In an exclusive interview with Industry Outlook Magazine, Salloni Ghodawat, Director & COO of Ghodawat Consumer Ltd, outlines the evolution of India’s complex food supply chain and its adaptation to changing demands and external pressures while ensuring smooth operations, ranging from production to consumer delivery. With over a decade of expertise in omnichannel sales strategy, retail transformation, and operations, she is a visionary leader recognized for her impactful contributions and multiple awards.
According to her, the key strategies are:
The Indian food supply chain is under pressure from urbanization, regulatory demands, and fragmented logistics networks. How is the industry adapting to ensure agility and compliance across operations?
The industry remains a step ahead to overcome the challenges that arise in the food supply chain management as it plays a crucial role in the traceability of the products from their source since it begins with the production of raw materials and moves through stages like processing, packaging, transportation, and distribution, ending with the consumer. For urbanization, the increasing adoption of hyper-local sourcing and distribution models enables more efficient service to urban consumers by establishing localized hubs and optimizing last-mile delivery to ensure timely product access. With the stringent regulatory framework, food safety and maintaining quality controls must facilitate end-to-end traceability. At Ghodawat Consumer, we ensure compliance with strict regulatory standards through advanced manufacturing practices and automation. This minimizes human intervention, enhancing product consistency and safety. To unify the operations across multiple stages, the integration of comprehensive supply chain platforms reduces inefficiencies and ensures faster, more reliable product delivery across diverse regions. Throughout the food supply chain, perishable goods often get wasted a lot and to tackle this, we are expanding cold chain infrastructure, ensuring the preservation of product quality from production to consumption. These initiatives collectively strengthen the resilience and compliance of the food supply chain while enabling industry-wide agility and sustainability.
AI and IoT are transforming supply chain management, offering better efficiency and visibility. How is the food and beverage industry incorporating these technologies to optimize its supply chain processes?
With previously unheard-of levels of efficiency, visibility, and control, IoT and AI's involvement in the supply chain have radically transformed conventional logistics management approaches. The integration of smart sensors and linked devices to track data in real time is revolutionizing corporate operations management, especially in the food and beverage sector.
Real-time tracking: IoT-enabled sensors provide real-time information on the location and storage conditions of products along the supply chain, preventing rotting and guaranteeing that perishables are maintained at optimal temperatures.
Predictive analytics: By examining past data, market patterns, and customer behavior, AI is essential in predicting demand. This enables companies to avoid waste, optimize inventory levels, and match production to current customer demand. Automation in food manufacturing enhances efficiency through robotic systems. Robots assist in automated packaging, sorting and inspection, and material handling, reducing errors, improving product quality, and optimizing supply chains. They also automate assembling and processing tasks, like cutting and deboning and ensure sanitation and hygiene to meet safety standards.
Customer insights: AI-powered data analysis enables companies to comprehend customer preferences and adjust their supply and production plans accordingly.
Climate change and geopolitical uncertainties are disrupting food production and logistics. What industry-wide strategies are being deployed to build resilience and maintain reliability in such challenging scenarios?
Climate change and geopolitical unpredictability are posing enormous difficulties to the food business, especially in agriculture, where food security is threatened by droughts, floods, and other climate-related events. Through trade, these cascading risks proliferate internationally, resulting in price shocks, decreased accessibility, and possible cross-border social instability. However, the food industry is using several strategies to combat such uncertainties to underscore the importance of building resilience to both climate and geopolitical challenges. Diversified sourcing is a crucial tactic that involves working with several suppliers to lessen reliance on particular areas. This strategy ensures that other suppliers can cover one location in the event of disruptions brought on by natural disasters or geopolitical conflicts. Other key strategies are the adoption of climate-smart practices, which specifically encourage sustainable farming practices and soil conservation techniques, focusing on geopolitical strategies for building localized supply chains and regional warehousing to minimize reliance on global trade routes. At Ghodawat, we are deploying AI-driven risk assessment tools and green logistics solutions to enhance our supply chain's agility and sustainability.
Indian consumers increasingly prefer sustainable and organic food products. How is the industry reconfiguring its supply chain to meet these evolving demands while maintaining speed and efficiency?
The evolving shift in consumer behavior towards healthier and eco-conscious choices has pushed the food industry to adopt more sustainable practices. Local sourcing has become a key component, encouraging collaborations with farmers to guarantee a steady supply of organic products while boosting local economies. Businesses are partnering with international certifications like FSSAI Organic, which ensures authenticity and transparency, to satisfy the increasing expectations. Moreover, by educating consumers on the benefits of sustainable choices, businesses create informed demand patterns, allowing for better inventory planning and faster turnaround times.
Collaborations with farmers, suppliers, and logistics providers are critical for operational agility. What approaches is the industry embracing to strengthen partnerships and enhance supply chain efficiency?
Building and strengthening the relationship with all the stakeholders is of the utmost importance in ensuring high efficiency in the supply chain. We genuinely value the collaborations with farmers, suppliers, and logistics management providers as they form the backbone of operational agility. A significant emphasis is on direct interaction with farmers, with programs providing technology, financial assistance, and training to increase output and reliability. To improve their livelihood and contribute to creating a sustainable environment, we provide farmers with comprehensive training programs that educate them on contemporary agricultural methods, crop diversification, and sustainable practices. As the following critical link, suppliers are integrated through collaborative platforms that ensure seamless communication and alignment on demand, inventory, and quality standards. Logistics providers use shared infrastructure models, such as pooled transportation and warehousing resources, to reduce costs and enhance delivery efficiency. Lastly, fair trade practices further reinforce equitable partnerships, ensuring mutual growth. Thus, these combined efforts create a robust, efficient, and sustainable supply chain ecosystem.
Blockchain and predictive analytics are set to redefine food supply chain systems. How does the industry envision leveraging these technologies to shape its strategies for the next decade?
The industry envisions leveraging blockchain to build trust through immutable records of product origin, handling processes, and certifications. This improves safety, guarantees food authenticity, and satisfies customer demand for transparent sourcing. Predictive analytics, on the other hand, is transforming supply chain planning. It also assists in detecting supply chain problems before they become apparent, allowing organizations to take preventative action and reduce disruptions. Looking towards the next decade, the industry expects supply chains to be completely digitalized, propelled by provenance supported by blockchain technology and efficiency fueled by AI. With a strong emphasis on customer trust, businesses will make ethical and transparent sourcing a top priority and consistently improve their supply chains for increased resilience and sustainability. These developments will make food supply chains more sophisticated, effective, and in line with changing customer demands.
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