New Zealand’s food and beverage industry is not only a cornerstone of the nation’s economy but it’s also a key player in a global market.
With billions in exports and thousands of jobs dependent on its success, the industry faces both opportunities and challenges in an increasingly digital world.
From dairy and meat to wine and seafood, data has become the critical ingredient driving efficiency, quality, and innovation. Embracing a data-driven approach is no longer optional. It is essential for sustaining New Zealand’s competitive edge and delivering on consumer expectations.
Overcoming legacy systems and inefficiencies
It’s an unfortunate reality that many Kiwi food and beverage companies still rely on outdated enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and fragmented databases for their operations. These legacy systems may hinder agility, making it difficult to adapt to changing market demands, manage inventory efficiently, and streamline procurement.
For example, a seafood exporter may rely on manual spreadsheets for inventory tracking which may lead to struggles with stock forecasting. This in turn results in times of excess supply where seafood is wasted, or in ‘stockouts’ where the customer is disappointed.
Implementing an integrated data platform, potentially powered by artificial intelligence, can significantly enhance demand forecasting, optimise inventory levels, and reduce waste.
Additionally, cloud-based data solutions enable real-time collaboration, allowing businesses to respond swiftly to disruptions such as supply chain bottlenecks or regulatory changes. This might all sound complicated, but once up and running, it dramatically simplifies the running of a food and beverage business.
Referring to the seafood example again, New Zealand’s seafood industry is one sector that has started to embrace digital transformation.
Some of the larger seafood companies have now adopted IoT (internet of things)-enabled tracking systems to monitor the location and condition of seafood throughout the supply chain.
The investment made by these market leaders into data-driven operations has demonstrably reduced losses, improved inventory management, and strengthened relationships with international buyers who demand traceability and quality assurance.
Read more from Gaj Pasupathy, SVP of Delivery Services APJ at Syniti, part of Capgemini in the latest issue here
