After one of the wettest winters on record, farming leaders are warning that flooded fields and massively delayed sowing will likely lead to shortages and price rises on crops like wheat, oilseed rape, potatoes, and barley later this year.
That’s not just an ‘industry problem’: warnings of wet weather washing out domestic food supplies will be a major headache for families with dietary restrictions or those on tight budgets.
But despite farmers’ best efforts, you simply can’t put seeds into a field that resembles a lake.
The UK’s food needs aren’t going anywhere, so the food will have to come from somewhere. And that means the burden of feeding the nation significantly falls to the food industry’s importers, shippers, and distributors. Locating, securing, purchasing, and moving food on this kind of scale is no small feat – not least because accessing and managing all the information involved is a tall order in itself.
Stepping into the breach
The initial response to the weather crisis will likely focus on protecting this year’s food stock.
This will mean either stretching out tight supplies, or careful planning to make up any shortfalls by importing more from abroad. Both will require retailers and distributors to have a single, 360-degree view of supplier profiles if they’re to get the right volume of products to the right place at the right time.
That in turn means they need the right technology approach for the job. In particular, the ability to maintain accurate data on supplier status, pricing, and stock levels, as well as the location of current shipments and information on any potential delays. The more the industry knows about the wider situation, the more agility and accuracy it can bring to purchasing decisions and shipping plans.
With the right data strategy in place, it will be possible to source and import the staple supplies the UK needs, albeit at a higher price and with little benefit to the farmers whose annual income will have been significantly impacted thanks to the heavy rain.
Future-proofing the UK’s food supply
Unfortunately, this type of disruption is highly likely to become more commonplace in the future. As the effects of climate change take hold, the UK is set to have longer, wetter winters that will impact annual food supplies and severely challenge the whole food production and distribution ecosystem.
To protect food security, farmers, retailers, and distributors will need to work closely together to build greater resilience into food supply chains.
A clear approach to data management and governance can provide visibility over potential sources of disruption, ensuring companies can respond promptly and do their best to mitigate against costly delays. An example of what this looks like in practice is having a common terminology of food supply related glossaries, processes and policies.
Not only do supply chain stoppages cause added logistical costs – with many crops, they can be the difference between a usable product and a totally spoiled cargo. Given that demand is likely to be high during periods of weather-related disruption, strong data management will also help retailers navigate a crowded market, securing products and shipping windows efficiently.
As artificial intelligence applications become more available to wider sections of the industry, they can also help to offer a clear view of strategic supplier relationships. As a result, organisations will be better able to manage supply chain challenges, plan ahead, and mitigate the effects of any potential food shortages.
Creating a comprehensive view of the market
These kinds of advanced data management solutions and data-driven applications not only enable companies to get a more comprehensive overview of the market situation – they also free up staff time to ensure people can focus on value-add tasks rather than the manual work of compiling, cleaning, and storing ever-growing datasets.
Organisations already waste too many man-hours on repetitive tasks. The more this kind of work is streamlined through the use of automated solutions, the greater the opportunities will be for organisations to develop innovative responses to the growing pressure of unpredictable weather.
Winters like the one we’ve just endured are only the tip of the iceberg (so to speak). Logistics professionals across a whole range of industries are going to face a raft of new challenges in the coming decades. Increasingly they will have to grapple with more dramatic weather patterns, work to decarbonise their supply chain and comply with global sustainability reporting requirements.
As the old proverb goes, knowledge is power.
Companies need to equip themselves with advanced data management capabilities to ensure they can make intelligent, data-driven decisions when crises hit – and emerge stronger on the other side.
- Digital Supply Chain
- Risk & Resilience
