Overcoming Today’s Top Food and Beverage Distribution Challenges: Insights From Industry Experts

Overcoming Today’s Top Food and Beverage Distribution Challenges: Insights From Industry Experts

There’s no shortage of challenges for food and beverage distributors—from elevated input costs and consumer price sensitivity to sustainability initiatives and the ever-changing regulatory environment.

But as a professional in the space, you know that better than anyone. And you know that in reality, the biggest challenge of all is finding scalable solutions that help you stay successful, even in the face of these external pressures.

To better prepare you and your organization to compete in this tough environment, we gathered four of our in-house industry experts with more than 100 years of combined experience to share their insights. They’ll help you understand these challenges better and learn how to combat them, and they’ll also enable you to identify the best available transportation management solutions in the market to help you do so.

For all this and more, look no further than our eBook, Expert Roundtable: How Food & Beverage Distributors Tackle Today’s Top Challenges.

Or, keep reading for a preview of their discussion and guidance.

But before we go any further, let’s introduce our experts.

Are these usually in past tense? I.e "we gathered"We should probably switch this to "transportation management solutions" with a different link as where products specifics are mentioned in the blog it's more leaning to R&S than TMS. Link to eBook.

Meet the Aptean Food and Beverage Distribution Experts

• Jim Endres, Senior Regional Account Manager

• Gareth Evans, Manager of Solution Consultants

• Rob Hutton, Senior Account Executive

• John Mead, Senior Solutions Consultant

Significant Challenges Food and Beverage Distributors Face Today

It’ll come as no surprise to you, that there was a consensus among our experts that fuel costs and driver shortages remain a consistent challenge.

“Fuel is traditionally about 25-30% of the total cost of transport, but the remaining 75% is all going up—people, vehicles, tires,” Hutton said. “Food and beverage manufacturers have a product that's generally low in value, high in volume, so transport is a key component of their cost base. If they can reduce that transport spend, it has a significant impact on their gross margin.”

Lack of data visibility is also a big challenge for food distributors. If you can’t see your data—or worse, can’t trust it to be accurate, timely and reflective of your inventory, operations and supply chain—you can’t act on it. And nowhere is this visibility more essential than in food and beverage sectors dealing with frozen, refrigerated or perishable goods.

“Fresh food logistics involves specialized carriers; refrigerated vehicles; reliable on-time pickup and deliveries’ and quick turnaround times. This affects all parties involved in a shipment...buyers, vendors, carriers and processors. For instance, moving fresh food requires faster, more efficient processing to prevent spoilage,” Endres said.

This is just one example of how widespread food and beverage challenges can have differing implications across individual segments, but there are many examples of varied challenges across verticals and business setups.

“With fresh produce, for example, there are smaller, more frequent deliveries, which leads to tighter planning and increased complexities. Beverage delivery companies face vehicle access issues, such as unloading into a pub on the corner of a street versus backing into a supermarket loading dock,” said Evans. “Different temperature regimes in mixed loads and dispatch smoothing are significant. Larger companies use routing technologies to handle scale, while smaller companies that rely on spreadsheets can gain significant benefits from digitizing process using routing software.”

Our experts also spoke on freight visibility, difficulties controlling costs and the challenges of efficient planning and vehicle access. Managing so many complexities at once isn’t easy, but our panelists provided some valuable insights on the best solutions.

Again, I feel like this would usually be "there was" Now we have switched to past tense

Harnessing the Power of a Transportation Solution To Overcome Today’s Top Challenges

The panel touched on several strategies for overcoming today’s food and beverage distribution challenges, and each hinges on having a robust technology solution made to tackle unique industry pain points.

So let’s hear from them about the power of TMS solutions.

“Adoption of software as a service [SaaS] TMS is essential for future-proofing businesses,” said Hutton. “Flexibility, agility and having a proper system in place are crucial for handling variability in transport.”

