Digitalisation is at the heart of the rapidly evolving agrifood ecosystem, according to a major new report released today by Lux Research, a leading provider of tech-enabled research and advisory services. The report outlines the challenges the agrifood industry has faced in recent years and the digital tools that offer potential solutions to those challenges across food processing and production, supply chain management, and personalized nutrition.
Through a series of data-backed use cases, Lux’s new report, The Digital Transformation of the Food Industry, identifies a framework that agrifood industry players should use to evaluate and implement digital tools for solving specific business issues. The analysis reveals that a key challenge for players attempting to interface with digital technologies in food production is the tendency to act tactically from a tech-first perspective rather than acting strategically from an issue-to-outcome perspective. Lux’s digital transformation framework offers a method that industry players can follow to achieve successful testing and adoption of digital tech in food production.
“The ability to address consumers’ future needs is the driving force behind the rapidly evolving agrifood sector,” said Harini Venkataraman, lead analyst of the report. “To adequately meet this changing landscape, major industry players must act now to build a robust digital strategy that identifies the right set of digital tools for the right products to maximize the value-add for their respective businesses.”
The report finds that, while other industrial sectors have been quicker to implement digital solutions like artificial intelligence, augmented reality, industrial IoT, and robotics, the agrifood industry is making great strides to catch up. The impact on the sector will be significant as a means to address consumer demands for personalized product offerings and to manage a more integrated, digital, and omnichannel global supply chain.
“As companies in the food industry are trying to embrace digital transformation, this report is a critical resource to uncover the true potential of digital technologies applied to the right use cases,” said Venkataraman. “More than in other industries, digitalization in food will be a common thread across the entire agrifood ecosystem to enable industry players to address consumers’ future needs. The fact is, food companies that resist the digital conversion will not be able to keep up with more digital-savvy innovators, and will face higher R&D costs, longer product development timelines, and shrinking market share.”