Overview
This post looks at seven of the biggest challenges facing UK food and drink manufacturers, and how a food manufacturing ERP such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central helps you respond to each one. You will find practical detail on automation, traceability, cybersecurity, sustainability, changing consumer demand, supply chain resilience and cost. FAQs on choosing and implementing ERP software in food manufacturing follow at the end.
Key Takeaways
- Food and drink manufacturing employs around 450,000 people and is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, according to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which expects almost 200,000 roles to need filling over the next decade.
- Allergen labelling errors caused 35% of Food Standards Agency alerts in the first half of 2025, according to RQA Group’s Product Recall Report, which shows why traceability data matters as much as production speed.
- Manufacturing accounted for 27.7% of all cyberattacks worldwide in 2025, the highest share of any sector, according to IBM X-Force research.
- Make UK found that 90% of manufacturers have seen energy bills rise since 2022, with more than half naming energy costs their biggest challenge for the years ahead.
- A food manufacturing ERP connects production, quality, finance and supply chain data in one system, so problems surface before they become recalls, breaches or missed deadlines.
- The right implementation partner matters as much as the software, because configuration and ongoing support decide whether these benefits reach your factory floor.
1. Automation and the Skills Gap in Food Manufacturing
UK food and drink manufacturing employs around 450,000 people, making it the country’s largest manufacturing sector, according to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF). Even so, the FDF expects almost 200,000 roles to need filling across the sector over the next decade, driven by an ageing workforce and rising demand for digital and engineering skills.
Automation promises faster production and lower unit costs, but only if your team can actually run it. Many manufacturers hesitate because new equipment needs new operating knowledge, and staff sometimes worry the technology will replace rather than support them.
A food manufacturing ERP such as Business Central reduces that friction. Work instructions, routings and quality checks live inside the same system your shop floor already uses, so new starters and experienced staff work from one source of truth. When automation and your ERP share data, training focuses on the process rather than on reconciling two separate systems.
2. Traceability and Data Management for Food Safety
Traceability is not optional in food manufacturing. Regulators and customers expect you to know where every ingredient came from and where every batch went, within minutes rather than days.
Allergen labelling errors caused 35% of Food Standards Agency alerts in the first half of 2025, according to RQA Group’s Product Recall Report, making allergens the single biggest cause of UK food recalls. Nearly 150 recalls were announced between January and June 2025 alone. Manufacturers still relying on spreadsheets or paper batch records are the most exposed, because a single missed update can trigger a recall.
Business Central tracks lot and serial numbers from goods-in through to despatch, linking each batch to its suppliers, its production run and every customer it reached. Our blog on how food and beverage manufacturers use Business Central to manage shelf life and batch traceability covers this in more depth, including how it supports Food Standards Agency requirements around allergen control and recall readiness.
3. Cybersecurity Risk in Connected Food Manufacturing
The more connected your production line becomes, the more it can be attacked. Manufacturing accounted for 27.7% of all cyberattacks worldwide in 2025, the highest share of any industry, according to IBM X-Force research.
Food manufacturers are a particular target because production and IT systems increasingly share the same network, so a breach on one side can disrupt the other. A ransomware attack that locks your ERP does not just stop reporting, it can stop production and despatch too.
Business Central runs on Microsoft Azure, which brings enterprise-grade security controls, regular patching and independent certification as standard, rather than as something your team has to build and maintain separately. That does not remove the need for good password practice and staff awareness, but it does mean your core business system sits on infrastructure built for this threat level.
4. Sustainability and Rising Energy Costs
Energy costs and sustainability pressure now sit at the top of most manufacturers’ concerns, not at the bottom. Make UK found that 90% of manufacturers have seen energy bills increase at least moderately since 2022, and more than half now name energy costs as their biggest challenge for the years ahead.
Cutting energy use starts with knowing where it goes, which is harder than it sounds when production, refrigeration and packaging data sit in separate systems. Business Central brings that data together, so you can see energy and resource use by production line, product or shift through Power BI reporting, rather than through a monthly utility bill after the fact.
That visibility will not fix the wider energy market, but it does let you target the changes that actually reduce consumption, instead of guessing.
