If there was ever a time when the food industry needed to build the three big T's, the time is now. A terrific short article on this topic appeared in a recent issue of Environmental News Network.


A Food Marketing Institute press release announcing the results of its survey, U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2007, clearly showed that "consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply has dropped dramatically. Confidence had consistently hovered in the 80th percentile for years, but dropped to 66%, the lowest point since 1989." Small wonder with the food scares we've all experienced of late.
Besides recent incidents like the Topps Meat, Westland Meat and Menu Foods debacles, several other factors have led to a the food industry's reevaluation of its product safety practices, further fueled by a decided decrease in consumer confidence:
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Increased consumer health concerns
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New government regulations
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Growth in global supply chains
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Increase in marketplace competition
A major solution advanced by a number of sources, including Forbes.com, is product traceability. This means tracing the flow of all raw materials and ingredients from producers to food manufacturers. It also entails following finished products through distribution channels to retailers. This has been dubbed a "field to fork" strategy. This makes great sense.
Research firm, The Aberdeen Group, recommends that food companies "implement technologies with core track and trace capabilities to achieve best in class performance.
Bottom line: traceability when it comes to food products being sourced from all over the world, leads to transparency. Transparency helps to rebuild the public trust. Trust, in turn, will lead to consumer loyalty, increased revenues and profitability.
For food companies, in particular, it's the right thing to do, and as the article so aptly states: ". . .it's also good business." I'd also add that in the food business, it's best to be proactive to potential problems, rather than reactive. After all, tainted food is more than a major headache for manufacturers and consumers; the consequences can be deadly.
Questions:
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Would you as a consumer be willing to pay a little more for food brands if they advertised that they had implemented traceability technologies to ensure safety?
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Would you be willing to write or email food manufacturers and ask them to be proactive by implementing traceability technology in their plants?
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What do you need to see food manufacturers do to gain your trust and your consumer dollars?
I'd love to hear from you.