Biotechnology and supply chain digitisation is seeing increased adoption with people looking for disruptive solutions.

Food is an essential commodity for human survival. However, the thirst towards urban areas has drastically reduced the interest in farming. Young people are focused on moving on with the modern world while all that is left behind in the farming areas are minimum money and worn out people. Since technology and evolution have solutions to stabilise disappearing fields, agriculture is something that is increasingly seeing benefits from innovations. Biotechnology and supply chain digitisation is driving food industry towards improvement.

With fierce global competition and changing regulations in the food industry, the speed at which enterprises can react and adapt is imperative to their success. Already, many innovative solutions are emerging as a source to complement the food industry. One such initiative is vertical gardening which can also be done in urban areas. Households can get raw vegetables and fruits through vertical gardening. If the system has disruptive technology induced in it, then people have zero work to grow it. Digital changes are helping agriculture to make it long stand in the bad storm. Similarly, other technologies like supply chain digitisation and biotechnological way of growing food are increasingly being adopted across the globe.

Food supply chain digitisation for even distribution

The promise of digitisation is enormous, and nowhere is it more critical than in its potential to transform the food supply chain. Digital solutions that provide supply chain visibility from fields to factory, distributor and customer have disruptive potential. These solutions generate a tremendous amount of data that can be harvested and used to optimise processes, identify risks, and improve quality in real-time. Digital supply chain networks connect food manufacturers to their trading partners, giving visibility into the extended supply chain. The capability provides critical real-time customer demand, inventory management, and logistics data that enable front-line managers to respond to changes in market conditions effectively.

The Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst for an inevitable long term trend to make supply chain digital. With lockdowns coming to effect, consumption patterns have changed as consumers seek out for reliable food delivery services. Except for farmers, seed and fertiliser suppliers, as well as food wholesalers and distributors have turned to online platform services for distribution and marketing. Remarkably, the food supply chain also helps in minimising food wastage. The scale of the global food waste problem is staggering. According to reports, 1.6 billion tons of foods are lost or wasted every year, equating to a total value of US$1.2 trillion being wiped from the supply chain. By embracing technology and digitalising the food supply chain, the amount of food waste and loss within the industry can be minimised.

Transparency-One: Transparency-One supports the global food supply chain industry by helping companies ensure their products are safe and conform to product safety rules and regulations. The company offers supply chain mapping, visibility, product compliance and safety from the source to the store. It minimises risk to food businesses from fraud, unsafe facilities and unknown sources.

Biotechnology for better food production

Environmental changes are greatly impacting the soil, which further affects the crops that grow in it. A lot has changed over the years in the food industry. Generally, the food we consume today is not as good as the food we had a hundred years back. However, the demand for food is drastically increasing with the population. Henceforth scientists are coming up with food biotechnology solutions to better food production and quality. Food biotechnology is the use of technology to modify the genes of the food source. With biotechnology, humans create new species of plants which have desired nutritional, production and marketing properties.

Intertek Experts: Intertek Experts have the extensive food industry and scientific experience that supports biotechnology product development and government approvals. Intertek helps companies by supporting the comprehensive evaluation of safety and regulation of products in biotechnology such as novel plants and microorganisms.