EHS Trends In The Food And Beverage Sector You Should Know About

Day-to-day operations in the food and beverage industry are being disrupted both by shifting consumer tastes and by increasing regulatory scrutiny of the industry’s supply chains – at each stage from ‘farm to fork’. Accordingly, to remain competitive, firms in the sector are reformulating products at pace, introducing new manufacturing processes and ingredients, and joining with new partners and suppliers.

EHS teams at these firms are playing catch-up, investing significant sums to ensure that these new operations are safe and compliant. This is reflected in the industry-specific breakdown of the 2025 Verdantix global corporate survey on EHS budgets, priorities and tech preferences, in which respondents in the food and beverage sector report a significant planned increase in EHS spending, with 30% expecting their EHS budgets to rise by at least 10% in the next year.

Commercial teams looking to sell EHS technologies to organizations in the food and beverage sector should be aware of several sector-specific factors:

• Rising cold chain storage use is increasing occupational health risks.

  A UN report indicates that the use of cold chain storage will grow across both developing and developed countries, with food security, sustainability, affordability and quality increasingly depending on long‑term preservation through freezing. Working in cold environments carries health risks for workers: prolonged cold exposure can trigger certain diseases and exacerbate existing chronic conditions. Conditions such as frostbite can arise due to the improper use of PPE. As exposure risk grows, Verdantix expects large food and beverage firms to place greater emphasis on EHS software with robust fit‑for‑work assessment capabilities, or with PPE assurances to ensure that employees in cold stores are safe to work. The Verdantix Smart Innovators: Occupational Health Software (2025) report evaluates how vendors are supporting the management of workers with chronic health conditions, while the Smart Innovators: Video Analytics for Safety study assesses technologies that, among other factors, detect and monitor PPE compliance.

• Significant forklift safety and compliance needs can be met through technology.

  Growing consumer demand for the quick delivery of fresh produce is pushing food and drink manufacturers to accelerate product movement, increasing reliance on forklifts and other industrial vehicles. This trend has heightened collision risks – as highlighted by the £600,000 UK HSE fine issued to Kepak Group, a meat-processing firm, after a forklift incident that resulted in a worker losing a leg. To address these risks, EHS teams deploy a range of technology solutions. Learning management systems help ensure that employees receive proper forklift training – which is particularly important in North America, given the regulatory variations across Canadian provinces and US states. Video analytics can assist practitioners in identifying unsafe vehicle-related behaviours and interactions, providing timely alerts to prompt intervention. More advanced vehicle safety platforms take a holistic approach by monitoring asset condition, driver behaviour and overall interaction with the operational environment (see Verdantix Buyer’s Guide: Industrial Vehicle Safety Management Solutions (2025)).

• Firms will require increased product compliance support.
  Novel pollutants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are an increasing concern in the food and beverage industry. These ‘forever chemicals’ are frequently used in food packaging and pesticides. There are increasing calls from lobbyists and growing public pressure on governments to ban PFAS products in the food supply chain. In response, the UK government is developing PFAS testing methods for food‑contact materials, to guide future regulatory measures. As long‑term scrutiny intensifies, Verdantix expects food and beverage firms to increasingly engage product compliance software vendors to help them identify PFAS, source viable alternatives and report more effectively across their supply chains.

For more industry insights on EHS practitioners’ top priorities, and the relative strengths of technology vendors serving each market, set up an analyst inquiry call.