10 blogs from 2021 you don’t want to miss

2021 was an interesting year and we covered a wide range of topics from sustainability to brand trust. Bringing you industry insight, regulatory updates and impactful content to help you keep up-to-date with the industry. We’ve examined our most useful and best-performing blog pieces from 2021 and narrowed everything down to the top 10 must-reads. 

1. Building consumer trust in the agri-food supply chain

Now more than ever, consumers have numerous options when it comes to where and what food to buy. Trends show that consumers want to know more than just the nutritional information – they want to know the food's origin, when it was grown and how. The cost of a food product recall, quoted at £312,000 per incident in 2017, does not begin to reflect the total cost. Man-hours, empty shelves, 55% of people said they would switch brands, with 21% saying they would avoid purchasing any brand made by the offending manufacturer. In none of the incidents is the actual perpetrator the one losing trust or business. Those associated with that business are paying the price.  Read more from Alison Johnson, Managing Director at Food Forensics on how to build trust in the agri-food supply chain.

2. Toasting the good health of Australia's wine and alcohol producers

What can we expect for wine and alcohol producers in the months and years ahead?  Roy Morgan’s Alcohol Consumption Report shows the proportion of Australians who drink alcohol increased by 4% – or nearly a million drinkers – to 69.7% in the 12 months to June 2021. Stuck at home, many Australians rediscovered the charm of cocktail hour at home – home deliveries from local bottle shops and online retailers skyrocketed. Those with less money to spend turned to value-for-money products such as cask wine. There was a trend towards local, ethical, and health-conscious products, boosting sales in drinks such as seltzers and kombucha-with-a-kick. Read more on what to expect within each category of the alcohol industry.

3. Agricultural waste reduction 

In a world where agricultural production is getting harder, farmland becoming more scarce and spiralling costs it is imperative that the food that is being produced throughout the world, actually makes it to our plates. You might be shocked to learn that out of all of the farmland across the world, a whopping 30% of this available land produces food which is then wasted each year. This equates to 1.6 billion tons of food, wasted globally, which is enough to build a mountain two miles across and 8,000 feet high. This is especially cause for concern when we consider that to feed our growing population by 2050, food production will need to have increased by 60%. Read more on key areas for food and financial waste reduction.

4. Why and how to engage your suppliers in sustainability

Leading food companies around the world already recognise the business case for driving sustainability. For example, research from the Stern Centre for Sustainable Business established that products marketed as sustainable grew six times faster than those that were not. Food is a sector that particularly benefits from growth in brand loyalty and revenues when the product and company can demonstrate credible sustainability credentials. Read more from our Head of Sustainability, Kevin Ramm on how to engage your suppliers in sustainability.

5. Digitizing the supply chain for brand trust

Supply chain digitization can unlock significant benefits for agri-food companies to enhance data sharing, decision making, supplier collaboration and ultimately the transparency that consumers demand in the supply chain. The shift to digital has been slow, with relatively few organizations unlocking the full potential of their digital opportunities. There are a significant number of challenges as to why it has been a slow transition; including complex global supply chains, poor collaboration and cooperation, fear of change and implementation, and too many data silos. Read more from Dan Rafuse, Commercial Lead, NA on how digitizing the supply chain can help safeguard your brand reputation.

6. GLQM HACCP certification

The HACCP International certification mark is aligned with the due diligence requirements of the world’s leading food safety standards and quality systems. 

Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) are utilised to mitigate risk and form the foundation of best practices and food safety management systems. Developed by NASA, the HACCP process is designed to analyse all potential risks of a product or process and devise mitigation methods to ensure that risk does not occur. Read more on our HACCP certification.

7. Connecting the supply chain for a reduction in food waste

As impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic send ripples through the global supply chain, producers, retailers, and consumers are seeking more advanced and proactive methods to improve product quality and reduce system-wide food waste. By mitigating wasteful practices you actively tackle food waste and work towards achieving other objectives including improving food security, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, lowering pressure on water and land resources and increasing productivity and economic growth – helping to ensure there are enough resources to sustainably support the future global population. Read more on how connecting the supply chain can help reduce food waste.

8. GLFM Business Insights: inspection and activity reports

Our new integration platform launched for customers that wish to connect their CRM or ERP systems directly with Greenlight Farm Management for next-level business efficiency. Essentially, Integrations means you’ll be able to seamlessly connect Greenlight Farm Management with back-office farming systems, enabling you to extract and synchronise data, or conversely to update your Greenlight Farm Management automatically as you make updates or modifications in other connected programs. Saving time and avoiding duplication errors. Find out more on the benefits of GLFM Business Insight.

9. Avoiding a waste crisis in Canada 

Food waste is an urgent, but solvable, global challenge. In Canada, 35.5 million metric tonnes of food is lost or wasted annually, costing the economy $49.5 billion. However, it is reported that 4 million adults, including 1.4 million children across Canada are struggling to have enough to eat, according to a landmark report issued by Toronto-based food rescue organization Second Harvest and Value Chain Management International (VCMI), a global food waste authority. Read more about food waste in Canada

10. Achieving net-zero in food production and the supply chain

To keep global temperature rise to less than 1.5-2 degrees Celsius, which scientists say is necessary for preventing the worst impacts of climate change, we’ll need to not only reduce emissions wherever possible but also remove and store some carbon from the atmosphere. Carbon removal can take numerous forms, from new technologies to land management and farming practices. However, each carbon removal approach faces challenges and limitations. Read more on key focus areas for achieving net-zero in food production and the supply chain.