As consumers continue to begin their holiday spending rendezvous earlier, thanks to omnichannel options, they want reliable delivery that is fast and nimble. That's what Austin-based Convey found when they surveyed more than 2,500 US consumers identifies the trends and themes that will define the online shopping experience this holiday and beyond. Their report, Shoppers Have a Need for Speed – Not Just Free Shipping...

Written by SmartSense | December 12, 2019 | Supply Chain

In just the last couple of months, we’ve been reading reports about one new food recall after another: Listeria in smoked salmon, E.coli in ground beef, and undeclared allergens in P.F. Chang’s frozen entrees – and that’s not an exhaustive list. These ongoing incidents have once more raised the question among health experts of just how safe our food is since passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in...

Written by SmartSense | December 5, 2019 | Food Safety, Supply Chain

Over the past few decades, the supply chain market and logistics industries have gone through a makeover. It’s had a name change. It’s been recognized as a science and discipline - certainly more than in the past. And it’s risen to the forefront of many C-suites, as leadership can talk to it readily as an integral part of corporate strategy for the operations of many successful companies.

Written by SmartSense | December 3, 2019 | Supply Chain

During the holiday season, Americans throw out 25% more trash than the rest of the year. As you can imagine, Thanksgiving is the holiday triggering the highest percentage of food as part of this waste. If this year mirrors past statistics, we will collectively discard 35% – or 204 million pounds – of edible turkey meat. More than 150 million pounds of potatoes, green beans and other vegetable sides will find their...

Written by SmartSense | November 27, 2019 | Food Safety, Supply Chain

There's probably no greater retail revolution in our lifetime than Amazon’s remarkable ability to offer every product and numerous services you may need. Despite adding its Prime Day delivery and ambitious and aggressive promises, they seem to be holding their word well. But think of the increase in the number of parcels that are delivered to your doorstep every day due to the Amazon effect. Who delivers all those...

Written by SmartSense | November 20, 2019 | Supply Chain

In our previous post about inventory management during Thanksgiving, we touched on the importance of turkey as the key food product most in need of careful advance planning to optimize stock. In this post, we’re taking a deeper dive into the safety issues turkey raises along the cold chain.

Written by SmartSense | November 14, 2019 | Food Safety, HACCP, FSMA, Supply Chain