Tag: year ahead

As the produce industry continued to find its equilibrium in 2023, issues like artificial intelligence, climate change, labor, and food safety affected everyone along the supply chain.

A number of questions face the industry when it comes to consumer behavior in 2022.

Labor shortages, food delivery and click-and-collect, and other trends are accelerating the need for technology.

Numerous studies have identified plant-based eating—from full-on veganism to a casual reduction in meat consumption through plant-based substitutes—as gaining traction in 2020 and 2021.

According to the CDC’s Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), there were 26 percent fewer foodborne infections in 2020 compared with the average annual number from 2017 to 2019, marking the first decline in many years.

Product sampling was put on hold during the pandemic due to safety concerns, but will it come back? And at what level?

Countering the trend for more packaging is the desire for more sustainable measures, especially as climate change becomes of greater concern to consumers.

Convenience continues to be a buzzword throughout the greater food industry and is expected to be a key driver in all manner of innovation in 2022, from new varieties and value-added products to packaging.

Last year at this time, many observers had hoped the pandemic would be over by now. Unfortunately, it’s still here, and when combined with all the other industry challenges—from inclement weather, fluctuating product availability, supply chain issues, labor uncertainty, and changing consumer behavior—2021 turned out to be one of the more difficult years in recent memory.