The global food industry currently is navigating a complex landscape of supply chain challenges that are impacting production, sourcing, logistics and distribution of food materials, ingredients and products. The 69th Annual Food Shippers Conference took place last week, March 2-4, at the J.W. Marriott Desert Springs in Palm Desert, CA. More than 1,300 supply chain professionals and providers in the food industry attended.
Two widely recognized professionals in the American world of sports were bookend keynotes at the conference.
Opening Keynote Bob Costas is an acclaimed American sports broadcaster, journalist, and author who has been a prominent part of the coverage of every major sport over the past three decades. Renowned for in-depth interviews with famed celebrities such as Howard Cosell, Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Mohammad Ali, Costas has won multiple Emmy Awards and has been recognized for his talent to blend sports coverage with cultural insights.
Costas poked fun at himself as someone who is regularly confused with other celebrities – and also about his “very public” battle with pink eye as the lead NBC 2014 Winter Olympics. He had such a bad case of pink eye that he was forced to take a few days off, leaving the Internet plenty of time to make memes in his absence.
Through creative humor and storytelling, Costas shared plenty of experiences he had with renowned celebrities and athletes. He also shared how he got into sports broadcasting: “I grew up listening to sports commentators such as Red Barber, Mel Allen, Vin Scully, Lindsey Nelson, and Marty Glickman—and couldn't even separate the games from their voices. Then, in high school, my baseball coach suggested I consider broadcasting because I knew a lot about baseball and was always talking.”
Costas attended Syracuse University because Marty Glickman and Marv Albert had gone there and it had a good communication school. “My first job was doing minor league hockey for $30 a game and $5 a day meal money,” Costas recalls.
FSA conference attendees also had the opportunity to hear advice first-hand from Hershel Walker how to overcome obstacles, reinvent yourself, and be fluid in your career and personal life.
Walker explained how as a child he was overweight and had a stutter - but such challenges haven't stopped him to succeed. Walker became a football running back who won the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award; played 15 years professional football in the USFL and NFL; competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics on the U.S. bobsleigh team; and as an entrepreneur, Walker has led ventures in the foodservice industry.
Freight visibility is crucial for optimizing supply chain operations. Corey Ritenour of Lindt & Sprungli explored freight visibility and its evolving role in the logistics landscape with leading industry tech innovators: Ross Hickey of Shippeo; Kris Bjorlin of FourKites; and Dan Cicerchi of Descartes Systems Group.
The group discussed a number of issues ranging from technology that enables real-time capabilities, monitors temperature for food safety, and mitigates the potential of fraud. Specific discussion around technological solutions compared to traditional methods of supply chain management revolved around these areas:
Did you know cargo theft costs the supply chain up to $35 billion? Strategic theft has risen 1,500% since the first quarter of 2021 and the average value per theft is over $200,000.
Thom Albrecht, CFO with Reliance Partners, led a panel of these cargo theft and security experts at the 69th Annual Food Shippers Conference: Will Johnson of BNSF Railway; Scott Cornell of Travelers Inland Marine; and Keith Lewis of CargoNet. All panelists agreed that high-value food and beverage products are big targets of this crime category.
The panel also discussed that while sometimes people tend to discuss cargo theft as being an employee and internal operations issue, but that’s not the most common instance of instigating cargo theft. A significant percent of cargo theft involves a “cargo theft gang” that is comprised of a group of individuals who receive orders from bad actors to steal specific high-value products during transit by gathering intelligence on transportation and logistics patterns and targeting loaded trailers at their point of departure.
Supply chain executives in the food industry, along with their supply chain partners, are carefully watching the freight economy, supply chain inflation that an impact production and transportation costs, capacity, and other economic indicators.
Eric Starks, Chairman of FTR Transportation Intelligence, discussed the freight market.
“So we're going to talk about inflation,” according to Starks. “We're going to talk about what's happening with tariffs, nearshoring inventories, and labor issues. We're going to talk about Canada and Mexico, we're going to talk about consumer concerns and changing buyer habits, the housing market, and we're going to talk about the free market. We're going to hit it all.” And he did.
Bob Costello, Chief Economist with the American Trucking Associations and regular closing speaker at the Food Shippers Conference, explains how new Trump policies can have an impact on the economy, labor, operational efficiencies and food chain costs.
“New tariffs imposed on Canada, Mexico and China could have unintended consequences that exacerbate high prices for food products and groceries - and can cause chaos in supply chains,” says Costello. “To be sure, all parties must come back to the table swiftly to reach an agreement on a path forward that minimizes unnecessary economic pain."
The 69th annual Food Shippers Conference incorporated a powerful mix of networking, relationship-building, and celebration of the industry during Monday evening's Cocktail Reception, Annual Banquet, and Dessert in the Desert.
More details on the annual Food Shippers Conference
Now more than ever, professionals consume info on the go. Distributed twice monthly, our "Food For Thought" e-newsletter allows readers to stay informed about timely and relevant industry topics and FSA news whether they're in the office or on the road. Topics range from capacity, rates and supply chain disruption to multimodal transportation strategy, leveraging technology, and talent management and retention. Learn More