As Helen Sisson reflects on her 35+ years in the industry, one thing that stands out: she has never experienced challenges as intense as those we face today.
“I would have, historically, dealt with one major issue a year – then Covid happened, and we came straight out of that and into Brexit, and it has not stopped," she shared.
“It has never been this intense – and we have to adapt to that. We’ve got to be fleet of thought, and we’ve got to have the resources and infrastructures to be able to cope with it.”
Indeed, it feels like every day there is something new to contend with – but what should food and drink manufacturers be focusing on – and how can they ensure they come out the other side unscathed?
The fast pace of regulatory change
Among the top challenges on Sisson’s list is the pace of regulatory change – a challenge that crosses over a multitude of areas, from food safety to sustainability, to the changes we’re seeing at UK and EU level.
During our discussion, she reeled off a list of examples, including listeria, nitrate reductions, EUDR, and fortification (folic acid), noting the intense level of resource this ever-changing red tape requires from industry.
“Clearly, there’s got to be a fair bit of planning [to meet changes and get ahead] and it’s really hard not to be last minute when everyone’s so busy,” she noted.
“I think there’s a real underestimation of how much effort has to go into managing all these changes.”
She explained that today’s fast-paced environment has meant the sector has moved away from annual horizon scanning to a point of continuous risk assessing.
And these threats are not singular, but rather stretch across a vast plane of challenges, ranging from severe weather conditions to animal disease to cyberattacks. Add to that the additional challenge of navigating ever-changing consumer demand (think UPFs, impact of GLP-1, sustainability, cost of living), it’s not surprising the level of consolidation we have seen over the last few years.
It’s exhausting even thinking about it and I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to bury your head in the sand and wait for the storm to pass.
But sadly, it isn’t going to blow over.
So, let’s take action by breaking it down into more manageable chunks.
Cybersecurity is a major concern
For Sisson, cyberbreaches should be top of mind, with these attacks not just impacting supply chain availability but also capable of generating a lot of waste in product, in energy, in time, and therefore in emissions and cost. But she also pointed to the personal impact they can have on the people trying to navigate such a troublesome situation.
Food Manufacture’s business leaders’ poll, which was drawn during our February 2024 session, found a significant spike in the number of requests for mental health and well-being support since 2020, with 74% reporting they’d seen an increase. Of course this will be down to a multitude of reasons but let’s face it, the added pressure of coping with the fallout of a cyberattack won’t do anything to lessen this.
The introduction of technology has the potential to transform the food manufacturing environment and offers plenty of opportunity, but as we become more digitised and criminals get smarter, businesses must recognise the need to invest in training so that their staff know what to look out for.
Data further illustrates the importance of this, highlighting the proliferation of cyberattacks in the sector. In 2023, data from cybersecurity firm Dragos found that food and drink firms were the third most targeted sector in the manufacturing industry.
Co-op and M&S have been among the businesses to be recently targeted.
For Co-op, the group was forced to shut down parts of its IT systems after discovering a hack, which saw 6.5 million members’ data stolen. The business subsequently faced gaps on the shelves of its grocery stores, with revenues down £206 million in the six months to 5 July 2025.
M&S was also thrown into chaos by an attack at Easter, with empty shelves and shoppers unable to buy online for weeks. Similarly, it saw its profits for the first half of the year take a major slump. The retailer said the direct costs of the attack were £136 million in 2025.
These high-profile attacks are not isolated incidences – we have seen a number of examples over recent years and those are just the ones that are mentioned in the press!
And hacking is becoming more sophisticated and harder to spot. This includes “social engineering” tactics wherein a hacker will pose as someone trustworthy to gain access.
One hacking method which uses this technique is known as ‘unauthorised sim swaps’ – and according to the UK leading fraud prevention service, Cifas, cases are in the rise.
Sim swaps involve criminals hijacking a victim’s mobile number by porting it to a new SIM without their consent. Once in control, they can intercept calls and messages, including two-factor authentication codes, enabling further fraudulent activity to take place, such as account takeovers for apps and other forms of identity theft.
In 2024, these types of attacks rose by 1,055%, with almost 3,000 cases filed to the National Fraud Database.
Another example is a ‘Business Email Compromise’ where a cybercriminal sends an email tailored to your business, impersonating someone you correspond with regularly. They may send you an invoice that looks real but contains a virus, or even change the details on the invoice so you pay into a different account.
Sisson says she’s seen examples of false invoices in the past and fears this is where smaller businesses could be hit really hard.
“It might not be millions of pounds, but it could be thousands of pounds – and that could still have an impact,” she said.
She emphasised the importance of recognising the red flags, with explainer videos an effective way of training employees.
“I’ve seen some cartoon-based training, 4 to 5 minutes at a time, questions set at the end to make sure you’ve understood it, and it’s a very nice way of getting the message across.”
She also pointed to insurers, adding that even looking over their criteria can be a great way to conduct a risk assessment.
