Motivated by environmental, social, and health challenges – such as the pressure of climate change and concern for animal welfare – the food industry has seen significant changes over the past decades, with an increasing demand for transparency, focus on food safety, and sustainably-produced products. This was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which revealed the fragility of food supply chains. Local foods, organic and/or fair trade, and less resource-intensive food is becoming more popular among consumers within the mainstream market, evidenced by a significant growth in sales. In terms of total sales, the plant-based food sector increased 49% in Europe between 2019-2021, while the organic food sector increased by a historic 22% in Germany in 2020. The industrialized food system is expected to continue to dynamically develop in production, processing, and distribution in the coming years to meet the food security challenges of a growing global population.
KLU’s research group on Food Supply Chain Management seeks to combine rigorous academic research with practical insights along the entire food supply chain – i.e. from farm to fork – to investigate initiatives and improve efficiency and sustainability along the supply chain. We strive to create a knowledge platform for state-of-the-art research and innovative concepts for managing food logistics and food supply chains of the future.