How Artificial Intelligence can protect UK Produce supply chains

The recent shortage of whole-head (not prepared or processed) produce, particularly fresh salad items, on supermarket shelves has highlighted the fragility of food supply chains into the UK. The primary factor behind this incident has been a combination of weather conditions that has created the procurement ‘perfect storm’.

However, there are a number of other underlying factors that have left UK off-takers (big brands and supermarkets) more exposed than their European counterparts.

First of all, geography has to be factored in. Since the UK left the customs union in 2020, volume of imported salads has shifted from Spain to Morocco. It is Morocco that has been hit hardest by the weather, with Almeria to a lesser extent and Murcian farmers, further north, wondering what all the fuss is about.

Secondly the UK has become a less attractive market than it used to be. Since the millennium the pound has been steadily devaluing against the Euro. It has devalued by 22% since December 2015 and by 39% since May 2000.

Thirdly, European haulage costs to the UK have increased in relative terms since we left the customs union. Hauliers have been experiencing delays and difficulties filling their trailers for the return journey. On top of that some European exporters are now having to set up offices in the UK to handle any unwanted or rejected product as they cannot re-import it back into Europe.

And last but not least, the UK has become an ever-higher maintenance market to supply. The extra and growing administrative requirement, based around compliance has meant that cohorts of compliance administrators are appearing in the off-takers’ supply chains that were not there before.

?This can be attributed to the fact that the Food Safety standards with which the suppliers must comply in their packhouses overstate the risk that whole-head produce presents. This overstatement of risk increases with each new version of these standards. I believe it would provide much greater Food Safety value if the Good Agricultural Practice standards (Red Tractor and GLOBALG.A.P.) were to include whole-head produce packhouses within scope of their audits . ??

How can off-takers protect their brands while at the same time simplifying this compliance complexity in the whole-head produce industry?

Artificial intelligence provides an opportunity for a ‘brave new dawn’ in the produce industry through greater transparency. This transparency can provide greater protection for the consumers and the brands, through effective risk management, than can cyclical packhouse audits. And, can be achieved quite simply with 2 developments.

1. Use technology to map the supply chains so that there can be agreement on the source of the produce and also its status in relation to the relevant GAP standards and protocols. It is important that these Supply Chain Platforms are designed to reduce the administration workload and not add to it.

2. Off-takers then have the opportunity to interface the data that is already at their fingertips with these platforms. This can include distribution centre quality inspections, processing yields, customer complaints, taste panels, pesticide analysis results etc. Then overlaying traceback challenges on non-compliant product will give a much greater insight into a supplier’s quality culture than any annual audit.

Marrying all these datasets together with the supply chain data creates the artificial intelligence that significantly improves decision-making in the UK. This will both improve the consumer and brand protection and reduce the administrative burden in the supply chain, thereby lowering one of the major barriers to supplying whole-head produce to the UK market.

Alternatively, we can develop a taste for turnips!

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