In today's economy, food prices continue to rise due to inflation, labor shortages, high packaging and shipping costs, and other supply chain challenges. The experts at European Supermarket Magazine have explored three critical ways retail professionals can adapt to these ongoing challenges and keep their shelves stocked with healthy and affordable products.

1. Increase transparency along the food supply chain

High-volume food supply chains are prone to many logistical errors, especially when products travel overseas. Total transparency of all food products is essential to maintain their quality.

Supply chain software with embedded artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things can be instrumental in helping retailers adapt to supply chain challenges.

Fortunately, it's never been easier to get analytics-based insights into the strengths and weaknesses of your supply chain. Supply chain software can identify specific links that are costing you time and money. More informed decision making leads to faster deliveries, stocked shelves and happy customers.

This new tracking software can send status alerts around the world in real-time to notify you of any damage or delivery delays. You can spot these issues as they happen, rather than days or weeks later, and adjust your inventory accordingly. Identifying small problems quickly prevents them from turning into bigger problems further down the chain.

Also, consumer attitudes are changing rapidly. Many shoppers today want specific details about the production, packaging and distribution of their food products. They are more likely to buy frozen or shelf-stable foods to reduce waste and make their food haul last longer.

This information helps consumers buy from brands that align with their values, especially those related to the environment. Some food manufacturers have engaged in greenwashing in misguided attempts to take advantage of new consumer priorities. Unfair trade practices only make supply chain problems worse by creating mistrust between the parties involved.

Geopolitical interference also makes food supply chain visibility more important. Companies around the world continue to cut off trade with China due to a lack of trust as a trading partner.

Retailers need to know exactly where their food comes from to avoid creating more confusion. Our supply chains are already quite fragile.

2. Adopt e-grocery stores

One of the hottest topics in the fast-moving  consumer goods (FMCG) environment is e-commerce or e-grocery stores. The number of Americans who buy their groceries online is expected to exceed 163 million by 2024. Online shopping as a whole has exploded in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online grocery shopping is here to stay and has proven to bring many benefits to both retailers and consumers. It allows grocery stores to retain customer engagement and loyalty, as well as expand their target market to a wider geographic area.

Most importantly, e-stores offer flexibility in an otherwise inflexible economy. Because many foods are unaffordable or unavailable to the average consumer, you need to offer more options.

You can easily recommend alternative products and different payment methods online. In this way, you satisfy your customers and get more information about their shopping habits.

An e-grocery option also allows you to adapt to emerging trends and technologies around the distribution of FMCG products. Multi-channel order fulfillment is the latest trend that consumers have prioritized.

They want their shopping experience to adapt to their requirements and expectations. You can't change a grocery store overnight, but you can change a website.

3. Determine food producers to produce to higher standards

Those in the food industry know very well that collective responsibility is an essential part of stocking grocery stores. Problems with a single supplier in the food supply chain affect everyone, right down to the consumer. That's why high standards are so important in FMCG world.

In the early months of COVID-19, most people were more concerned with keeping their families safe than doing their jobs. Grocery retailers were no exception. As a result, supply chain standards have declined and remain in a state of recovery.

This is one contributing factor to food supply chain issues that tends to be overlooked.

It's time for retailers, sellers and consumers to hold food producers to higher standards again. The aforementioned supply chain software will play a huge role in raising industry standards, but this crucial adaptation needs to happen first and foremost at the human level.

Food waste, high emissions, delivery delays and shortages of essential goods such as grains and cooking oil must be addressed. The first step in addressing all of these issues is to hold manufacturers accountable. Increased visibility will help you and other food retailers eliminate food packaging and shipping practices.

Adaptation is a human instinct

It's easy to get caught up in the logistics and analytical side of things, especially in the fast-paced FMCG industry. Adapting to the challenges of the food supply chain will require analytical thinking, but ultimately it is a human instinct. You must use this instinct to find new strategies and technologies to restore the market.

Recovery won't happen overnight, but every adjustment makes a difference. These three adaptations are great places to start.