Oliver Hedgepeth, supply chain logistics professor at American Public University System, discusses how consumer tastes and purchasing patterns have changed as a result of the pandemic, and how food suppliers must respond.

When it comes to the purchase and consumption of food, the profile of the consumer has changed significantly over the past three years, Hedgepeth says. The reason is the COVID-19 pandemic, which at its height forced many food consumers to turn to online ordering. Then, when the pandemic abated, they went back to stores and restaurants but also continued ordering over the internet, creating a multi-channel challenge for food producers and retailers.

The toughest problem is in forecasting the type and amount of demand that will materialize as a result of these trends. Supply chain managers and grocery retailers are struggling to determine what the demand picture will look like over the next year. Meanwhile, problems have emerged on the supply side, with farmers facing labor shortages that make it difficult to harvest food, and logistics providers challenged with getting perishable product to market. 

Of particular note in today’s food supply chain is the reverse logistics segment, Hedgepeth says. Over the past three years, retailers generated large amounts of waste, in the form of returned and expired items. Now they must figure out what to do with it. One solution lies in composting, which can create a brand-new revenue-producing opportunity. But the best approach is to minimize the amount of waste that’s generated in the first place, by doing a better job of matching supply with demand. And that’s achieved through techniques such as measuring customer feedback, market research, focus groups and monitoring of social media. "You don’t need a Ph.D.,” Hedgepeth says, but you do need to understand the customer.”