Huddle Notes from July 20th, 2020

    The huddles this week focused on food hub hurdles, pivots and successes; transformative supply chain technologies; and sustainable packaging innovation. Watch the recording here.

    Talking Points

    • Food hubs built around farm-to-school programs
      • With uncertainty around kids coming back to school, many hubs struggling; somecould be out of business in 6 to 8 weeks if things don’t change
      • Farm-to-school already a difficult business model, now extremely tough
      • Hubs that have pivoted to nonprofit, food security work, CSAs, direct-to- consumer, etc., have better runway out of COVID
      • More philanthropy dollars supporting hubs’ nonprofit endeavors
      • Exposure of issues food assistance industrial complex also helps upstart programs gain awareness and funding
    • 87% of COVID-positive Tyson and JBS workers are minorities
    • Product line rationalization hitting food service too
      • Taco Bell cutting SKUs; KFC cutting SKUs, launching veggie chicken nugget; both cite supply chain issues
    • Commodity surpluses
      • Nuts
        • Keto and paleo crazes drove up demand, so more trees planted
        • Now too many almonds and walnuts, driving prices down
        • Excess peanuts because no fans at Major League Baseball
        • Low nut prices great for food brands, bad for growers
      • Coffee
        • Climate change threatening growing regions
        • COVID caused office shutdowns, so less coffee consumed
        • Price declining significantly
          Trends
    • Technology transforming supply chain
      • Innovation already impacting food manufacturing, distribution, etc., but COVID accelerating adoption
      • Big expense upfront but pays off long-term with max efficiency and less labor
      • Applicable for businesses at any scale
      • Deloitte’s Technologies for Supply Chain Innovation
        • 3D scanning
          • Big food companies using for design and development
          • Improves cellphone scanning accuracy
        • Virtual reality
          • Software helps visualize how product looks on shelf, with a library of competing products
          • May transform meetings with retail buyers
        • Smart glasses
          • Enable hands-free work
          • Wearable interface with computer
          • Manipulate glasses to retrieve data
          • Warehouses experimenting with them
        • Smart sensors
          • Microprocessors, diagnostics, storage connectivity
          • Cost dropping as tech improves
          • Real-time inventory tracking and total traceability
        • Autonomous robots
          • More accurate and efficient than humans
          • Already used widely for big industrial food distribution and warehousing
          • COVID prompting more food facilities to intersperse robots with humans for safety
        • Smart software
          • Becoming more and more necessary for traceability, food safety compliance, etc.
          • Check out Quigistics ERP system, affordable for small brands
          • One area where tech can make big impact for small companies
        • Renewable energy
          • Big global food companies (Nestlé, Danone) not U.S. based; home markets in Europe and elsewhere stricter on sustainability, with consumers pushing companies harder to be greener
    • Innovation in sustainable packaging
      • McKinsey report
      • Danone (French) has prioritized sustainability for years, focusing on packaging and circular economy; goal to have 100% of packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025
      • Circular Economy Accelerator aiming to develop private-public partnerships to encourage sustainable packaging and municipal composting, especially in the U.S.
      • Consumers wary of plastic packaging, despite COVID-caused uptick; food companies should take heed
    • COVID comorbidities and nutrition connected
      • Comorbidities higher among minorities, on a continuum with food access, nutrition, diet, etc.
        Tips & Next Steps
    • Pivot success: ShiftMeals in Vermont
      • Quasi-farm-to-institution model leveraging restaurants to feed essential workers
      • Partnered with nonprofit, growing rapidly, more funds coming in
    • Specialty Food Association – Working with Buyers webinar series | Free! | More Information
    • Pricing for Profit Workshop covers w-commerce, wholesale, Amazon, etc.