Blog Articles

Walk through any grocery store or foodservice warehouse today, and one thing is clear: organic produce is no longer a niche category. It is a core part of how food is bought, sold, and distributed. For wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers, the rise of organic produce presents both opportunity and complexity. Demand continues to grow, customer expectations are rising, and margins depend on tight inventory control and accurate data.

How accurate costing drives stronger margins, smarter accounting, and long-term success.

You can’t win the game if you don’t know the score. 

In wholesale food distribution, the same principle applies: profitability depends on always knowing your true costs. 

As 2024 nears the midway mark, many consumers are grappling with the persistent issue of rising food prices. While inflation has been easing downward, many food prices remain stubborn or even continue to climb.

“In 2024, all food prices are predicted to increase 2.2 percent, with a prediction interval of 0.7 to 3.8 percent,” said the USDA Economic Research Service in April.

In today's fast-paced business environment, the effective management of warehouses plays a vital role in ensuring operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Warehouse management may be invisible to the average customer but can be the difference between success and failure for many operations.

“Any business that stores items in a warehouse knows that effective management is the difference between fulfilling customer orders quickly and accurately while keeping costs down versus hearing complaints about delayed or inaccurate shipments and higher operating costs,” says Oracle’s NetSuite.

Turkey, the traditional star of the Thanksgiving meal, may be expensive and tough to find in 2022 as the bird flu and other issues are affecting the supply chain.

Inventory management is important in every sector of the economy, but when it comes to the food industry, the proper inventory software in place can help manage supply chain logistics, ensure the timely delivery of perishables, and most importantly, safeguard consumers with beginning-to-end traceability.

Food supply shortages could last well into the upcoming holiday season thanks to a combination of supply chain bottlenecks, transportation woes, labor shortages, and product and packaging availability.

CNN reported on Oct. 10, 2021 that “many of the country’s biggest food makers are telling grocers that they will have limited quantities of a number of their products, including items such as Rice Krispies Treats, Sour Patch Kids, some Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors, McCormick gourmet spices and Marie Callender's pot pies because of labor, commodity and transportation constraints throttling supply chains, according to emails viewed by CNN and interviews with grocers.”

The floral business is tough enough without having integrated tools at your fingertips to manage essential tasks such as inventory control, purchasing, receiving, slotting and pricing.

“Whether you’re in your first month or your fifth year of business, I’d encourage you to start keeping track of different areas in your biz,” writes florist Sarah Luthy.

Utilizing a floral distribution software such as FreshByte Software can not only make sure your flowers stay fresh but can help you maximize profits by preventing spoiled product in the fast-paced business.

Companies can lose a lot of money by letting perishable inventory expire or go bad. Unfortunately, it can be hard for manufacturers, importers and retailers to keep track of all of their inventory and determine what items need to be put out first to minimize those losses. Learning more about what perishable inventory is, why it should be tracked and how to track it can help your business. Here is more information about perishable inventory.