Food & Beverage Supply Chain to face changes due to methods of purchase.

eCommerce for food and beverage items still holds only a minority grouping of grocery shoppers, in comparison to those who still like to put their hands to the product in a brick-and-mortar grocery store.

However, recent polls from Harris Poll, of 2000 US adults, found that 31% had shopped online in the previous month. This may not seem like a whole lot, as 69% continued to shop in the traditional method of brick-and-mortar shopping. But, of that 31% of shoppers, 16% dared to shop fresh produce and continue to do so on a regular basis, which gives reason to believe that ecommerce of food & beverage is a trend that is here to stay.

With that being said, there are major changes to come in the following years of the food & beverage supply chain- in order to meet shifting market demands.

Victoria Greene published an article about this phenomena in Supply Chain Management Review, just last week. This article delves into the changes to come in the supply chain of food & beverages. She lays out her main points as:

• Visibility of Goods
• Efficient Warehousing
• Marketing Insight Data
• Focus on Local Suppliers
• Strategies for Building Trust

All of these changes will continue to pop up in various verticals as the digital transformation of supply chain management matures. 

As for the food & beverage industry, Green believes the market shifts are closer than we may want to believe. She writes, "By embracing ecommerce technologies, food and beverage companies can expand their markets, safe in the knowledge that every aspect of the supply chain is handled through a carefully monitored, centralized system. From a supplier’s perspective too, ecommerce brands present a huge, untapped source of revenue, provided that transparency and automated efficiency measures are brought in to protect brands and customers alike" (Greene 2017).

Technological advancements in purchasing methods by consumers has required better transparency in the methods of production, logistics and sales by retailers. Providing us with the information to conclude that the digital transformation of the supply chain is very much a reciprocal process.

As consumers continue to strive for more innovative methods of consuming, business will be forced to do the same- to uphold their end of the bargain. 

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