Technology at the tip of our finger has made life so much easier, from binge watching your favourite show to ordering the food you’ve been craving all day. The F&B industry has made an incredible shift to digitizing its platforms to approach its target audience and enhance customer experience, reshaping the way we look at dining with friends and family. The term “digitization” refers to a change in how industrial environments operate. This means that businesses in the food and beverage industry will be better able to comply with laws because of changes in connectivity, smart sensors, traceability, cloud computing, and monitoring.
The food industry is no stranger to innovation, with entrepreneurs constantly pushing the limits to developing unique culinary variations. Although many firms continue to use outdated methods, the food industry has undergone a more gradual digital shift.
Compared to the rest of the industry, food companies have adopted digital transformation more aggressively in order to combat competitive disruption and meet fast-expanding demand. By increasing transparency, enhancing consumer experience, and improving operational efficiency, digital technology has the potential to completely alter the food and beverage sector. Processes can be automated, supply chain management can be improved, and data insights can be made available for better decision-making. Businesses can easily create a restaurant website and a digital menu in a few minutes just by using a website builder.
India is a developing country with a rapidly growing population, and as a result, food and beverage demand is rising. Contributing close to 3% of India’s GDP, according to market estimates, the food and beverage business is expected to expand during the coming years.
The sector anticipates a range of investment and expansion prospects, luring new participants and competition. It leads us to anticipate that the CAGR over the ensuing years would increase by around 20%, and as a result, the industry is predicted to experience a CAGR of 14% over the subsequent five years, from 2023 to 2027.
Prior to the arrival of COVID-19, the food and beverage sector were digitally more advanced than a number of other manufacturing verticals. A large number of plants now employ automated technology, including sensors-equipped ovens, processors, and cold chain storage units. However, few of them possessed the connectivity necessary for remote operations or smart devices that can exchange data with each other and a larger integrated data analytics system when the pandemic first started.
At the same time, demand forecasting was difficult due to the rapid changes in customer preferences and an increase in personalised custom purchases. But it was multiplied a thousand times by the global outbreak when food supply chains collapsed due to restaurant closures and lockdown regulations, which in turn caused demand for some goods to plummet and for others to soar.
The covid-19 outbreak led to many industries shutting but also provided an opportunity for businesses to grow in the digital space and make use of technology to its highest potential. The outbreak significantly compelled everyone involved in the food business to adopt new technology, which increased productivity. Food partners and vendors started using technology to anticipate demand in order to manage inventories and costs efficiently. These innovations benefited both institutions and end users/consumers in equal measure. Food consumption at institutional and public locations was made safe and secure thanks to features like contactless ordering, cafeteria automation, real-time surveillance of cafeteria congestion, COVID-safe vending machines, digital checklists, and a social distancing tracker.
F&B companies in India are using technology to enhance operations, and incorporating technology is expected to change the consumer experience so that it is more transparent and personalized. This allows the hospitality industry to penetrate deeper into the market and allow customers to experience excellent dining through technology and good service.
Modern technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics are utilized by restaurants to ensure cleanliness and safety. Food IT businesses have created an end-to-end safe and efficient process, from food procurement through kitchen operations to consumption. Companies are looking at adopting digital technologies to enhance the quality of food production and be more methodical about fulfilling changing consumer needs as a result of increased prospects and the creation of new business models.
The global F&B industry has changed over the past few decades as a result of digitization. Many restaurants have been able to increase productivity and satisfy customer demands in an increasingly digital environment by embracing technological improvements. Both the offline world and the online showcase this change. With the help of technology, the industry is now able to serve its customers better through end-to-end automation processes that simplify the running of the restaurant business.
Article Contributed by Mainak Sarkar.Co-founder, Explorex’s
