
However, many food-providing companies rose to the challenges and successfully adapted to new market trends by improving their technology.
Food Safety
The outbreak of COVID-19 brought food safety concerns with it. A study reports that around 60% of customers are interested in products that give them a strong immunity.
So, the biggest challenge for food providers and restaurant owners was to assure their customers that their food was safe from any contamination. That's why the food industry upgraded its packaging, implemented robust hygiene practices, and followed strict social distancing protocols to meet the safety food standard of their customers.
Aside from food safety, the health of the workers became a priority.
Technological Challenges
With indoor and outdoor dining options closed, delivery and take-out services soared in the pandemic. Having a robust delivery service became vital for the survival of all food businesses—small and big alike. This increased demand brought along a boost in online orders. The businesses that weren't equipped with advanced technological tools struggled to transition to a complete virtual medium for serving clients. Plus, many restaurant owners grappled with high expenses and low revenues.
The only viable option to boost restaurant sales and reduce payroll is to automate daily operational tasks. Many businesses turned to reliable online ordering software to track their orders, communicate with customers, and maintain their inventory.
This also reduced the number of staff required to run their business—as only one employee was needed to manage the software.
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