Mintel, a global market research company, named traceability—the ability to see where food comes from, what it’s made with, and by whom—one of the five most important food and drink trends for 2018.
According to Mintel, the trend is fueled by “widespread distrust” in how our food is made, the “need for reassurance about the safety and trustworthiness” of food, and the increasing use of natural, ethical and environmental claims on packaging.
Other consumer research points out that over half of consumer purchases are driven by health, safety, social impact and experience—all of which require transparency and traceability.
Streamlined traceability can greatly reduce the need for old-fashioned detective work like physically scouring fields and inspecting supermarkets.
It’s difficult enough to create such a system for domestically grown produce. But it is especially challenging with globally sourced foods. Our “perfect world” scenario requires a level of alignment and cooperation that spans every step of the food system and has no political borders.
How far away are we from this vision of traceability? Current and emerging technology may actually make it possible to trace produce at a level of detail and accuracy far beyond what we’re capable of today.
The robotics, mobile computing and networks of the Internet of Things (IoT) will ultimately allow us to collect and tie together data throughout the supply chain. All the food we buy would have a transparent set of interconnected tech-enabled checkpoints that consumers could gain insight into.
