Working in the food and beverage industry, you know that staying ahead of the curve and being aware of the latest trends and developments is vital to keeping your operations aligned with demand and maintaining healthy profits. And while the past few years have seen many significant shifts in the market landscape, the next several could bring even more disruption, with food safety regulations becoming more demanding and emergent technologies impacting traceability and sustainability efforts.

We wanted to learn more about how these ongoing changes are informing food and beverage businesses’ strategies for the future, so we commissioned IDC to write this whitepaper: Global Food and Beverage Industry Trends and Strategic Insights 2021. The findings are packed with insights that paint a vibrant picture of what’s on the horizon.

Here are a handful of the most telling statistics from the whitepaper:

• Sustainability was the top trend to prioritize over the next year for respondents, with 39% selecting it as the most important, right ahead of regulations and compliance (37%) and employee health and safety (37%)
• Food safety and traceability was chosen as the most crucial risk to mitigate, with 37% of respondents indicating it was a critical consideration, but sustainability wasn’t far behind at 34%
• 45% of respondents indicated that change in consumer demands would be among the most impactful developments over the next 5 years, narrowly edging out sustainability (42%) and emerging technology (40%) for the top spot on the list
• 43% of respondents think that future global disruptions are among the most potent threats to their food and beverage business’s operations in the next 5 years, showing that preparedness and awareness are even more vital

Download your free copy of the IDC Whitepaper, Global Food and Beverage Industry Trends and Strategic Insights 2021 to dive into the full findings.