F&B companies must navigate various regulations, including food safety, labeling, and packaging requirements while maintaining compliance throughout the supply chain. Some specific products, such as wine, require specialized handling and monitoring to ensure quality. Lack of quality control and compliance exposes F&B companies to risks of recalls and other governmental actions.
If not appropriately managed, these challenges can lead to disruptions, increased costs, and customer dissatisfaction.
F&B companies can count on Matson Logistics’ experience to move products from ports or factories to warehouses and distribution centers on time and within your requirements. We have been recognized multiple times as a Top Green Logistics Provider by Food Logistics magazine.
Matson Logistics has a long history of serving a variety of F&B segments, including wine and spirits. We understand the requirements for climate-controlled storage and transportation and the need for short lengths of haul and on-time deliveries. We have relationships with warehouses designed exclusively for wine and spirits to maintain product integrity.
We offer a wide range of transportation solutions, including intermodal solutions, over-the-road trucking, and other modes, to ensure your loads move as efficiently as possible. Our experience with multiple modes provides F&B businesses with more flexible and efficient logistics solutions, reducing lead times and inventory carrying costs.
F&B companies can consolidate shipments from multiple suppliers or destinations into a single container or truck, streamlining logistics and potentially reducing costs.
Matson Logistics offers value-added services, such as packaging, creating retail displays or club store-ready pallets, and directing shipments to distribution centers, retail locations, and consumers.
Whether you’re entering new markets or serving existing customers, you need a logistics partner who will help you optimize your F&B supply chain for maximum efficiency. Rely on a trusted partner like Matson Logistics to implement proven strategies, including:
Demand forecasting and planning: Unexpected spikes or drops in demand can impact inventory levels and lead to supply chain disruptions. Accurate demand forecasting is vital to prevent overproduction or underproduction of products. Choosing the right container size (e.g., 20 ft. vs. 40 ft. or larger containers) allows for flexibility in service and costs.
Inventory management and safety stock optimization: To minimize supply chain disruptions, companies are tightly managing safety stock to avoid stockouts and loss of sales. Tightly managing inventory is critical to ensure the product reaches shelves without shrinkage from spoilage in the supply chain.
Cold chain logistics and temperature-sensitive transportation: Cold chain and temperature-sensitive facilities ensure that perishable items such as fresh produce, dairy, and frozen goods are transported and stored at the correct temperatures to prevent spoilage.
Regulatory compliance and quality assurance: Companies must comply with various regulations, including food safety, labeling, and packaging requirements, and maintain a compliance record throughout the supply chain.
Route optimization: Choosing the optimal mode and routing for cost efficiency and transit time is critical for F&B companies to protect margins and ensure quality.
Technology is revolutionizing supply chain operations in the F&B sector, using the power of automation and data to optimize shipment tracking, quality control, and inventory management.
Today, containers are computers on wheels connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) for cloud-connected telematics, including GPS location. Some Matson Logistics equipment uses a sensor module that measures conditions inside and outside the container. The system can send door open/closed alerts and measure approximately how full the container is. This cargo sensing helps confirm the container has been loaded or unloaded and helps maximize container utilization. A notification when a container has been emptied can help reduce per-diem expenses. Customers can receive daily tracking reports as well as real-time alerts, depending on the carrier’s equipment.
These systems improve visibility and traceability for individual shipments and provide data for analytics-based decision-making. Given the perishability of F&B products, knowing where the container is at any time is critical to maintaining product integrity.
With the availability of real-time data, emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, enable predictive analytics to drive strategic decision-making, as well as optimize production and inventory planning. Supply chain and logistics companies are increasingly adopting blockchain technology to share this data with partners to improve supply chain resiliency.
Matson Logistics supports these advancements through high-touch technology systems that integrate with legacy technology widely used in the industry. Our proprietary in-house systems manage responsive networks, optimize loads and lanes, secure capacity, and monitor carriers.
Supply chain operations are increasingly under pressure to improve sustainability, as emissions involved in these activities represent a significant portion of a company’s environmental impact.
Matson Logistics supports eco-friendly initiatives, such as carbon-neutral transportation, packaging optimization, and waste reduction. We participate in both the Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG) and the EPA's SmartWay program. We continue to work collaboratively in our industry to promote positive change and mitigate environmental impacts associated with our business operations.
We believe environmental stewardship is the right thing to do. At the same time, sustainable practices can lead to cost savings, enhanced brand reputation, and customer loyalty. Reducing transportation expenses by consolidation, route optimization, and other techniques also reduces a company’s supply chain carbon emissions. Companies and consumers prefer to do business with environmentally responsible partners, which will only increase as the efforts to address climate change expand across all aspects of our society.
The stakes are higher than ever for managing regulatory compliance and adhering to safety standards. Policies and procedures may change frequently, and companies must contend with international standards and domestic programs.
Regulations, including the FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), require full transparency on a product's origin and location throughout the distribution and consumption chain. These regulations are designed to prevent consumer health and safety issues and aid in product recalls and other mitigation efforts. Violations can lead to fines, seizures, and other disruptions.
With decades of international and domestic experience, Matson Logistics offers expertise and experience in ensuring compliance throughout the supply chain. With high-tech tracking capabilities, F&B shipments are always located to ensure product integrity.
Sensors identify whether a container door has been opened and if a container is empty or loaded. These capabilities support seal integrity to detect whether a container has been opened without authorization, which ensures F&B quality and safety.
Matson Logistics’ facility in Oakland is USDA-certified and FDA-organic-registered, so F&B shippers can meet compliance standards.
F&B safety must be a company-wide priority to adequately identify and mitigate risks in the supply chain. A successful food safety program will include scientific, operational, and consumer perspectives to identify and manage risks from farm to table. A strong food safety culture will build consumer trust and foster collaboration and innovation that reduce waste and costs while increasing productivity, quality, and profitability.
The F&B supply chain never stands still. Matson Logistics is ready to make sure you don’t fall behind. Our warehousing and distribution services deliver the advantages of experience and continuous improvement. You can ship with confidence, backed by our talented team members, leading technology, and integrated services.
Our strategically located U.S. East and West Coast facilities put you within minutes of two of the largest ports in the U.S. for both imports and exports. Both locations are effectively two days or less away from any major metropolitan area by highway or rail.
Matson Logistics’ Oakland Foreign Trade Zone offers a bonded and inspected section where wine and spirits customers can take advantage of duty-free imports and exports. The facility is FDA food-certified and USDA organic-certified to meet the highest security and sanitation standards. It’s ideal for any product that is imported or exported under quota or strict tariff rules, including wines, spirits, beverages, and food products.
Learn how Matson Logistics can add value and innovation to your F&B supply chain.