Both trust and integration with customer standards must evolve before food manufacturers can truly collaborate with retail and foodservice customers.
The Internet is here. But two key ingredients -- trusting relationships and well-developed standards -- are needed before food manufacturers can truly integrate with retail and foodservice customers across the supply chain, said William R. Friend, former vice-president of the J.R Simplot Food Group, at Food Engineering's recent Food Automation 2001 Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "Without a lot of trust, voluntary standards are going to be weak," added Friend, now principal of the consulting firm WR Friend & Associates, Boise, Idaho. "Uniform adoption of standards ... will probably not emanate from the food-manufacturing industry."