Editor’s note: This story highlights takeaways from the Food Manufacturing Summit hosted by Food Dive, Manufacturing Dive and Supply Chain Dive on March 25. Register here to watch the replay on demand.

After the pandemic spurred drastic changes to supply chains, resilience in logistics has emerged as a primary way food companies can win in today’s competitive environment.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak upended supply chains, disruption has become the new normal as companies continue to combat inflation, geopolitical uncertainty and other challenges. But food manufacturers face more challenges than other industries — most notably that food is perishable, so ensuring on-time deliveries is paramount.

Accurate and quick deliveries have become more important as the pandemic has shifted more shopping online. Consumers now receive their groceries through delivery platforms or set up subscription services where fresh food is sent directly to their home. 

“[There] used to be very well-defined flow paths for companies – moving full truck loads and predictable numbers of goods across what used to be predictable lanes and transportation networks,”said Shri Hariharan, senior vice president of solutions for Blue Yonder, an AI-powered supply chain management platform. “Now, everything is subject to change, starting with the consumer and their expectations.” 

For CookUnity, a chef-to-consumer meal delivery subscription service that delivers fresh, restaurant-quality meals, timeliness is paramount. The company taps chefs to prepare curated meals that are then delivered to consumers’ doors. This requires precise delivery times and a focused logistics plan. 

Aalok Kapoor, chief operating officer of CookUnity, said deliveries can “not be late,” but they “can’t be early either.” 

The food isn’t frozen and doesn’t contain preservatives to extend shelf life, so the company needs to take great pains to ensure a package isn’t left at a consumer’s doorstep and goes bad before they return. 

CookUnity also needs to ensure products are temperature-controlled throughout the shipment process. This can require different packaging depending on the route, with heavier ice bags depending on the distance of the shipment. 

The temperature-controlled aspect of CookUnity’s supply chain also makes it more important for the company to quickly react when there’s a disruption in deliveries, whether it be a changed route or a delay.

“Things happen on the route, which, if you’re delivering toilet paper is fine,” Kapoor said. “If you’re delivering food, it’s a problem.”

Artificial intelligence has become a key tool to navigate supply chain disruptions. Technology can forecast a wide range of scenarios that companies can use to inform their logistics.  Hariharan is seeing more companies use AI as a “copilot” to help humans do their jobs.

Among other things, AI can alert logistics teams when there are disruptions on a route or identify new shipping opportunities, Hariharan said. More companies are teaming with non-competing firms to share space and avoid deadheading, or when a truck drives with an empty trailer, often after delivering product.

CookUnity has been utilizing AI to predict sales and potential stockouts, according to Kapoor, which allows the company to work backward and set up its logistics plan. Prior to AI, the company could predict 50% to 60% of sales. Now, its forecast is 80% to 90% accurate. 

“The fidelity of that forecast has never been higher in our history,” Kapoor said.

But AI also allows CookUnity to better respond to consumer feedback. An AI agent can scan reviews and inform the supply chain team that a certain product isn’t performing well, which the company can use to inform discussions with its suppliers and make changes if needed.

“There’s just less guesswork now,” Kapoor said.