Food, Beverage and Agriculture

Addressing geopolitical risks

The food and beverage industry faces increasing geopolitical risk. Conflicts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa have exacerbated those risks, impacting markets well beyond those operating in the region.

Simultaneously, several other geopolitical trends, such as tariffs and other trade barriers, are also impacting the food, beverage and agriculture industries, highlighting the need to understand global and local political risks.

At the same time, several other geopolitical themes, such as tariffs and other trade barriers, are also impacting the food, beverage and agriculture industries, highlighting the need to understand global and local political risks.

Our geopolitical risk team can help you address your exposures to such conflicts and keep you aware of developments beyond the headlines.

Navigating supply chain disruption

The food, beverage and agriculture industries face a growing number of challenges, from natural disasters to political problems, trade disputes and human and animal pandemics. It also faces traditional risks like product recalls, factory and warehouse fires. Any of these threats can interrupt production and delivery, which could devastate a business that operates on tight schedules and margins.

Managing these supply chain risks has become a top priority, with just-in-time methods facing increasing scrutiny.

You need a partner with a deep understanding of supply chains. We have multiple teams across WTW that can help you, including:

• Marine
• Transportation and logistics
• Pandemic response and resilience
• Non-damage business interruption

Addressing environmental exposures and climate risks

Public and political awareness of business’ impact on the environment has increased pressure on the food,beverage and agriculture industry to improve environmental standards and reduce pollution leaching into rivers and seas.

Our environmental team can help you address these environmental risks.

Meanwhile, the sector is acutely affected by the changing climate. Extreme weather events, like droughts and floods, are already affecting property risks, and how and where food and beverage producers source raw materials.

Furthermore, the transition to a low-carbon economy is creating significant changes in economic activity, asset values and profitability across the world.

These shifts mean both identifying and executing optimal choices on low-carbon transitions are increasingly complex. We offer a wide range of climate consultancy services and tools that can help food, beverage and agriculture businesses address these challenges:

• Climate Quantified analyzes all of your climate risks to show how they affect your operations and assets. It also evaluates the impact of climate risks on your supply chain partners and customers, bringing a new level of clarity to your decision making and how you communicate managing climate-related risks.
• Climate Diagnostic can assess the likely risks at particular locations over time, based on future climate trends and scenarios.
• Our Crop Risks and Opportunities Platform (CROP) uses layers of geodata, such as soil pH, salinity and temperature, to model the suitability of growing a crop in a location in different future time horizons and climate scenarios.

Protecting your automation from cyber risks

Automation and digitization continue to revolutionize the food, beverage and agriculture industries, giving businesses the opportunity to optimize processes through new technologies, leading to increased efficiency, flexibility in production and sustainability.

But with increased automation comes new cyber risks, such as ransomware and cyberattacks that can disrupt your operations.

Our cyber risk team can help you ensure your digital systems are resilient, whether through cyber security tools or cyber insurance.