Blog Articles

From farm to table, technology is transforming every aspect of food distribution, enhancing efficiency, improving traceability, and boosting profitability.

“Understanding the role that technology plays in every sector of the market is integral to building streamlined operations that result in higher levels of productivity and cut costs while saving resources,” says Impact Networking. “The food distribution industry is no exception.”

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has continued to evolve over the past 12 months and there could be big changes for one of FSMA’s key components, food traceability, if the proposed legislation succeeds.

While all business is risky – Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that 20 percent of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45 percent during the first five years, and 65 percent during the first 10 years -- Food Safety magazine highlighted in January 2024 that the crucial food and beverage industry faces a number of inherent risks.

A large food recall, such as the Quaker recall of specific granola bars and granola cereals in December and January across all 50 states and beyond, can be a logistical nightmare.

Fortunately for food wholesale distributors and retailers, cloud-based traceability technology such as FreshByte Software can help identify and recall contaminated products.

FreshByte Software announced today the release of FreshByte Online, a new cloud-based solution that will offer more functionality and features to help small to large enterprises streamline their wholesale food distribution processes.

An article published this year in the Food Control journal says improving food traceability requires the use of the best new technologies and there are a variety of promising technologies today to enhance food traceability systems (FTS), such as fifth-generation (5G), mobile communication systems, and distributed ledger technology (DLT).

In today's ever-evolving food and beverage industry, cloud-based software has emerged as a transformative force.

From enhancing food safety and quality control to adapting to shifting consumer preferences and sustainability demands, cloud-based solutions have become indispensable tools.

“The food and beverage industry is undergoing a digital transformation. From large corporations to smaller, more flexible brands, companies are using digital technologies to collect more data regarding their workflow processes and to ensure safety and quality in food processing, packaging, and distribution,” explains Food Safety magazine. “Digitalization of the food and beverage sector includes the application of technologies such as smart sensors, cloud computing, and remote monitoring.”

Food traceability technology developments are crucial to keeping the global food supply chain secure, transparent, and resilient in the face of modern challenges.

“The food traceability technology market is fundamental to improving food safety, providing a method of tracking, tracing, and documenting the journey of food items through the supply chain,” reports Packaging Digest.

Warehouse management may be invisible to the average customer but can be the difference between success and failure for many operations.

“Any business that stores items in a warehouse knows that effective management is the difference between fulfilling customer orders quickly and accurately while keeping costs down versus hearing complaints about delayed or inaccurate shipments and higher operating costs,” says Oracle’s NetSuite.

Quality control is essential in fish processing because it helps ensure that the fish products are safe for human consumption, meet regulatory requirements, and have a long shelf life.

“Quality control (QC) in some form is now common in the fish industry and its use is increasing steadily as demand for uniformly high-quality products increases. Since fish is more variable than most other food, the need to apply QC is correspondingly greater,” says the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. “As customers and governments become more particular about their food requirements, the fish industry must keep pace with these requirements if it is not to lose out in competition to other foods.”