It is widely known that nothing in our world is permanent, including our ever-changing needs and demands. However, one thing that remains constant is our need for food. Food is a topic that always comes up in conversations because it plays a crucial role in shaping our identities and well-being.
The Food Supply Chain sector holds significant importance in meeting the demand for reliable food supply chain companies that can overcome challenges and consistently deliver exceptional results. In our search, we came across Foods Connected Ltd, a renowned brand in the food supply chain sector that offers cutting-edge and efficient solutions. Leading the company is Roger McCracken, who has been instrumental in establishing its unparalleled services and driving its expansion.
Today, we have the privilege of hosting Roger McCracken, the co-founder and managing director of Foods Connected Ltd., for an enlightening discussion. Let’s delve into the details of the business, Roger’s inspiration behind founding Foods Connected Ltd, and more.
Could you please provide us with an overview of the company and what motivated you to start it?
I come from Northern Ireland and, along with Paul Armstrong and Gary Tyre, co-founded Foods Connected Ltd in response to the need for digitizing everyday processes in the food industry’s supply chain. Our goal was to enhance quality, minimize risk, and reduce costs for food businesses.
Having a background in family livestock and arable farming, as well as working in the meat processing sector for many years, I had a deep understanding of the challenges faced by the food industry. This positioned me well to establish the necessary technology solutions to address these key industry issues.
Recognizing the opportunity to create an innovative software solution, we aimed to replace the reliance on Excel spreadsheets and paper by providing a user-friendly cloud software platform where food businesses could log their supply chain approvals, quality assurance, and trading and planning negotiations. This approach significantly reduces costs and saves time.
Foods Connected Ltd offers a cloud-based software platform that brings enhanced transparency and control to the entire supply chain for food retailers, food manufacturers, and food service providers. The platform is widely used by key players in the global food industry, transforming the way daily tasks are carried out, making food production safe, sustainable, ethical, and streamlined.
Could you explain the products or services that your company focuses on? How do they differ from others in the market?
Foods Connected Ltd offers a comprehensive software solution, serving as an end-to-end supply chain management platform exclusively designed for the food sector. We focus on various aspects, including supplier compliance, food safety, and quality, corporate social responsibility (CSR), procurement and supply chain, specifications and new product development, traceability, reporting, and analytics.
What sets us apart from others in the market is that our supply chain functionality is tailored to real-world applications, driven by the needs of our customers and the expertise of our industry professionals. Our team, many of whom have hands-on experience working on factory floors, possesses firsthand knowledge of the challenges faced by food businesses on a daily basis. This understanding enables us to implement customer projects effectively, maximizing benefits and minimizing risks.
By combining industry knowledge with Foods Connected Ltd’s reporting and analytics solutions, businesses in the food sector can stay ahead of external influences that affect their daily operations. We prioritize innovation, research, and development to transform procedures and enhance the sustainability of the food industry. Our platform provides a unified view of tracking, control, and reporting across all critical areas of the food supply chain, making us the only digital solution to offer such comprehensive capabilities.
Could you tell us about the team at Foods Connected Ltd?
Foods Connected Ltd was established by a passionate team driven by the desire to solve problems and seize opportunities within the Food Industry. Our dynamic, enthusiastic, and highly dedicated team works collaboratively with our customers to understand the evolving challenges and opportunities in the food industry. Based on this understanding, we develop innovative ideas and simple solutions to deliver real value to the industry.
Over the past decade, Foods Connected Ltd has grown from a team of two to over 80 staff members across the UK and Australia. We have plans to expand to other locations while currently serving customers across Europe, APAC, and North America.
Could you share your professional experience with us?
Foods Connected Ltd was developed with input from professionals in the food industry. Personally, with my background in farming and local food businesses, I had a deep understanding of the sector’s challenges and a strong grasp of the technological solutions required to address them.
During my tenure at a well-known meat company in the UK, I recognized a market opportunity to develop innovative software that truly catered to the needs of food industry companies. Although these businesses already had digital systems in place for managing production, finance, and inventory, I realized that digitizing fundamental processes could revolutionize supplier management, procurement, food safety, and technical requirements. These activities were previously carried out using labor-intensive manual methods such as Excel spreadsheets, pen and paper, emails, and phone conversations, leading to time-consuming duplication of effort.
Foods Connected Ltd was founded with the aim of improving quality, reducing risk, and lowering costs for food businesses by introducing digitization and streamlining operations.
Is there any client experience you would like to highlight?
At Foods Connected Ltd, we take pride in consistently receiving positive feedback from our customers. Our secret lies in going above and beyond to ensure that customers fully benefit from our solutions. We provide high-quality customer service, develop tools tailored to their needs, and work closely with them to enhance their experience.
Let’s hear directly from some of our customers on how they have incorporated Foods Connected Ltd into their processes and how the software has transformed their operational efficiency:
- “Woolworths: Foods Connected Ltd has provided us with a centralized location to capture agreed sales and purchasing outcomes. This enables easy comparison of all best price options, facilitating more informed business decisions.”
- “Marley Spoon: We needed a solution to manage our expansive global supply chain, bringing transparency to every tier of our diverse network. Foods Connected Ltd has provided us with integrated solutions that enhance visibility in our operations, allowing us to track supplier compliance and mitigate potential risks.”
- “Ornua Foods: By using Foods Connected Ltd, we have been able to drive standard processes across our business. This consistency in capturing data enables us to easily compare performance at any level through analytics.”
