Just as it may take a village to raise a child, it frequently takes a team to feed the village. With global population growing and expected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, planning for more effective and efficient ways to produce the needed food is imperative. Some suggest that the planet's producers already have the means to supply the necessary food, and that ancillary issues -- managing waste and delivery, among them -- are more worrisome.

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Planning for future needs

Food and feed producers are tackling the need in a variety of ways. Efforts to install more efficient methods of growing and producing food, to deal with crop failure and animal disease, and to develop more efficient delivery and distribution are paramount. Quality control at all levels of the food chain, from assuring higher nutritional value in animal and fish feed to more stringent labeling requirements, is an additional concern for thought leaders throughout the industry.

Food producers are charged with disclosure of ingredients and proper product labeling, but it can be difficult to track and manage the requirements and to assure compliance with current government mandates.

Consumer concerns and food safety are vital considerations as well, comprising the efforts of the best minds across the entire landscape of food-related business and industry.

It's no easy task, and it requires diligence as well as vision to stay abreast of existing regulations and to anticipate what is on the horizon of both national and global trends. Adifo is committed to assist food-related businesses, no matter what their specific position in the supply chain, to prosper in this increasingly complex market.

The need for strategic solutions

Market uncertainties seem to become more pervasive with each passing year. Recalls and food scares have been all too frequent in 2018, and there is little reason to expect that next year will be calmer. Discussion continues over required labeling data, disclosures and documentation. The FDA extended deadlines almost two years, until 2020 for some industry firms, on new Nutrition Facts and Serving Size labels, but there is still disagreement. The FDA admits that a massive consumer education effort is required in addition to new industry labels.

Gray areas and misunderstandings still abound from the overlapping and sometimes conflicting requirements of FDA and USDA, and there is often too little agreement across international borders, and between state and federal authorities.

BESTMIX and MILAS solutions can help alleviate some of the pressure on feed and food producers. These enhanced software tools, offering optimization and management of quality control data, recipe management on a variety of levels, and an ERP solution that addresses organizational workflow across the whole nutritional supply chain are available now. Not only will they address your needs today; they will also lead you into the future in these rapidly changing times.

As is obvious, it's not only labeling requirements or specific feed recipe mixes that impact nutrition industries. It is imperative that producers of feed and food take advantage of every opportunity to shorten the timeline for both new product development and for updating existing products. It is also vital to analyze and evaluate raw materials and to prevent future recalls.

The ability to grow, produce, deliver and assure quality food -- not only today, but for the growing population of the future -- falls squarely on the shoulders of the food and feed industry.

At Adifo, we take that responsibility seriously.