Unlock Freshness & Traceability with Cutting-Edge Food & Beverage Technologies
The significance of food safety and supply chain transparency has been amplified amidst ongoing disruptions, as consumer demands for quality, freshness, and farm-to-fork visibility evolve and expand. To stay ahead, F&B companies must swiftly adapt, foreseeing regulatory changes and consumer trends. Companies can meet these dynamic demands by implementing efficient systems that prioritize cold chain integrity, ensure traceability, and maintain the highest quality standards. It's the consumers who drive demand for fresh, safe products and expect complete transparency, sustainable practices, and seamless delivery. To keep up, companies need solutions that boost operational capacity with precision and speed, while offering system scalability and reducing waste.
Navigating Challenges in the Food & Beverage Industry
Here are the 3 most common challenges faced by the Food & Beverage industry:
Temperature-controlled logistics at every touchpoint:
- By 2027, the global cold chain market is projected to reach $447 billion, driven by perishable goods demand
- Multi-temperature zone management for diverse product portfolios
- Real-time temperature monitoring from production to last-mile delivery
- This complexity is driving F&B companies to invest in advanced refrigeration and monitoring systems, leading to increased infrastructure and energy costs
Meeting stringent food safety regulations:
- FDA's FSMA requires comprehensive tracking within hours during recalls
- Blockchain and IoT enabling end-to-end supply chain visibility
- Lot tracking and expiration date management for thousands of SKUs
- Consumer demand for ingredient sourcing and allergen information
- This trend is pushing food companies to implement sophisticated tracking systems, increasing operational complexity and the need for real-time data accuracy
Environmental responsibility meets profitability:
- Food waste accounts for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions
- Retailers face pressure to achieve zero-waste targets by 2030
- Sustainable packaging mandates and circular economy initiatives
- Short shelf-life products requiring optimized inventory turnover
- This movement is compelling F&B companies to adopt smart forecasting and automated systems that minimize spoilage while maintaining product availability
Temperature-controlled logistics at every touchpoint:
- By 2027, the global cold chain market is projected to reach $447 billion, driven by perishable goods demand
- Multi-temperature zone management for diverse product portfolios
- Real-time temperature monitoring from production to last-mile delivery
- This complexity is driving F&B companies to invest in advanced refrigeration and monitoring systems, leading to increased infrastructure and energy costs
Meeting stringent food safety regulations:
- FDA's FSMA requires comprehensive tracking within hours during recalls
- Blockchain and IoT enabling end-to-end supply chain visibility
- Lot tracking and expiration date management for thousands of SKUs
- Consumer demand for ingredient sourcing and allergen information
- This trend is pushing food companies to implement sophisticated tracking systems, increasing operational complexity and the need for real-time data accuracy
Environmental responsibility meets profitability:
- Food waste accounts for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions
- Retailers face pressure to achieve zero-waste targets by 2030
- Sustainable packaging mandates and circular economy initiatives
- Short shelf-life products requiring optimized inventory turnover
- This movement is compelling F&B companies to adopt smart forecasting and automated systems that minimize spoilage while maintaining product availability
Successful Strategies for the Food & Beverage Industry
In the fast-paced world of food and beverage, effectively managing perishable inventory, strict quality standards, and complex regulatory requirements is vital. The F&B sector, including fresh produce, dairy, packaged goods, and beverages, demands precision temperature control, real-time tracking, and contamination prevention to navigate complex supply chains and meet evolving consumer expectations.
Armstrong Dematic provides innovative solutions customized for food and beverage businesses, transforming warehouse and distribution operations to ensure product integrity and regulatory compliance seamlessly. Through optimizing cold chain management and minimizing manual handling, our integrated systems guarantee food safety and operational efficiency, enabling F&B companies to excel in today's fiercely competitive market environment while reducing waste and meeting sustainability goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Temperature excursions remain one of the leading causes of product loss in the F&B industry, with studies showing that up to 30% of perishable goods are wasted due to cold chain failures. This waste occurs across multiple points—from production facilities to distribution centers to final delivery—creating significant financial losses and environmental impact. Modern consumers and regulators demand transparent temperature tracking throughout the journey. F&B companies need automated temperature monitoring systems with real-time alerts, multi-zone climate control, and integrated data logging that provides complete documentation for regulatory audits and quality assurance.
