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Company News

MBJ Straight Talk: The Food Supply Chain

The food supply chain was the topic of the latest edition of the Memphis Business Journal‘s weekly Straight Talk webinar series.

Panelists included Rick James, owner of the local Cash Saver grocery stores; Dr. Ernest Nichols, associate professor in the Department of Marketing & Supply Chain Management at the University of Memphis; and Mark Pryor, CEO of The Seam, a leading provider of commodities trading and agriculture software solutions. The series is moderated Meagan Nichols, MBJ’s managing editor.

The following is an excerpt from the MBJ:

Nichols said that even slight bumps to the chain can affect the whole industry.

Pryor’s company, The Seam, along with The Food Industry Association (FMI), established the Food Industry Exchange, launched in early May, to address such issues.

“The problem that was needing to be solved is the supply chain disruption,” Pryor said. “We had suppliers with excess capacity because the schools are closed. Restaurants are closed. There [are] no sporting events. There are no events in general, and you’d had perishable products and things like that, and no home for it.

“And then on the flip side, you had retailers like Rick [James] saying that the shelves were getting bare in certain cases because of the run on the stores for various things, and people were stockpiling,” Pryor continued. “So, what was needed was a platform to digitally introduce suppliers — the sellers — with buyers — the wholesalers and retailers that have certain needs. So, it’s actually a two-way marketplace.”

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AgTech

Breaking Barriers Between Supply and Demand Using Technology

The economic law of supply and demand explains the relationship between products and the desire for consumers to purchase them. It outlines how each factor affects the other, and how this relationship determines the price of goods and services. When it comes to agriculture, this principle is a driving force behind technology in the supply chain.

When demand exceeds supply, prices tend to rise. And when supply exceeds demand, you can expect to see prices fall. These shifts can be difficult to measure and prepare for. However, with technological advancements in today’s market, there is more room for predication and more time for preparation.

Shifts in a supply curve can sometimes be the result of advances in technology that reduce the cost of production. If the cost of production goes down, sellers will often lower prices. This plays into the world of agriculture as agritech companies continue to improve the quality of their products and tools. As these companies work to perfect their technologies, and as farmers implement them in the field, they are able to offer products to consumers at a lower price. As a result, farmers and agriculture professionals can invest in more agritech developments, causing the supply curve to shift.

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AgTech Sustainability

Blockchain and Food Safety

Blockchain technology is transforming the agricultural supply chain, and by extension, the entire food industry. Consumers are now able to trace the source of the products they buy, and that means crop producers and manufacturers are held accountable for meeting food safety standards by multiple sources.

But how exactly does blockchain make food safer?

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AgTech Sustainability

In The Know: Bi-Weekly Agritech Round-Up (March 1, 2019)

The world of agritech is changing every day. Check out our bi-weekly round-up to stay in-the-know on the evolving world that is agriculture technology.

Categories
AgTech

In the Know: Bi-weekly Agritech Round-up (December 21, 2018)

The world of agritech is changing every day. Check out our bi-weekly round-up to stay in-the-know on the evolving world that is agriculture technology.

Categories
Sustainability

In the Know: Bi-weekly Agritech Round-up (December 7, 2018)

The world of agritech is changing every day. Check out our bi-weekly round-up to stay in-the-know on the evolving world that is agriculture technology.

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Agritech Blockchain

Agriculture and the Digital Supply Chain

The agricultural supply chain has evolved tremendously throughout the last decade. With the development of new technology, supply chain management has become more efficient, increasing traffic of commodities around the world. These innovative solutions have transformed agriculture into a digital industry, with expanded capabilities in data management, physical processing and online trading.