Connectivity, Financial Pressure, and More Trends Impacting Food Industry Contract Packaging and Manufacturing

Co-packs and co-mans in the food industry are working through trends including a push toward connectivity, customization, and sustainable ingredients.

CP/CMs can stand out to food producer customers and consumers with clear communication about clean ingredients and sustainability benefits.
CP/CMs can stand out to food producer customers and consumers with clear communication about clean ingredients and sustainability benefits.
PMMI Business Intelligence: 2024 Contract Packaging and Manufacturing - Drivers of Machinery Investment

Food industry contract packagers and manufacturers (CP/CMs) can cover a wide range of industry segments, and with that comes a wide range of trends and factors affecting their operations.

That’s according to PMMI Business Intelligence’s 2024 report, “Contract Packaging and Manufacturing – Drivers of Machinery Investments.” Business Intelligence researchers explain there are three primary segments that make up the food CP/CM industry, each catering to different organizations and different niches of the larger food market. The three categories are:

Screenshot 2024 10 31 At 11 57 50 AmWithin these three categories, trends are emerging in operational connectivity, financial pressures from food producers, and pushes toward customization and sustainability.

Connectivity becoming essential

The food industry has generally been slower than other manufacturing segments to adopt technology-focused strategies like extensive operational integration and high levels of automation. This is rapidly changing, especially for larger producers, and CP/CM organizations will need to evaluate their digital infrastructure to retain a competitive advantage.

For instance, while only 16% of food producers have adopted cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, this number represents a two-fold increase from just a year ago, according to the SupplySide Food & Beverage Journal article, “PartnerSlate Co-Founder Details Roadmap to Successfully Navigating Co-Man Landscape.”

CP/CMs looking to keep up with their large food producer clients will need to carefully assess whether adopting a more highly connected, cloud-based information sharing system will be a market advantage. OEMs and suppliers have a large role to play in helping their food CP/CM clients evaluate and implement more extensive digital integration.

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