Preparation for peak seasons—whether harvest periods, holiday demand, or new product launches—requires strategic planning, not reactive scrambling. Many F&B companies turn to automation for its flexibility and scalability, allowing them to meet production and distribution demands during their busiest periods. Automated systems can handle 3-5x volume increases without proportional labor increases, while maintaining consistent quality standards and first-in-first-out (FIFO) rotation critical for perishable goods. This becomes especially vital for products with short shelf lives where speed to market directly impacts profitability.
When recalls happen, every minute counts. The FDA requires companies to trace products within hours, not days. Traditional manual tracking systems create dangerous gaps in visibility, making it nearly impossible to identify affected lots quickly and accurately. F&B companies are implementing automated traceability solutions that capture lot numbers, production dates, temperature history, and distribution paths at every touchpoint. These systems integrate with warehouse management software to enable one-touch recall capabilities—identifying exactly which products are affected, where they're located, and who received them. This approach not only ensures regulatory compliance but also protects brand reputation and consumer safety while minimizing the financial impact of recalls.
The first 24-48 hours in inventory management are crucial for perishable goods. Products that move quickly through optimized systems maintain quality, reduce spoilage, and maximize shelf life at retail. Smart warehousing solutions use AI-driven analytics to predict demand patterns, automatically prioritize orders based on expiration dates, and optimize storage locations to minimize handling time. This is especially critical for fresh produce, dairy, and prepared foods where each day in storage reduces quality and resale value. Advanced systems can reduce spoilage rates by 40-60% while improving inventory turnover, directly impacting both profitability and sustainability metrics.
Food safety regulations continue to tighten globally, with HACCP, GFSI, and local standards requiring documented controls at every stage. Manual processes create compliance risks through human error, incomplete documentation, and inconsistent execution. Automated systems provide built-in safety protocols including automated cleaning cycles, contamination prevention through minimal human contact, controlled access zones, and complete digital audit trails. These systems also enable proactive monitoring—identifying potential issues before they become safety events—and provide the documentation needed for certifications and regulatory inspections.
Key Criteria for Selecting a Food & Beverage Industry Automation Partner
Industry Expertise & Food Safety Certifications
When choosing an automation partner for food and beverage, prioritize their deep expertise in F&B logistics and proven ability to address industry-specific challenges like cold chain management, sanitary design, and regulatory compliance. Seek partners with relevant certifications (GFSI, HACCP, SQF) and innovative solutions that enhance food safety, traceability, and operational efficiency while being adaptable to various scales—from small specialty producers to large-scale distribution centers. Armstrong Dematic excels in developing, commissioning, and maintaining solutions specifically engineered for food-grade environments, with top-notch support and global presence across 14+ countries, ensuring compliant, scalable implementation.
Software Integration & Cold Chain Intelligence
Armstrong Dematic's software elevates food and beverage automation to new levels of safety and efficiency. Our AI-driven intelligence platform optimizes cold chain performance, predicts maintenance needs, and streamlines order fulfillment processes by integrating warehouse operations, temperature monitoring, quality control, and analytics into a unified ecosystem. Real-time dashboards provide complete visibility into product locations, temperature history, lot tracking, and expiration dates—ensuring FIFO rotation and enabling instant recall responses. The system integrates seamlessly with ERP, WMS, and food safety management systems.
24/7 Customer Support & Preventive Maintenance
In food and beverage operations, downtime isn't just costly—it can result in massive product losses and safety risks. Armstrong Dematic brings extensive experience in developing, commissioning, and maintaining solutions specifically for F&B environments, backed by industry-leading support through remote diagnostics, predictive monitoring, responsive maintenance, and global implementation capabilities. Our 24/7 customer service is unmatched, with operations in over 14 countries and specialized F&B technical teams who understand that temperature-controlled environments require immediate response. Preventive maintenance programs ensure systems operate at peak performance, minimizing the risk of cold chain failures and maximizing uptime during critical production and distribution periods.
Let’s Build Your Future-Ready Fulfilment Strategy
Whether you handle packaged foods, beverages, frozen items, or fresh produce, Armstrong Dematic can design a scalable fulfilment system tailored to your needs. From large distribution centers to micro-fulfilment hubs, we deliver automation that enhances speed, reduces waste, and improves customer satisfaction.