As highlighted by our experts, successfully navigating the intricacies of your daily operations as well as combatting wider industry challenges and customer demands requires a robust digital foundation. As such, you should look to implement a solution that supports the following:

Efficiency

“The convenience and efficiency of cloud-based systems allow for better data access and management across departments,” Evans said. “This shift is crucial for integrating various aspects of transportation and logistics operations.”

This means that all of your teams have quick, easy access to the same data, wherever they're working—removing silos, reducing errors and speeding up your processes. So you can get more done in less time and with greater accuracy.

Sustainability

“Environmental considerations are becoming more important, though measuring CO2 accurately is still challenging,” said Hutton. “[The right] technology enables detailed measurement, leading to meaningful conversations and improvements. So collaboration and data sharing are key to achieving sustainability goals."

Only through a holistic approach, that takes into account the unique nature of your business and the greatest sources of waste and pollution that your operations create, can you move the needle on your sustainability efforts. Transportation management software is your best ally there.

Automation

“Artificial intelligence [AI] and automation play a significant role in enhancing operational efficiency. AI can optimize route planning and decision-making, leading to better resource utilization and cost savings. Automation helps streamline processes, reducing manual intervention and improving overall efficiency,” said Evans.

This can have a beneficial spillover effect in other areas,

“It’s also worth noting that operational efficiencies, achieved through automation and collaboration with customers, enhance brand loyalty and satisfaction,” Endres said. “Automating processes reduces manual intervention, which allows for faster, smoother operations.”

Supply Chain Resilience

“Building supply chain resilience requires flexibility and adaptability,” said Mead. “Companies need to be prepared for unexpected challenges and have contingency plans in place to ensure continuity.”

Disruptions have become part of the cost of doing business, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything about them. Smart analysis of historical information can help you form contingency plans that allow you to weather the storm.

“Data helps you see the changes and disruptions as they begin so you can be more resilient to them. But if you don't have the right systems, processes and people in place, it's very hard to react in time,” said Mead.

Risk Mitigation

For our panelists, the becoming more resilient to risks is all about automation and data analytics.

“Real-time data analytics will become more prevalent,” said Evans. “This technology can provide immediate insights into various aspects of the supply chain, allowing for quicker decision-making and more agile operations.”

Having a real-time look into conditions as they are changing and where your products are in the pipeline allows you to make informed choices that optimize your results.

This is REALLY weak as the first one in the list. The supplied quote doesn't very specifically speak to efficiency. If we want it to remain so high up I think we should supplement it with a sentence of authorial explanation. An example, below, but I don't think it's perfect. "This means that all of your teams have quick, easy access to the same data, wherever they're working--removing silos, reducing errors and speeding up your processes. So you can get more done, in less time and with more accuracy."Think it would also be good to add an explainer sentence here, because this quote from Jim could also go in any of the sections above - we need to thread the needle a bitter with supply chain resilience. This one actually goes better with the supply chain resilience point. Maybe move this up and move Jim's quote into a new section about "Customer Satisfaction"? Still think some of these need some hand holding around the quotes though. To make it fit with the lead in sentence. Again, we need to signpost better how this is related to risk mitigation and create some differentiation from the sections above about automation/visibility.

Embracing Digital Transformation To Upgrade Your Transportation Operations

It’s clear from chatting with our experts that the food and beverage industry is struggling more than its fair share of challenges. However, it’s also encouraging to hear that there’s a huge wealth of opportunity for businesses like yours to tap into using the right software.

From boosting efficiency and reducing costs, to tackling sustainability pressures and enhancing customer satisfaction—with the right software you’ll be equipped to conquer today’s challenges and drive profitability in the future.

That’s why robust TMS tools are essential. Whether it’s a transportation management system, routing and scheduling software or a proof of delivery solution, by adopting innovative platforms and continuously improving processes, your food and beverage distribution operation can overcome obstacles and achieve long-term success.

To get more insights from our expert panel, download your free copy of the eBook, Expert Roundtable: How Food & Beverage Distributors Tackle Today’s Top Challenges.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have questions, and feel free to schedule a personalized demo to see our solutions in action for yourself.