Aptean Reveals 2024 Food and Beverage Industry Trends in New Report

Automation and Cloud Adoption Drive Profitability in Face of Inflation and Rising Material Prices

ALPHARETTA, GA, 9 October 2023 – Today, Aptean, a global provider of mission-critical enterprise software solutions, announced the publication of its Food and Beverage 2024 Trends and Outlook Report for the UK and Ireland. Surveying food processors, manufacturers and distributors in the UK and Ireland, the research includes insightful findings on how the industry’s top challenges are driving new trends and impacting business growth trajectories.

Rising inflation and material prices are rated top concerns by 39% of food and beverage companies. Automation of tasks and processes through digital transformation is emerging as a critical path to protect growth in the face of rising costs and for those choosing to automate, the average rate of growth was nearly 22% higher than those relying on manual processes. The benefits of automation will continue to drive growth as 53% of companies plan to automate more processes in 2024. The study further found that cloud adoption in the food and beverage industry has increased threefold in recent years – from 7% in 2021 to 25% in 2023. As businesses moved to the cloud, they also reported higher revenue growth in 2022 and predict higher revenue and profit growth in the future. The cloud also features prominently in the future of those who have yet to adopt it, as the number of companies with no cloud migration plan fell from 62% in 2021 to 14% in 2023.

The research was conducted by Aptean and B2B International in August of 2023. Responses came from over 100 business decision makers at food processing, manufacturing and distribution companies in the UK and Ireland. The study identified five key trends that will shape the food and beverage industry in 2024 and these – along with the full research findings – are now available in a new report, Aptean’s Food and Beverage 2024 Trends and Outlook Report for the UK and Ireland.

“The food and beverage industry has experienced unprecedented disruption in recent years and 2023 has been no exception,” said Duane George, General Manager, EMEA and APAC, at Aptean. As food companies continue to navigate inflation, rising material prices and higher operating costs, they are realising that they need to adapt to remain competitive. Automation and cloud adoption are critical transformation steps to drive growth in today’s market conditions.”

In addition to the impact of automation and cloud adoption, the research also explored:

• How food companies are optimising activities to overcome supply chain disruptions

• Why economic goals are creating a business case for sustainability

• How the increasing demand for data visibility is driving investment in BI tools and AI technology

Copies of the Food and Beverage 2024 Trends and Outlook Report for the UK and Ireland are now available for download. About Aptean Aptean is one of the world’s leading providers of purpose-built, industry-specific software that helps manufacturers and distributors effectively run and grow their businesses. With both cloud and on-premise deployment options, Aptean’s products, services and unmatched expertise help businesses of all sizes to be Ready for What’s Next, Now®. Aptean is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. To learn more about Aptean and the markets we serve, visit www.aptean.com. Aptean and Ready for What’s Next, Now are Registered Trademarks of Aptean, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.