When I was an electrical engineer building emergency wireless communications networks, I learned about the importance of having backups—sometimes the hard way, with a 3 a.m. phone call reporting a system is down and the backup system didn’t kick in.

Loftware President and CEO Robert O’Connor spoke with Harvard Business School Professor Willi Shih in a live on-line Webinar entitled “COVID-19, Labeling, and Supply Chain Continuity,” to look at some lessons learned in the supply chain during the COVID-19 outbreak, which, of course, isn’t over yet.

Seemingly overnight, the world has been consumed by the coronavirus (COVID-19). Since showing up on the world stage in November 2019 within the Wuhan area of China, the virus has quickly morphed into a global health threat, while disrupting sensitive supply channels.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a historic impact on business across multiple industries in a very short time, including the cold food and beverage supply chain. We spoke with Lowell Randel, VP, government and legal affairs at the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) for a snapshot of how the cold chain is adjusting to the new norm, and also to dispel certain myths surrounding the country’s food supply and ability to replenish inventory.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has food and beverage processors scrambling to ensure their employees are safe, their operations are uninterrupted and their supply chains are intact. Here's a look at how one company is handling the situation.

Groups representing most every corner of the nation’s food and beverage supply urged government officials to heed federal guidelines to allow CPG manufacturers to keep making and moving out goods at full steam.

Blockchain technology allows retailers, suppliers and anyone who has access to the software, to have real-time information on a product’s origination and the stops it made along the way before it reaches its destination. However, when it comes to olive oil, blockchain can be useful in determining provenance and delivery path, but not the purity or freshness of the product.