Derrick Teal, Editor in Chief, ProFood World: There’s something I’ve noticed these past few weeks and months, it’s that food and beverage producers are having to do more with less. That’s not to say the aim hasn’t always been to maximize throughput and minimize waste—it’s a business after all—but external factors are forcing the industry to take more control over the things that they can.
It started with the workforce. The fact that people were going to leave around this time, in history wasn’t exactly surprising. I remember being in high school some 20, 30 years ago that Social Security was going to collapse because there weren’t enough people in my generation and younger generations to support the older ones. I think that everyone was caught off guard by how many people exited the workforce at once during the great resignation that happened during the pandemic.
Another thing is crop yields and other raw materials. They've always been a bit unpredictable, but I think bird flu and poor cocoa and orange harvests, among others, have driven up costs. And those costs are compounded by what's happened recently inflation.
Then there are the consumers themselves, ands their habits. People typically turn to private label products, at least in the past or more recently, when times get tough. But right now, even private label producers are saying that consumers are deciding whether or not they need to make a purchase at all, not just go with a lower cost option.
I think these factors, either by themselves or in combination with each other, have reduced profit margins. Manufacturers have been doing all they can to stay in the black, putting the squeeze on production to get every bit of product they can out the door—literally, in some cases.
While we bring you the equipment and strategies to maximize production and help you do your job the best you can in every issue, the April issue focuses almost exclusively on improving operational efficiencies. We're looking at maintenance strategies, workforce recruitment, and all the way through to automation.
We hope that you find what you're looking for in this issue. We always want to hear what you're doing, and if you're implementing some of these strategies that we've written about or covered. If you're not, are you doing something different? We'd love to hear from you and get in touch.
