How Geopolitics Are Rewiring Manufacturing Operations Learn more
Geopolitics are rewiring manufacturing operations and strategy. Download our new research report to see how your peers are managing disruption.
From advancements in science to simple consumer trends, 2025 is full of change in the marketplace. Here are some of the biggest impacts on F&B manufacturers:
In-house research and development, scientific breakthroughs, food quality, safety, and regulatory compliance have always been critical factors to consider when developing a product. Food regulations are changing in ways that are shifting the market. Case in point, more than 50 countries implemented a tax on sugar, adding an unusual layer of complexity for manufacturers to calculate ROI of their products. The growing consumer demand for clean labels also puts more pressure on companies to maintain supply chain visibility.
Society has embraced a wellness movement that considers food to be one of the most important factors in overall health. With climate change, that outlook extends to include caring for the planet. A growing number of consumers are adopting plant-based, and sometimes entirely vegan, diets to mitigate carbon emissions. Alongside this movement is increased demand for sustainably or ethically sourced food and ingredients. F&B manufacturers are expected to improve traceability, even as they struggle to predict future trends and perfect new plant-based recipes.
Finding shelf space in the fast-moving consumer goods sector is increasingly daunting as retailers are focused more on microtrends in food products. This makes it easy for disruptive startups to gain a foothold in retail—but also difficult to maintain when the trends change. Now, every player in the industry has to innovate new products or reformulate them, a process that requires significantly more cost, time, management, and labor.
Innovation is the only way to thrive, or even survive, in the current F&B marketplace. However, innovation—from product development to proof of concept—is incredibly time consuming, with a longer idea-to-market pipeline than some trends might even last.
Having complete control over and insight into the product lifecycle is essential for innovation. These days, that encompasses every aspect of a product, including raw material sourcing, recipe development, optimization, targeting, labeling, and packaging material. Excel spreadsheets aren’t up to the challenge of keeping all that data organized.
PLM helps manufacturers apply a consistent set of process solutions to support collaborative creation, management, dissemination, and use of product information across their organizations, from the concept stage through to finished product on the market. Food and beverage manufacturers who have the right system and processes can easily respond to quickly changing market demands, putting them ahead of the competition.
