ArrowStream Foodservice Blog

A vast majority, if not all, of the food you have consumed in your life has been processed. Everything that is sold at a grocery store has been canned, waxed, frozen, dried, bottled, wrapped, baked, packaged, or in some way altered. Food processing is the set of methods used to transform fresh food items into retail food products and how they are stored, packaged, and delivered. It encompasses the vast range of procedures involved in turning grapes to bottles of wine, wheat kernels to pre-sliced loaves of bread, and live animals to the cuts of meat available for purchase.

Recent geopolitical events have resulted in escalating commodity prices and supply chain instability. In response to the volatility of the global commodity market, ArrowStream’s Director of Commodities, Jerry Dalton, and Sr. Director of Product, Matt Heckroth, joined Ashley Berland, Vice President of Supply Chain at Restaurant Growth Services, and Adam Shrif, Vice President of Procurement at GA Goods, to discuss the context of the rising prices and difficulties with distribution, as well as forecasting solutions to the challenges.

Today’s employee spotlight is on Marilyn Bottenbley - data integration specialist at ArrowStream. Marilyn has thirteen years of experience working in data management and joined the ArrowStream team in 2020.

The eradication of hunger is a major global societal problem. A recent study has estimated that total global food demand is expected to increase by 35% to 56% between 2010 and 2050. 

Disruptions to the global food supply have been consistent and are expected to continue perpetually. After recently enduring the pandemic, the global food supply chain has faced inflation, natural disasters, and supply shortages resulting from the Russian-Ukrainian War. 

The coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing regulations to prevent its spread largely paralyzed the global food supply chain. However, the chaos and destruction have paved the way for new advancements and innovations in the industry as companies have been incentivized to secure the integrity of their supply chains. 

1. Supply Chain Disruptions are Inevitable

Along with death and taxes, disruptions to the global supply chain are certain to continue. Recent years have brought a series of disasters that have obstructed and disarranged the world’s supply chains, and the upheavals continue with no end in sight. The Russian-Ukrainian war has resulted in skyrocketing fuel prices and the potential for a global shortage of wheat. 

“The food supply chain is breaking,” wrote John Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods - the largest meat processing company in America. The US beef industry was devastated from the chaos of the pandemic; between March 2020 and June 2021, 56 meat processing facilities suspended operations across the nation. Restaurant closings, facility shutdowns, and supply shortages from culling herds have stunted production and dramatically increased prices. This pronounced economic turbulence has necessitated burger restaurant chains to maintain the integrity of their supply chain now more than ever.

A plate of food served for dinner at a restaurant is often sourced from an array of distant locations. The potatoes were grown in Idaho, the carrots were produced in California, the wine was distilled in Oregon, and the beef was sourced from Oklahoma from cattle that were fed corn which was cultivated in Iowa.