5 minutes of reading
Infor has conducted a global industry survey with 3,600 decision-makers in 15 countries, of which 500 are in the food industry. The result: four key factors that characterize the most productive organizations – and a concrete path to closing the technology value gap.
The report indicates that the most productive food companies:
It is therefore not about implementing technology for the sake of technology – but about building a strategy where technology is used to drive business value, productivity, and competitiveness.
Many food companies have invested in new technology but still do not see the results they had hoped for. Infor describes this as the value gap – the gap between the potential of technology and the actual business value that is realized.
For the food industry, the challenges are particularly complex. The industry is affected by rapidly changing consumer demands, rising raw material prices, increased sustainability requirements, and a vulnerable supply chain. Digitalization has become a crucial factor, not only for efficiency – but for being able to adapt, survive, and grow.
Organizations getting it right today are the ones looking around corners, predicting and anticipating what comes next, and proactively tackling opportunities and risks. They’re building resilient strategies that deliver sustainable growth and use technologically optimized processes, cultural agility, and focused accountability for customers to differentiate and drive incremental transitions and sweeping transformations.
In the report, Infor identifies four common traits among the food companies that succeed best in converting technology into business value. These are called Vectors to Value:
Technology is used to optimize flows, create transparency, and reduce complexity in operations.
GenAI, automation, and predictive analytics enable quick action and risk minimization.
Decisions are based on real-time data – not on gut feeling. This leads to better planning, innovation, and profitability.
Customer outcomes are regarded as the most important measure of success. Feedback is naturally integrated into both development and delivery.
The survey shows that companies in the food industry are aware of the importance of technology and have high ambitions. At the same time, there are clear differences between those companies that are already delivering results and those that still have a gap between investment and impact.
73% of organisations expect that their productivity will increase by more than 20% over the next three years.
78% answer that their success will depend on how well they can use and adapt new technology.
77% plan to increase their technology investments by 20% or more in the coming years.
The most productive companies are characterized by high process visibility, smart resource optimization, innovation pace, and customer understanding.
The food industry is strongly affected by external factors: inflation, sustainability requirements, geopolitics and new regulations such as CSRD and Digital Product Passport. At the same time, companies must manage internal barriers such as silos, low levels of automation and fragmented data sources.
The report clearly indicates that the role of technology is not to solve everything – but to enable faster, smarter and more customer-centric decisions in a complex reality.
It contains more figures, comparisons, and concrete insights for companies in the food industry looking to bridge the value gap.
