Food Processing Industry Outlook 2023

The food processing industry continues to experience significant growth and to handle that growth, organizations are spending more time evaluating existing conveyor systems, determining the need for new systems, and selecting the best system for their specific needs.

An important part of the evaluation process is to get an industry perspective on the top challenges facing the food processing industry and how that may impact your short and long-term plans. These challenges may include:

• Economic disruption
• Supply chain issues
• Product shortages
• Shifts in consumer demand and preferences
• Changing regulations and compliance
• And more.

In October 2022, Cablevey Conveyors commissioned the independent research firm, Ascend2, to conduct a research study titled Evaluating and Implementing New Conveyor Systems. The 16-page study (download for free) asked 290 food processing professionals in the United States and the United Kingdom to provide their insight on critical considerations when evaluating conveyor systems.

So what are the top challenges facing the food processing industry?

Cablevey conducted two research studies in 2022 and we tracked the top challenges to provide industry leaders with trends to help with planning.

In our October study, over half (53%) of those surveyed reported that economic disruption is a top challenge facing the food processing industry, and another 49% reported that product shortages threaten the industry as a whole. Notably, these current challenges have become more prevalent in the last year. Reports of economic disruption are up 66% from a study conducted in February of this year while reports of product shortages have seen a 25% increase from February.

Supply chain issues continue to be an important area to monitor. Issues relating to the supply chain have seen a slight decrease since the February study but remain among the top challenges facing the industry according to 48% of those surveyed.

What about companies experiencing high growth (those reporting 20% or more revue growth)? Over half (53%) of those surveyed report that economic disruption is a top challenge facing the food processing industry and another 49% report that product shortages threaten the industry as a whole. Notably, these current challenges have become more prevalent in the last year. Reports of economic disruption are up 66% from a study conducted in February of this year while reports of product shortages have seen a 25% increase from February.

What are companies budgeting for conveying equipment?

We also wanted to find out how budgets for conveying equipment and maintenance are changing in the next 12 months. The data shows that budgets are increasing for conveying equipment and maintenance in the year ahead. 82% of those surveyed report their budgets will increase in the next 12 months with 28% describing this increase as significant.

Another comparison we conducted was the budget growth of U.S. vs. U.K. companies. U.S. companies are experiencing more budget growth than in the U.K. This is both in significant budget growth (32% U.S. vs. 18% U.K) and budget decrease (U.S. 6% vs. U.K. 23%). The U.K. has various distinctions in our research data, including a budget, challenges, priorities, and overall conveying selection process. If a specific U.K. data point is not highlighted in this report, feel free to contact the Cablevey team to get the information that you need.

Download Evaluating and Implementing New Conveyor Systems for more insight into the food processing industry.