Staying compliant is important in any industry. However, there are few industries where compliance impacts the population more widely and publicly than food and beverage. When a product makes people sick or gets recalled, word spreads quickly, and the costs of repairing your brand’s reputation can be steep. Fines and recalls directly hurt your bottom line, and large or repeated violations can even lead to the closure of the business.
Let’s look at 10 key areas where food and beverage companies need to stay compliant— and how the right technology can help in each.
1. Food safety
Each year, 600 million people around the world get sick and 420,000 die because of foodborne illnesses, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Industry regulations are critical to the fight to lower those numbers. To stay compliant with these regulations, food and beverage companies should:
- Outline and strictly enforce comprehensive sanitation procedures and employee hygiene policies.
- Regularly self-audit policy compliance to catch issues before an inspector does.
- Properly train all employees in food safety.
- Use ERP solutions like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to record and automatically monitor food-safety-related data.
2. Traceability
Even the strongest procedures and policies can’t guarantee employees won’t make mistakes. Food and beverage companies need to be able to trace a product’s entire journey through the supply chain to pinpoint contaminations and initiate recalls if necessary. That means:
- Using automated data tools to capture and sync traceability data with trading partners.
- Ensuring the data is correct, comprehensive and accessible.
- Leveraging your ERP system’s capabilities and opting for integrated solutions. Business Central can connect with food-specific software to inspect individual items and quickly get important supply chain information.
3. Allergen management
Food allergies are inconvenient at best and life-threatening at worst, and industry regulations enforced by agencies like the FDA help prevent cross-contamination and ensure that people with allergies have the information they need to make informed decisions about the food they buy. To stay compliant:
- Keep regulated allergenic materials separate and clearly labeled.
- Schedule manufacturing of products using allergenic ingredients at the end of the day to ensure equipment is sanitized before the production of non-allergenic products.
- Use product specifications and labeling modules of your ERP and integrate a food product lifecycle management (PLM) solution to enforce allergy-related standards.
4. Recalls
No company wants to go through the pain of a product recall. You can’t cross your fingers and hope you never have to. You need to be ready to carry out recalls when necessary, and that means:
- Creating and practicing a step-by-step recall plan so that your teams are ready to execute.
- Openly communicating and sharing traceability data with trade partners so they’re not caught off-guard by a recall.
- Streamlining the recall process with an advanced ERP solution. Business Central’s ability to integrate with advanced industry-specific tools makes isolating contamination sources and managing product withdrawals easier.
5. Labeling
While the specific requirements depend on the country and its regulatory bodies, every food and beverage company needs to include specific information on their product labels, such as ingredients, nutrition facts, “best before” dates and allergen disclosures. Companies should:
- Make text as easy to read as possible.
- Design labels to emphasize the most important information, such as allergen disclosures and other health warnings.
- Move important information to the front of the package, where consumers are most likely to actually read it.
- Use design and labeling functionalities in your PLM and ERP systems. Business Central’s full integration with other Microsoft products, such as Teams, makes it easier to collaborate on label designs and push them to production.
6. Workplace safety
Factories and distribution centers can be dangerous environments if safety regulations aren’t consistently followed. When a worker sustains an injury, it makes their life harder, and the company has to scramble to make up for their missing knowledge and contributions while they’re recovering. To avoid this lose-lose scenario:
- Educate workers on your company’s unique operational lists. An employee with manufacturing experience may still be unfamiliar with the specific safety hazards found in food manufacturing.
- Provide PPE, train workers on how to wear it and consistently enforce its use. You can’t afford to make exceptions.
- Make safety and accountability a cornerstone of your company culture.
- Use a solution like Business Central to manage safety audits and training programs.
7. Marketing and advertising
Food and beverage advertising is regulated to ensure companies can’t make unproven health claims or mislead consumers. Some regulations are also designed to protect and encourage healthy eating habits in children. It’s important for companies to:
- Have the legal department review and approve all marketing and advertising efforts.
- Avoid hyperbolic language and lean on proven facts about the products.
- Take special care when advertising to children.
- Use a CRM platform like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales (in conjunction with Business Central) to oversee marketing campaigns in a centralized and visible way.
8. Taxes and tariffs
Tariffs are in the news, and they’ve thrown a wrench in the works for many food and beverage businesses. To stay compliant with tariffs, taxes and the like, it’s vital to:
- Use a powerful, automation-rich ERP solution like Business Central to help your accounting department do their jobs effectively and efficiently.
- Use the time you save with ERP automations to double-check the accuracy of returns and other important tax documents.
- Consult outside accountants if you’re not sure how to approach new tariffs and taxes.
9. Sustainability
In the U.S., different states have different laws and regulations intended to make business practices more environmentally sustainable. In Europe and the UK, environmental regulations are even more extensive. Wherever your company may be located, it’s good practice to:
- Assess how environmentally friendly your trading partners are and switch to more sustainable suppliers if necessary
- Use recyclable and biodegradable packaging whenever possible
10. Transportation
Food and beverage distribution is tricky — in addition to the typical rules around things like driver rest and vehicle emissions, you also must pay attention to things that some other industries don’t, such as temperature control and sanitation. After all, a shipment of bricks can’t spoil. Food and beverage companies should:
- Make real-time supply chain data visible and accessible using ERP solutions like Business Central
- Create contingency plans to stay compliant even when a worker strike or severe weather threatens standard operating procedures.
- Use a transportation management system within your ERP to make your shipping routes as efficient and sustainable as possible while also tracking driver hours to keep them rested and safe.
Find a tech partner that understands the food and beverage industry
In all of these areas, a partner like Enavate can help you find, implement and gain widespread adoption of technology tools that ensure compliance. We take care to understand the unique, industry-specific challenges our partners face, and we’ve helped hundreds of organizations tailor solutions to those challenges. To learn more, contact our expert team today.