She continued: “And even just asking yourself the question, ‘do I do this, do I do that?’, can be useful.”
Climate change and disease
Unsurprisingly, one of the other risks Sisson drew attention to during our conversation was climate change.
“Whether it’s too hot, too cold, too dry, we have seen everything – and each one of those has a different impact, but the overarching impact is availability,” she said.
She illustrated this with a realistic example of a crop being grown to meet a certain specification, such as a specific protein content, only to be ruined due to unfavourable weather conditions.
Underscoring the mitigation efforts you may wish to take, she added: “How do you compensate for that? Are you then producing a poorer quality product? Are you looking elsewhere for your base material or having to add supplements in some way to compensate?”
But it’s not just quality, there’s disease to consider too – both crop and animal.
“We are seeing an increase – whether it’s avian influenza or poultry blue tongue in cattle, and even diseases I’ve never heard of before that are starting to sneak through,” Sisson said.
“Avian influenza used to be a disease that happened just a few months of the year. This last year it’s been persisting, at various different levels. That’s a change in pattern.”
The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) State of the World’s Animal Health report showed that avian flu outbreaks in mammals have more than doubled in the last year, compared to 2023 figures.
The report also revealed that peste des petits ruminants (PPR), which has traditionally affected sheep and goats in developing countries, has re-emerged in Europe. Meanwhile, Africa swine fever (ASF) reached Sri Lanka, travelling more than 1,800 km from the nearest outbreaks.
Further research shows intensive practices coupled with climate change have driven this uptick in disease.
The expansion of livestock production – especially when it closes the proximity between livestock and wildlife habitats – has invited pathogen ‘spill over’, while warmer temperatures have accelerated transmission.
According to Prezode, a global initiative aimed at preventing zoonotic disease, these higher temperatures are also expanding the geographical range of ticks and mosquitoes, increasing exposure of ‘immunologically naïve populations’ to new pathogens.
Climate-related events such as flooding have also further exacerbated outbreaks of disease among crops by altering fungal behaviour and distribution and, as result, encouraged increased exposure to toxins.
As the European Environment Agency outlines, heavy rainfall or prolonged droughts, enhance the stress that plants are exposed to, making cereals (especially maize) more vulnerable to fungal infections and mycotoxin contamination.
To mitigate against these headwinds, manufacturers need to truly understand their supply chains and use tools, such as supply chain mapping, to understand the multiple risks.
Sisson suggested conducting an assessment on your supply chains by product category and geographical regions to understand the vulnerabilities.
There are also various tools online that can help food manufacturers risk assess, for example PepsiCo’s Climate Resilience Platform (CRP) which identifies where risks occur geographically and provides guidance to mitigate against those risks in the first place.
Opportunities in technology
Whilst food manufacturers need to tread with caution when it comes to the risk of increased reliance on technology, they simply cannot afford to ignore it.
Sisson agreed: “Without a doubt, we’re all going to have to embrace technology. It’s going to be the future.”
With resource already stretched to its limits, technologies such as ERP can help businesses streamline routine operational tasks, cut costs and gain valuable time back.
Small businesses need to be savvy with their day-to-day planning. Time used to complete administrative or operational tasks, like payroll or inventory, could be better spent identifying new opportunities for growth.
Moreover, all businesses need to ensure their senior team leaders have oversight – but keeping track of every department can be tricky. ERP means owners and managers can see what’s happening in every area of their business.
When considering an ERP system, however, it’s very important that you invest in a solution that can fully support your needs, allowing for adaptability as your business grows. This is a factor that EPR provider Sage has taken the time to consider.
Efficiencies can also be gained through automated machinery – and when consumers are demanding more variety at a time when labour is hard to find, manufacturers will need to explore how they can use smart equipment so they can keep up.
Certain equipment providers are now also offering integrated solutions which can help manufacturers manage their products and compliance much more effectively, alongside providing a whole new level of transparency for consumers.
Take Multivac’s digital product passport system for example which uses a GS1 digital link to keep track of products and provides easy access to tons of data, such as product origin, processing stages and cooking tips, as well as the composition of packaging materials for recycling companies.
Access to data and artificial intelligence in particular is set to have a transformative impact on the sector and has the potential to support manufacturers in a number of areas, including labour shortages, compliance, and risk assessment and management.
AVEVA is a great example of this, having created a ‘responsive’ digital twin. By integrating things like design documents, sensor data and system controls, and visualising it into dashboards powered by AI, operators can speed up problem solving, reduce breakdowns and save costs.
This new era of manufacturing will inevitably introduce other challenges, such as upskilling employees and training new workers to be digitally savvy. But it also provides a fantastic new selling point for the sector to entice the new generation in.
These three solutions providers will join Sisson at the event, which is set to explore the above topics, among others, in much greater detail.
The entire agenda can be found here alongside tickets for the next event.
Sisson concluded: “Come and enjoy the discussion and give us your thoughts and ideas as well. Who knows what we might all learn from each other, right?”
We hope to see you on 12 February 2026!