5. Meeting Changing Consumer Demand
Consumers want healthier, more personalised and more sustainable food, and they expect manufacturers to reformulate quickly when trends shift. Adapting a production line for a plant-based or allergen-free range is rarely quick or cheap.
Business Central’s manufacturing tools let you build and version bills of materials and routings without rebuilding your whole production setup for every new line. When that data connects to Power BI, you can see which products are actually selling and forecast demand before you commit to a production run, which reduces the risk of scaling a range that does not sell.
Flexibility matters here because the businesses that adapt fastest keep their shelf space, while the ones that cannot often lose it to a competitor who moved first.
6. Supply Chain Resilience for Food Manufacturers
Global supply chains have looked fragile since 2020, and food manufacturers depend on some of the least forgiving supply chains there are, given how quickly fresh ingredients spoil. Relying on a single supplier, or on outdated systems to manage several, leaves you exposed to delays you cannot always see coming.
Business Central gives you one view of inventory, purchasing and supplier performance across every site, so a delay from one supplier shows up before it becomes a stockout. Our blog on why paper-based warehouse processes are costing UK businesses looks at a related problem, because manual, paper-driven stock processes make disruptions harder to spot until they hit production.
Multi-site food manufacturers feel this hardest, since a shortage at one plant can affect fulfilment everywhere else within days.
7. The Cost of Adopting a Food Manufacturing ERP
Cost stops many small and medium food manufacturers from moving off spreadsheets and legacy systems, even when they know the risk of staying put. A full ERP project can look intimidating next to the systems it replaces.
Business Central is licensed per user per month across Essentials, Premium and Team Member tiers, so you pay for what your team actually needs rather than a blanket enterprise fee. Microsoft’s partner network, including Tecvia, can also help smaller manufacturers access grants and funding that offset implementation costs.
A phased implementation, covering inspection, design, training and go-live in stages, keeps the project manageable and spreads the cost over time instead of demanding everything upfront. You can read more about how a phased implementation works on our implementation page.
What This Means for Your Business
None of these seven challenges sits in isolation. A skills gap slows your response to a traceability issue, and an energy cost spike changes what a supply chain disruption costs you. A food manufacturing ERP will not solve every problem alone, but it gives you the shared data you need to see them coming and respond before they escalate.
The manufacturers coming through this period well are the ones treating ERP as infrastructure, not as a project to finish and forget. Choosing a partner who understands food and drink manufacturing, not just ERP software in general, makes that difference easier to achieve.
Get Help Choosing a Food Manufacturing ERP
Tecvia works with UK food and drink manufacturers to implement and support Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, from traceability and quality control through to reporting and supply chain management. If you want to know whether Business Central fits your operation, get in touch with Tecvia for a free consultation, or find out more about our Food & Beverage industry expertise.
Manufacturing and engineering businesses facing similar challenges may also find our Manufacturing & Engineering page useful, alongside our implementation approach for projects that need a phased, tested rollout.
FAQs
There is no single best ERP for every food manufacturer, but Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a strong fit for UK SMEs because it combines traceability, quality control and financial management in one system. The right choice depends on your production complexity, your existing Microsoft tools and how many sites you run.
Business Central tracks lot and serial numbers from goods-in through to despatch, linking every batch to its suppliers, its production run and the customers it reached. This gives you a complete audit trail for allergen control, quality checks and recalls, which the Food Standards Agency expects UK manufacturers to maintain.
Yes. Business Central is licensed per user per month across Essentials, Premium and Team Member tiers, so smaller manufacturers pay for what they need rather than an enterprise-wide fee. Its modular design also means you can add functionality such as advanced warehousing or quality management as your business grows.
Implementation timescales depend on how many users you have, how much data needs migrating and how many systems need connecting. A phased approach, covering inspection, design, training and go-live, typically gives you a realistic timeline once the scope is agreed, rather than an estimate that changes later.
Business Central supports allergen tracking and shelf-life management through its manufacturing and quality control features, which link directly to lot tracking. Combined with Power BI reporting, this helps manufacturers spot expiry risks and allergen issues before products leave the warehouse.
