Food processing outlook clouded by uncertainty

The agri-food supply chain is very resilient, but not immune to economic cycles that shift food demand and introduce higher costs. The COVID-19 pandemic will bring a severe recession, and introduce permanent transformations in the supply chain and significant variability in profitability trends of food processors.

 

 

Patterns in food manufacturing sales leading up to the current recession show a healthy food processing sector as year-over-year (YoY) growth in monthly manufacturing sales was mostly positive (Figure 1). Aggregating data at that level can however hide some important trends across different sectors. For example, sales for the bakery, meat or fruit and vegetable preserving sectors have been growing but at a slower pace in the last twelve months.

Video: Decoding Pig Performance With AI And Transcriptomics - Dr. Maria Walsh

The Swine it Podcast Show, Dr. Maria Walsh, Chief Operating Officer at Biofractal, explains how transcriptomics and AI are helping swine producers better understand the gap between genetic potential and commercial performance. Dr. Walsh discusses metabolic efficiency, disease resilience, PRRS challenges, and practical on-farm biological insights using blood samples and AI-powered analysis. She also explains how nutrition, health, and production data can work together to improve decision-making. Listen now on all major platforms!

"Gene expression data provides biological insight into how pigs respond to nutrition, stress, and health challenges before visible production losses occur."