By Shraddha Ray Menon
The way we procure our food/ nutrition today, has completely changed. It is no longer an activity to rejoice, bond and celebration. It now comes to us in a box traced through transit apps. It definitely compromises the sensory elements of relishing food through tastes, aroma of spices and then taste.
The procurement and consumption of food has become technology-driven. With Tech companies developing products and services it is continually changing discovery, purchase, delivery and consumption of food.
COVID-19 continues to disrupt and fuel the change of this industry in ways, which were not predictable even 5 years ago.
We are in this special edition of the month tracing for you the radical changes FoodTech is going to be to your food reality. Legal ordinances to moderate are not far behind.
Demand for Food
- Demand for food delivery remains elevated with a demand from consumers for more meals at home.
- Restaurants are finding it hard to stay afloat as dine in options. But meal delivery apps and marketplaces have experienced an increase in demand.
- On the investment side, the delivery ecosystem is witnessing a surge in investment. There has been a need to upgrade delivery infrastructure to meet the fattening demand.
Digitally managing fulfilment centres and Cloud Kitchen
- Restaurants and grocery stores are upgrading themselves to digital ordering software, with optimized order fulfilment methods.
- Micro fulfilment centers and cloud kitchens, and order-receipt solutions to reduce pickup and delivery are the requirements of the industry players.
Foods in Demand
- Plant-based meat alternatives see a increase in demand due to the pandemic and due to the meat- and dairy-product supply chain collapse.
- Cultivated agriculture have somewhat sustained the disruption since these products are in the R&D phase, and commercialized models have not yet been established.
- Meal kits, are another rising trend. Though, sustainability is yet to be tried of this model.
Labour and Supply Issues
- labor supply may not be a problem during the COVID times and appear affordable because of unemployment. But in the long run continued investment in technologies will lead to automation leading to Food robotics, autonomous delivery, vending options etc.
- Use of AI for new products optimal flavors, textures, nutritional components and ingredient combinations.
Delivery and Intermediaries
- The Intermediaries are the important link in connecting consumers to the Food Providers.
- Food Providers are also managing payments, order history and require cross functional abilities and features.
- The features are developed mainly by user data.
- Delivery service aggregation is the next level of maturation that the sector will witness.
Food Suppliers
- Improving shipping capabilities for food products is critical as these have a degree of perishability and fragility.
- The grocery stores are likely to face a significant challenge on this counts and address consumer preferences about condition of products.
- Some stores are developing proprietary dark grocery stores.
Inventory Planning
- Arguably, AI has to be brought in for inventory planning for management of perishable goods.
- Grocery shopping is a repetitive exercise with room for AI & predictive analytics technologies, supplier analytics to anticipate orders and optimize inventory to maximize profit and reduce spoilage.
Warehouse & assembly automation
- Food supplier companies struggle with high operational costs related to sourcing ingredients and assembling orders.
- Warehouse automation software and hardware is likely being used for streamlining this process, optimizing operations and reducing costs.
- Micro fulfilment centers to facilitate rapid order fulfilment for online grocers play a critical role to this.
Cloud kitchens
- Cloud kitchens, kitchens which operate without a retail dine-in or pickup location.
- Food produced in Cloud kitchens is generally just for delivery and can be ordered through meal delivery apps.
- Existing restaurants are using cloud kitchens as a channel for outsourcing the delivery only operations.
- Alll Cloud Kitchens supply the strategic intelligence to food providers.
Legal Framework
- The shared economy is beginning to get regulated in India, the OLA and UBER share a ride being among the first.
- With FoodTech taking over how food is viewed and will be consumed in the near future, there are the following spaces to legally moderate:
- Privacy and use of data sharing and flow;
- Quality Control norms at the dark grocery warehouses and cloud kitchens;
- Quality Control at the delivery logistics end;
- Food and FSSAI Licenses;
- Eating out of a box will require food grade material availability;
The weekly roundup is only for information purposes. Nothing contained herein is, purports to be, or is intended as legal advice and you should seek legal advice before you act on any information or view expressed herein.
Endeavoured to accurately reflect the subject matter of this alert, without any representation or warranty, express or implied, in any manner whatsoever in connection with the contents of this. This isn’t an attempt to solicit business in any manner.