3 Ways to Transform Your Business
New tech offerings can help suppliers’ sales soar.
What if you could use food safety detection technologies to test food authenticity? Or if you could lower customer costs because your supplier’s new harvesters reduced the number of laborers by half? Consider what there is to gain by using data your retail operation already has to predict the most effective suppliers.
Emerging technologies can unlock these benefits and more, like reducing energy and shrink, increasing efficiencies, and transforming data into knowledge to improve decision-making — all in the name of operating more effectively.
But future success in sustaining profitability and growing demand depends on the global produce industry’s ability to face an immense challenge: the need to increase food production with fewer resources while also bolstering consumer confidence in the safety of fresh produce. Technology holds the key to helping us feed the world through innovation, but the question is, “How can I make it work for my business?”
Over the past several months, we’ve had that question in mind as we’ve worked with members of Produce Marketing Association’s Supply Chain Efficiencies and Produce Safety, Science and Technology committees to grow the value PMA will deliver in the science and technology area of its new strategic plan.
Our feedback to PMA resulted in three new technology offerings in 2014, which will give industry members a competitive advantage by connecting us to detailed information, translating complex issues, and providing industry-specific context to help us identify and apply the forward-thinking technologies that make sense for our individual businesses.
Two unique events are on tap, along with a series of year-round technology content, in the following areas:
1 Food safety detection: Improved testing technologies are emerging and taking on new roles such as testing allergens, product integrity and even detecting pathogens. Our goal is to help members discover the future impact of these testing technologies and realize the most effective applications for our businesses.
2 Production input management: New technologies, or even existing technologies used in new ways, can reduce input costs (like energy, water, fertilizer and labor) and deliver better results. Industry members will now have more access to information on cost-controlling advancements and learn how to put them to use in our businesses.
3 Data science: Every day, we collect data from a number of areas, including consumption patterns, food safety audits, market analysis and purchasing trends. With the help of PMA’s resources, we’ll be able to identify novel uses for this information that can reduce costs, and offer predictions for future resources and sales.
Technology affects the production end of the produce and floral business as much as it does the retail end. You want the beginning of the supply chain to work as efficiently as possible so you can also reap the benefits, like effectively managing production costs, or consistently identifying the best sources of premium quality products, or telling customers your company is a good steward of the land because suppliers are managing production inputs and resources at the field level with the latest technology.
Cutting-edge, in-depth, relevant technology education designed specifically for the fresh produce and floral industries puts you in a better position to develop long-term supply partnerships that support profitability and increase demand.
We encourage you to tap into PMA’s technology resources to help improve your retail operations and deepen supplier relationships. When we can connect to technology experts, ideas and trends, we can all more effectively build demand for the products we grow, ship and sell.
Cutting-edge, in-depth, relevant technology education designed specifically for the fresh produce and floral industries puts you in a better position to develop long-term supply partnerships that support profitability and increase demand.