Identify current and future trends and drivers in the food and drink environment
Overview
This standard is about the skills and knowledge needed for you to identify current and future trends and drivers in the food and drink environment. Recognising trends and drivers in the food and drink industry is essential in maintaining business viability in the fast moving world of consumer goods. Consumers are influenced by a huge number of factors including health, food safety, sustainability and cost. Identifying these trends and drivers is a key skill if a food and drink business is to maintain its market share, increase its market share and remain financially sustainable. You will need the skills and knowledge to gather information and evaluate it, making informed decisions about its validity and relevance. You must also have the skills and knowledge to identify the key points in the gathered information that are relevant to the trends and drivers important to your food business. This standard is for you if you work in food and drink manufacture and/or supply operations and are involved in the identification of current and future trends and drivers in the food and drink environment.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
Gather information
identify internal and external sources of information for
benchmarking ideas and scoping including customers, suppliers,
regulatory authorities, competitors, different brands and additional
sources relevant to the food and drink environment
gather information from a number of forms of information including
web based sources, social media and trade fairs
find new, unused and innovative sources of information
utilise positive and negative customer feedback received either
during development of a new product, at launch of a new product
or through on-going dialogue with a customer
undertake research to source innovation and changes in
production techniques, technical issues and raw materials
check information includes local, national and global issues
determine the relevance and validity of the data and/or
information
Identify key information
decide which information is of most relevance to identifying trends
and drivers
interpret the information and determine the specific trends and
drivers
rank the trends and drivers in order of most to least importance
Collate and consult
collate information
produce a summary document
consult with colleagues to confirm the validity of any assumptions
and informed decisions
amend summary document after consultation if required
conform to organisational requirements for the presentation of the
summary document
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
source internal and external sources of information
collate information relating to current and future trends and drivers
why it is important to find new, unused and innovative sources of
information and how to do this
- the importance of recording and evaluating customer feedback
and how to do this
- why it is important to liaise with colleagues when sourcing and
evaluating information
- the relative importance of local, national and global issues
affecting trends and drivers
how to determine the relevance and validity of the information
how to interpret information
why it is important to rank trends and drivers and how to do this
the organisational methods of communication available in the food
and drink business and how to use them
- how to consult with colleagues to confirm the validity of any
assumptions and informed decisions and why it is important to do
so