Food Industry Innovation: Blockchain and automation reinventing supply chains

Blockchain is a decentralised information technology that could improve food supply chains by increasing transparency, efficiency, security, and trust. Blockchain could enable consumers, delivery drivers, stores, and food and beverage companies to have access to transaction history that is immutable and traceable. Blockchain could also reduce transaction cost and time, enhance consumer trust, production speed, and product efficiency, and improve food safety and policies.

Here are some ways in which blockchain technology is transforming the food and beverage industry:

Supply Chain Transparency: Blockchain technology can help improve supply chain transparency by providing real-time visibility into the entire supply chain². It can help track the origin of food products, monitor their quality, and ensure that they are safe for consumption.

Traceability: Blockchain technology can help improve traceability by providing a tamper-proof record of every transaction that takes place in the supply chain. This can help reduce the risk of fraud and ensure that food products are authentic.

Food Safety: Blockchain technology can help improve food safety by providing real-time monitoring of food products throughout the supply chain. This can help detect any contamination or spoilage early on and prevent it from spreading.

Efficiency: Blockchain technology can help improve efficiency by reducing the time and cost associated with supply chain processes. It can help automate processes such as inventory management, order processing, and payment processing.

Collaboration: Blockchain technology can help improve collaboration by providing a shared platform for all stakeholders in the food and beverage supply chain. This can help reduce the risk of errors and delays and ensure that everyone is on the same page

Reduced Fraud: Blockchain technology can help reduce the risk of fraud by providing a tamper-proof record of every transaction that takes place in the supply chain. This can help ensure that food products are authentic and prevent counterfeiting

Transactions Transparency: Blockchain technology can help improve transparency by providing a tamper-proof record of every transaction that takes place in the supply chain. This can help ensure that food products are authentic and prevent counterfeiting.

Consumer Trust: Blockchain technology can help improve consumer trust by providing a transparent record of every transaction that takes place in the supply chain. This can help ensure that food products are authentic and prevent counterfeiting.

Sustainability: Blockchain technology can help improve sustainability by providing a complete record of every step in the supply chain. This can help reduce waste and improve environmental sustainability.

Robotics transforming the Food & Beverage Industry

Robotics is the field of engineering that deals with designing, building, programming and operating machines that can perform tasks that are normally done by humans or animals. Robotics has many applications in various industries, including food and beverage. Robots in this sector are increasingly in demand for a few key reasons: hygiene and food safety, supplementing human labor, and saving time.

Robotics has been transforming the food and beverage industry in many ways such as:

1. Robotics is used in many food processing operations from farm to fork.
2. Food companies can use vision-guided robotic arms, automated guided vehicles, delta robots, and advanced inspection systems to streamline and optimise their processes, guarantee rigorous food safety and quality standards, save labor costs and meet an ever-growing demand.
3. Robotics is currently used in approximately 40 per cent of palletising operations and 26 per cent of food and beverage packaging lines.
4. Robots are also used for picking and placing, production and processing, and secondary packaging
5. There are several trends in the food and beverage industry including dark kitchens, cobot applications, increased focus on food safety, digitisation, sustainable packaging, and instant scalability.

Automation transforming the Food & Beverage Industry

Automation can perform various tasks in the food and beverage industry using systems or processes that operate with minimal or no human intervention.

Automation can bring many benefits to the food and beverage industry, enhancing operational excellence, customer satisfaction, and sustainability goals. Automation is helping the food and beverage companies by increasing efficiency and higher through-put rates, improving quality control throughout the process, worker safety, unprecedented levels of end-to-end traceability, protecting brand from damaging product recalls, flexibility and scalability, reducing waste with better supply and demand management.

Automation has been transforming the food and beverage sector in many ways such as:

1. Increasing revenue by reducing operational costs, improving productivity and yield, and creating new revenue streams.
2. Enhancing food safety and quality by minimising human errors, ensuring consistent standards, and providing traceability and compliance.
3. Adapting to changing consumer demands by enabling flexibility, customisation, and innovation in products and packaging.
4. Optimising resource management by reducing energy consumption, waste, and environmental impact
   Increased efficiency and higher through-put rates. Automated processes can work 24/7 with occasional outages for maintenance, which is clearly faster than human operators can perform. Automation can also streamline processes and improve productivity.
5. Improved quality control throughout the process. Automation can produce predictable and consistent results, ensuring food safety and quality standards. Automation can also detect problems in the supply chain early and prevent recalls, protecting customers and brand reputation.
6. Worker safety. Automation can reduce the exposure of workers to hazardous or unpleasant environments, such as cold, heat, noise, or contamination. Automation can also reduce the risk of injuries or accidents caused by human errors or fatigue.
7. Unprecedented levels of end-to-end traceability. Automation can enable tracking of food products from start to finish as they work through the supply chain process. Automation can also provide documentation and labelling of food products, ensuring regulatory compliance and customer satisfaction.
8. Flexibility and scalability. Automation can adapt to changing consumer demands by enabling flexibility, customisation, and innovation in products and packaging. Automation can also scale up or down production according to demand and supply.
9. Reduced waste with better supply and demand management. Automation can optimise production and inventory levels, reducing overproduction and spoilage. Automation can also reduce energy consumption, waste, and environmental impact.