It’s no surprise that chocolate is one of the most popular foods on the planet, with a market worth over $100 billion. Although Americans consume a large amount, it is Europeans who lead the way — with the average Swiss chocolate fan munching 9.9 kg of the sweet stuff per year. With chocolate as popular as ever, interest has grown in the technologies relating to its production and distribution. So here we take a deep dive into the topic.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic more and more food companies have provided home delivery services. In December 2020, DoorDash made a powerful public market debut with one of the biggest IPOs of the year. A month later, Uber Eats bought Postmates. It was a strong attempt to consolidate their market share. The result was that by July 2021, 49% of American consumers had ordered from one of the leading home delivery services (Uber Eats, Postmates or Door Dash), up 42% on the previous year. Food delivery services certainly have a strong hold on the market, but to stay ahead of the competition they’re each looking to the future, and the answer may come in the form of drone technology.

A sustainable food system (SFS) is a food system that delivers food security and nutrition for all, without compromising the future food security and nutrition for upcoming generations. We know that there is enough food for everyone on the planet to thrive, but the global food system is faced with many challenges and complexities.

Food distribution software is an essential tool for all organisations who manufacture, stock or distribute food and beverages. In a competitive marketplace with increasing regulatory demands, distributors must work to manage their supply chains in the most productive and efficient manner possible. So the following are a list of the top 5 key features of food distribution software.

Want to learn more about the biggest challenges facing food and beverage distributors today? Keep reading.

Reducing, reusing and recycling can be the cornerstone of a strong climate change strategy. And with the U.S. EPA estimating that roughly 42% of all greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the production and use of goods, including food, products and packaging, looking for ways to shift towards zero waste living is more important than ever. But this shift doesn’t happen overnight, so here are 5 zero waste food bloggers and websites you can follow for some great advice and tips on your journey.

Food technology is one of the most exciting, innovative and booming marketplaces. Cutting-edge food tech solutions and processes have leveraged the power of science to develop and manufacture food and beverages for decades now, but which companies are pushing boundaries today? We’ve curated a list of the food tech companies that are just too exciting to ignore.

When it comes to the management of an effective food and beverage supply chain, Machine Learning (ML) has a great role to play. The technology can reduce waste, improve inventory management, and deliver invaluable planning insights. Let’s take a deeper look.

What are the questions at the heart of sustainability in the beverage industry? And what technology will develop in response to our growing concerns relating to environmental protection?

Agricultural technology, also known as agritech, is all about developing new technologies that can expand food production and the growing process. Applications of agritech are very broad and varied but they all possess the same aim; produce more food with less effort and less space. Let’s take a deep dive into this exciting corner of the food and beverage industry.

Most people think that the acronyms and terms they know and use within the food and beverage industry are common knowledge. But for those of you seeking guidance, here are the top 10 common food and beverage (F&B) industry acronyms to get you started!

Beverage manufacturers and distributors face a pivotal time over the next few years. Below are five technology trends that we anticipate will take a firm hold within the marketplace during this time.

Here are Cashmere Systems’ five food and beverage tech predictions for 2022 and beyond.

Spreadsheets remain one of the most widely-used software programs in the world today. While Microsoft Excel has led the way, Numbers, Quattro Pro, NeoOffice and WPS spreadsheet are also incredibly popular. In fact about 29% of companies still rely solely on Excel and email to do their demand planning. But when it comes to demand planning and demand forecasting, spreadsheets are now becoming obsolete. As demand planning management and automation eliminates manual processes which are prone to errors. And by using cloud-based software, your records are updated instantly.

You’ve probably heard of Bitcoin — a type of digital currency taking the world by storm. Created in January 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, the currency follows the ideas set out in a whitepaper. It offers lower transaction fees than traditional online payment mechanisms and is managed by a decentralized authority. Bitcoin is created, distributed, traded, and stored via a decentralized ledger system using peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, known as a blockchain. And the currency’s potential impact on the central banking system should not be underestimated. But what’s the connection between bitcoin and the food and beverage industry? And should we be paying attention?

In 2020, when the FDA took new steps to improve the traceability of food and beverage products, the concept of ‘farm to fork’ traceability was on everyone’s lips. The rule instituted a standardized approach to traceability recordkeeping, ushering in requirements for food and beverage companies to invest in AI-powered traceability solutions that track their products from ‘farm to fork’; tracking them as they move throughout the food supply chain.

E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services via the internet. With the advent of Covid-19, food and beverage companies were faced with a digital-only reality overnight. And during 2021 over 2.14 billion people worldwide are expected to buy goods and services online, which is an increase from 1.66 billion global digital buyers in 2016. So in an increasingly competitive digital landscape, what are the most most important e-commerce tips for food and beverage companies to adopt?

A GPO is a Group Purchasing Organization, which leverages the power of buying in bulk. Since many restaurants and businesses purchase the same products and ingredients, you can gain better purchase prices and improve your overall profitability by entering into a GPO. By purchasing more of the same products as part of a collective, the unit price is reduced, and businesses reap savings. When running a restaurant, negotiating prices can be a challenge and also be time-consuming. By becoming part of a GPO you’re certain to pay more competitive prices and also have a more streamlined and effective supply chain.

When it comes to running a restaurant, one of the biggest challenges lies in managing your inventory. Simply defined, inventory management is the process of tracking the ingredients coming in and out of your restaurant. Restaurant inventory management is the key to lowering costs, minimizing food waste and better allocating ingredients. But it can be time consuming and challenging to do well, so here are Cashmere’s top 5 restaurant inventory management tips to help you improve the financial health of your business.

The consumer appetite for digestive health products has increased exponentially in recent years. In fact the digestive health food market is predicted to be worth $71.95 billion by 2027. And in the past five years, the number of Google searches for “gut health” has grown by 669%. So when it comes to our digestive systems, what are the most exciting innovations in terms of technology, foods, beverages, and dietary solutions?