Commodities & Food Logistics Solutions

Food logistics involves moving food and beverage goods from one location to the next along the supply chain in appropriate temperature-controlled ways to help keep the food safe and fresh. Specifics can include sourcing whole foods and other ingredients from farmers and other suppliers and transporting them to prepared food manufacturers, climate-controlled warehouses, and more, ultimately delivering them to the final spot on the food supply chain: retailers, wholesalers, or consumers who will eat the foods and drink the beverages.

“Food and beverage logistics” is a more detailed and often more accurate way to say “food logistics.” That’s because consumable liquids are often part of this supply chain type—with beverages also needing to be kept safe and fresh for the end consumer.

The food chain starts with producers like farmers growing produce, ranchers managing cattle, or trawlers fishing for seafood. These foods could be compared to the raw materials required in an industrial supply chain. Foods must be grown according to laws and regulations and must mesh with the labels given to them such as “organic.” They need to be harvested and appropriately packaged before moving along the supply chain. Items could go to wholesalers or directly to retail stores or people’s homes. They could also go to food manufacturers for use in prepared packaged foods that could then be placed in food-grade warehouse facilities.

People often use terms like “food and beverage supply chain management” and “food and beverage logistics” interchangeably, and the terms are quite interrelated. However, nuances exist between the two. Supply chain management, as defined by Supply Chain Logistics Management,is a web of interconnections with collaborations among food producers, prepared food manufacturers, suppliers, other partners, and so forth along with the end consumers of the foods and beverages.

When managed well, supply chains are efficient and cost-effective, providing value; its management also provides the “operational framework within which logistics is performed.”

Turning to “food logistics,” this is a vital element of the overall supply chain for the food system. For a good definition of how that works, Michigan State University—citing the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals—calls logistics the part of the supply chain that “plans, implements and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services, and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customer’s requirements.”

As another helpful definition, Supply Chain Logistics Management explains logistics via activities involved: “transportation, warehousing, packaging and more—that move and position inventory and acknowledge its role in terms of synchronizing the supply chain.”

Food and beverage logistics, then, all fall under the broad category of its supply chain. All of the food and beverage supply chain, though, isn’t in the logistics category.

Food logistics teams play key roles in the overall food supply chain, planning, scheduling, transporting, delivering, warehousing, managing, and distributing food items to appropriate locations. Ideally, all this is completed efficiently, effectively, and safely to provide the freshest quality of food possible.

Restaurants, grocery stores, consumers, and more are now demanding food traceability. This means that they want the sourcing and supply chain processes of food logistics to be transparent, proving its quality and efficiency. Food companies, meanwhile, want high visibility into the process of its supply chain, which can be provided by advanced technologies such as the ones used by NXTPoint Logistics. (Technologies will almost certainly continue to evolve and become even more impactful.) Food companies also want to reduce food waste to a minimum, which requires quality temperature controlled transportation and, as involved, the same controls in food and beverage warehousing. Also, in today’s global economy, companies and 3PL firms will need to continue to find ways to nimbly scale, as needed, and pivot when barriers exist. This will require both the right technologies and the right expertise to leverage applications to their fullest.

Complexities that exist with food and beverage warehousing that don’t exist in other industries—at least to the same degree—surround the need for timely transportation, temperature-sensitive transport and warehousing, and perishability avoidance. Inherently perishable goods must be transported when as fresh as possible in a climate-controlled environment; so, more so than in many other industries, logistics companies managing the food supply chain must be efficient and dependable with backup plans when Plan A isn’t doable.

This is crucial for freshness but, also, for food safety and staying in compliance with regulations that focus on safety. Food and beverages, when not properly handled, can contain pathogens for food-bourne illnesses—some of which can be serious. When food quality deteriorates, this can also lead to significant food waste, which can harm a company’s reputation and hurt their bottom line.

NXTPoint specializes in safe, efficient transport, enhancing route optimization, and food and beverage warehousing: both in climate-appropriate environments to preserve the safety, freshness, and quality of consumables.

First, you’ll want an experienced partner with expertise in the cold chain to keep your perishable goods at optimal temperatures along the supply chain to avoid spoilage. At NXTPoint, we leverage our extensive century-plus in logistics in each plan we design and carry out for our customers. Our temperature-controlled transportation methods and food and beverage warehousing help to keep consumables fresh.

You can see how we put this into practice as we solved food logistics problems for a large sugar manufacturer. The company needed a warehousing distribution solution that could effectively manage their commodities—ones that were high-volume with velocity—while meeting strict guidelines through the use of sustainable practices. Our solution flexibly maintained cost efficiencies for the sugar company while meeting rigorous GFSI food safety certifications. Moreover, we provided them with sufficient warehousing to meet their multi-market distribution needs for long-term sustainability.

Other things to consider when choosing a food logistics partner include to ensure they offer the services you need in geographic locations of choice. Ours include:

• 3PL Warehousing, Distribution, and Fulfillment Services
• Logistics Project Management
• Transportation and Freight Management
• Final Mile Delivery

We provide both domestic transportation and international freight and, when you partner with our company, your company can expand to new markets because of our extensive supplier networks.

Make sure that your logistics partner is highly reliable (especially important with perishable consumables); negotiates optimal rates, modes, and lanes; and uses modern technology to allow advanced visibility levels into your supply chain’s real-time situation. NXTPoint provides all of this to our customers.

To schedule a consultation with one of our industry experts, please connect with us.

We keep it simple. Just contact us online to schedule a professional consultation. One of our food logistics experts will carefully listen to your needs and develop a customized plan to meet your requirements and allow your business to focus upon your core competency and growth.