Climate disruption reshapes food industry supply chains built over decades

Weather is headline news at the moment. At the time of writing, huge swathes of the US and Canada are digging themselves out of up to 20 inches of snow following an unprecedented ‘snow bomb’ that’s brought many parts of the country to a standstill, with another storm expected to hit in days. 

At the same time players and spectators in the Australian Open have been sweltering in temperatures reported to be close to 50 degrees as a record-breaking heatwave hits the country increasing the risk of bush fires. And much of the UK is feeling the impacts of Storm Chandra which caused significant flooding and ‘threats to life’ weather warnings.

According to a report from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), 2025 marked the 11th year of a successive streak of record-breaking temperatures.
It’s therefore perhaps unsurprising that half of food and beverage manufacturers now identify climate-related risks as critical concerns.

As extreme weather increasingly becomes the norm, operations teams are finding that traditional sourcing patterns - built over decades - no longer provide the reliability that modern food production demands.

These findings come from Ideagen’s latest food industry audit report, "Under pressure: When survival trumps strategy", which analyses the risks food and beverage companies - from growers to manufacturers and retailers - expect to impact their business in the coming year. Conducted annually since 2018, the research highlights how climate risk is becoming a growing operational priority.

The report shows that ‘climate change’ is mentioned by 18% of businesses as a risk to their operations, up from 14% the previous year. Weather disruption noted as a critical concern by 14%, environmental risk 10%, while poor harvest - a new category for this year - reflects the direct agricultural consequences feeding into production. In total, 49% of organisations cite at least one climate-related risk, placing it among the top operational threats facing the industry.

From isolated incidents to systemic complexity

Across the food and beverage sector, sourcing and supplier assurance are becoming increasingly complex as climate disruption fuels uncertainty. Long-established procurement models - built on stable growing conditions and predictable supply - are being tested by more frequent and severe weather events, forcing organizations to rethink how they manage supplier risk and maintain continuity.

Recent extreme weather highlights the scale of this challenge. The events happening right this second are not isolated events but a pattern that’s compounding into systematic supply chain volatility. Excess rainfall in eastern Arkansas destroyed crops across nearly a third of planted acreage, while prolonged drought continues to disrupt rice, coffee and sugar production in major growing regions. This all places increasing pressure on procurement, quality and operations teams to respond faster and with greater precision.
 

How operations teams are building climate resilience

In response, leading organizations must shift from reactive crisis management to proactive adaptation, supported by integrated digital platforms. Predictive analytics enables procurement teams to anticipate disruption before it cascades through production schedules, while scenario modelling supports longer-term sourcing decisions -  allowing businesses to diversify supplier networks before existing sources become unreliable. Real-time monitoring provides the visibility needed to intervene quickly when conditions change.

This marks a fundamental shift in supply chain design. Multi-sourcing strategies, near-shoring initiatives and diversified supplier networks are beginning to replace models purely for cost efficiency. Increasingly, resilience depends on flexibility, transparency and control - capabilities delivered through purpose-built food and beverage technology platforms that connect risk management, supplier assurance, traceability and operational performance.

Larger organizations feel this pressure most acutely, with 36% citing climate change as a key risk, compared with 12% of medium-sized businesses and 6% of small businesses, reflecting the complexity of global supply networks and the growing need for end-to-end visibility.
 

Technology enables adaptation at scale

As climate disruption becomes a persistent operational reality, businesses must move beyond awareness towards execution. The challenge is no longer simply identifying vulnerabilities, but responding fast enough to protect production, product quality and customer commitments. This requires tighter integration across procurement, quality, compliance and operations - functions that have traditionally operated in silos.

Modern platforms enable this shift by turning fragmented data into coordinated action. Real-time supplier monitoring highlights emerging risks early, while embedded traceability supports rapid impact assessment when disruption occurs. Integrated audit and supplier assurance workflows help teams validate alternative suppliers more quickly, reducing response times without compromising food safety or compliance.

At scale, these capabilities can deliver measurable outcomes: fewer production stoppages, faster recovery, reduced compliance exposure and greater confidence in supplier performance. As extreme weather becomes a recurring challenge, technology increasingly underpins operational resilience.

Our food industry audit report explores how organizations across the sector are responding to climate risk and examines the practical role technology plays in supporting supply chain resilience.

Download the full report