Like any niche, running a business in the food and beverage sector has its own unique set of challenges.
Now, with the whole world becoming more concerned with health and fitness, it’s harder than ever for food and drink entrepreneurs to boost sales and maintain strong customer loyalty.
Here are a few of the biggest challenges which food and beverage businesses are facing today…
Clean vs Diet-Friendly
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Although people are still very concerned with their weight and fitness, there’s been a considerable shift over the past few years in terms of what people value on food and drink labels.
Rather than things like calories and salt content, consumers are much more concerned with buying products that are free of artificial ingredients, pesticides, GMOs and so on.
This has spurred a rise in what’s known as “clean labels”, an increase in products in the non-GMO and organic segments of the market, and pressure on food and beverage manufacturers to play ball with the changing standards.
Many companies are beginning to buy equipment from firms like Xylemanalytics, as a way of assuring the purity of their ingredients.
If you’ve been failing to gain customers for some time, or your sales are on a downward trajectory, then this could certainly be the root of the issue.
The Anti-Sugar Sentiment
It will come as no surprise to you that major health bodies like the World Health Organization have been fighting against high sugar intake for some time now.
As the recommended daily intake gets lower and lower, a larger proportion of consumers are turning away from foods with high levels of sugar, most notably fizzy drinks.
All modern food and beverage companies are under a huge amount of pressure to reduce sugar content in their products, or reduce portion sizes.
Adapting to the Ecommerce Revolution
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A lot of niches, such as consumer electronics, appliances, and home décor products already have a firm foothold in the ecommerce arena.However, many food and drink manufacturers have been pretty slow to adapt to this business revolution.
Various online retailers like Amazon are slowly gravitating towards grocery ecommerce, and the manufacturers supplying them are moving into the arena, slowly but surely.
There’s been a huge growth in the demand for food and beverages that can be ordered online, and within the next couple of years, this is expected to become critical for any food and drink company that’s hoping to remain competitive.
Health Value
Consumers are looking at much more than the flavour and price of your products. These days, high-value food and drink products, such as those with added vitamins, protein or minerals, are more popular than they’ve ever been.
Manufacturers across the world are trying to find ways to add greater nutritional value to their products, while keeping a cap on the cost of production. You need to be adapting to this if you want your business to stay afloat.
Try to add value without incurring crippling costs, or adding any ingredients that your customer base may reject.
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