At the start of 2020, TE-FOOD’s industry professionals collected their thoughts to predict what new trends this year will bring for food traceability.

1. Supply chain visibility remains one of the top industry trends

Just like last year, supply chain traceability will be amongst the top food industry trends in 2020. This doesn’t mean that every food company will hurry to implement traceability, this period is still for early birds. But the demand for radical transparency is growing.

Consumers — especially the Millenials and younger — are acknowledging sustainability and ethical production, but at the same time, don’t trust brands. End-to-end traceability information can provide trusted proofs about the processes of their favourite brands.

2. Marketing is still the primary motivation for implementations, but other benefits are emerging

Until now, the main purpose for food companies to implement traceability is to differentiate their brands from their competitors, or to justify the higher price of a premium product.

As consumers prefer brands which provide more information on the production process, the marketing motivated traceability implementations are getting more popular.

However, a growing number of companies want to employ traceability to achieve other goals like improved operational efficiency, reduced food waste, quicker and targeted product recalls, or unified certification management.

3. Traceability customer segments will diversify

While most customers in the early bird period require highly customized solutions, we expect that segmentation will start in 2020.

Large enterprises will continue to demand traceability solutions deeply embedded into their internal processes and environments. Meanwhile small and medium sized enterprises will require solutions, which can be implemented quickly and with affordable cost levels.

In the medium term, SaaS solutions will appear in the traceability industry, providing easy parameterization and integration to IoT and backend systems, while providing it for affordable monthly fees based on volume or features.

3. Industry consortiums will become key catalyzators of traceability

End-to-end traceability isn’t a one man show. It’s a collaboration of complete supply chains for a common goal. As upstream suppliers (e.g. farms, food producers) are often selling to the same customers (e.g. distributors, retail chains), and downstream companies (distributors, retails) are often sourcing from the same suppliers, it’s reasonable for them to implement one system for several parties, sharing the cost and governance duties.

We also expect sector related consortiums (even led by professional associations). It’s easier and more affordable to implement one traceability system for several shrimp distributors, or dairy companies of certain regions, because often they share the same suppliers. If several customers of a dairy farm require traceability information, there is a bigger chance they can successfully onboard the farm.

4. The need for transparency and traceability will become the usual narrative in case of foodborne disease outbreaks

The multistate outbreak of E. coli infections in the united States was one of the most covered food safety news in 2018. It focused the public interest to the necessity of traceability.

Since that outbreak, whenever a foodborne disease appears, the narrative of traceability as a potential tool to mitigate the devastating effects appears in the media. We expect this trend to continue, and act as an important motivator for companies to explore the possibilities of traceability.