American Food Distribution: What Is Next?

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Based on statistical data that was taken from a New York Times article, the citizens of the United States would eat 31% more foods that are processed compared to people from other countries. One factor that contributes to this is the system that food dispersal chains use. The typical food product would be transported at around 5,000 miles prior to reaching the consumers. Since this is the case, the food is packaged and prepared for long distance shipping.

The present trends which the wholesale food distributors see would give the impression that the system of food distribution over long distances is designed to be delayed. Heightened consumer demand for organic food that is produced regionally, combined with a rekindled interest in staying in urban cores and increasing prices of gas, accumulatively suggest that American food dispersal networks will eventually have to evolve to cater to these and other changing economic and lifestyle trends.

Consumers in the United States Want Fresher Food

A core driver behind the possible redesigning of the food distribution chains is shifting customer preferences. The past few years have witnessed an upward spike in the demand for organic food that is fresh. The expansion of the organics industry in America has provided some information:

-    Since 1990, the organics market of America has earned so much revenue. Their food dispersal teams have reported a jump from a billion dollars to $26.7 billion. This amazing expansion is amplified by what the Whole Foods Market earns, which had a 35% increase in profit from the period between 2007 and 2001. All of this in spite of a lowered economy.

When all of this information is put together, they give a sign that the wholesale food distributors should adapt a system that caters to the manufacturers of local organic food. As an example, the markets in Europe support this initiative by assisting the farmers markets and the local farmers as well.

How the Food and Beverage Industry Affects Employment

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There is no doubt that the business of selling drinks and food is a prime source of employment around the world. Because the international processing of beverages and food is considered a major manufacturing department, this line of work accounted for 4% of global GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and has more than 22 million workers happily employed.

Approximately more than 1 million individuals work as wholesale food distributors for any of the big multinational drink and food production firms. Based on statistics for the year 2002, Nestle hires about 25,000 employees worldwide (around the same figures as Unilever does). Other large employers include Kraft (an estimated 109,000), Tyson (an estimated 120,000), PepsiCo (an estimated 142,000), and Sara Lee (an estimated 154,000). The ten most lucrative fast food chains that are mostly owned by Americans hire around 5 million employees, with McDonald’s leading this statistical data with 1.5 million workers. Grocery enterprises like Carrefour, Tesco and Wal-Mart hire 2.25 million employees in more than 30 nations.

With the use of ISIC Code 15, Production of food items and drinks (United Nations International Standard Industrial Classification), employment data has been shown fluctuating over the last few years. Based on the data that was gathered from the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), employment in this department has gone up, particularly in their member nations. The number of workers in Canada between the years 2003 and 2005 is at 1.9%, Spain went up to 6.7%, and France increased by 7.3%.

At the other side of the coin, other nations seem to have dramatic losses in terms of the employment status of wholesale food distributors. In the United States, for example, the employment rate in 2005 went down to an estimated 1.64 million compared to the 1.68 million rate that they had two years ago.