Buckle up, cuz we are going sky-high!

Technology is impacting more and more areas of our lives. Moreover, we experience these changes to occur at a rapidly increasing speed, meaning the number of innovative concepts is growing exponentially. 

Our basic need for food is a classic examples of how novel trends of an entire industry may change so rapidly over time. During most of the time in our history we were fighting against hunger. Developed countries finally solved this problem completely in the 20^th century. However, these achievements at some point went overboard and the abundance of processed food started to caused the widespread occurrence of nutrition-related diseases. The obvious need to counter these detrimental trends put an increased focus on nutritional facts and a better understanding of what we consume on a daily basis. 

Do you remember the popular slogan” Five-a-day keep the doctor away!”? This popular campaign was trying to prevent us from obesity, diabetes and hypertension and their acute complications. At many places campaigns for healthier eating did work and vegetarianism and veganism became a new trend, which continues to spread worldwide. 

Today customers have the same basic need for food , but in a more refined ways. Food should be fresh, coming from a trusted source and be produced under sustainable conditions. It should be available preferably 24/7, priced fairly, and easy-to-buy via different payment options. The patterns of buying food are changing as well. From the usual weekly shopping at groceries trying to cover the whole week we nowadays prefer to buy in smaller batches on the go. Furthermore, ratings and reviews became major influencers of our selection of products and service providers. We take guidance from others´ opinions in social media, specifically those who have already tried the product or the service that we are now considering to buy. 

To win the customer no longer requires only the production of a good product. The success is the combination of many factors, starting from quality and packaging to the right marketing and securing the channels of delivery and flexible options for payment for it. Targeting customers according to their preferences, conditions, allergies, and providing each and all of them with personalized inspirations are key to achieve happy and loyal customers. Selling is no longer about selling a product, but rather a story, an experience, or a solution to a problem. 

Selling is more and more looking like a complex watch mechanism and customer data is the machine-oil that makes parts of the machinery run smoothly and with ease . By feeding large datasets capturing all factors that are important for customers to decide on a purchase to complex analytic systems, we ca create complex algorithms by which we can model and predict customer behaviours under changing condition. Digitalization is also infiltrating the food sector and plays a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of this industry. It is to be remembered that companies must also keep their eyes open to how other companies do their business and integrate the positive learnings from each successful example for the benefit of their local community. Ultimately it is the best combinations of human and artificial intelligence that is expected to come up with the most granulated and smoothest operating solutions to drive businesses in our rapidly changing world. 

As an example, when the Covid-19 pandemic has entered our daily lives shopping patterns changed dramatically in a matter of days. Purchasing from shops has dropped, while online and drive-through shopping increased markedly. Moreover, dining out was also ceased and led to the bankruptcy of many small cafes and restaurants, while those who could change quickly and offer either home-delivery or at least take-away remained alive and continued striving. 

It is difficult to predict what changes are still waiting for us in the near future. However, whatever changes we will experience, it is going to spread fast! So fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride!

Author: Lyudmyla Zhornyak

Image Source Title: https://news.usc.edu/78755/are-you-hungry-best-to-eat-first-and-shop-later-study-finds/