Why the future of food procurement will be data-driven

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The real question is whether that prediction helps farmers earn better, consumers eat better, and the food system wastes less water and soil

By Kunal Gupta

Updated - October 24, 2026 at 10:30 AM.

The World Bank estimates that nearly 30 per cent of the world’s food supply is lost or wasted due to inefficiencies. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

A silent transformation, away from debates and discussions about food, is underway and will define how companies approach food procurement in the future.

For decades, governments and companies largely bought food based on historical volumes, established supplier relationships and periodic price signals. The next phase will be shaped by ‘real-time data’: combining satellite imagery, weather forecasts, crop estimates, warehouse inventories, transport movement, consumer demand, quality tests and carbon measurements.

The World Bank estimates that nearly 30 per cent of the world’s food supply is lost or wasted due to inefficiencies across production, transport, storage, and consumption, and traceability remains a challenge. Better data cannot eliminate every loss, but it can make failure points visible and procurement decisions more precise.

Role of data

Reliable data is also a foundation for enhancing quality of service. It provides the critical inputs for innovation. Combined, they offer an opportunity to meet the global standards required in the world market.

India’s agriculture and allied activities support 46.1 per cent of the country’s workforce, while fragmented landholdings, uneven storage, inadequate market infrastructure and climate-related yield instability continue to affect farm incomes. The Economic Survey 2025–26 also records wide differences in productivity across crops and states, making uniform procurement strategies increasingly unsuitable.

Data-driven procurement can analyse satellite imagery, weather models and field records to forecast crop volumes and quality, helping agencies plan storage, transport and price support—anticipating shortages or arranging capacity before bumper harvests cause congestion.

India has already begun moving in this direction. One example is the Department of Food and Public Distribution introducing Anna Chakra to optimise the PDS supply chain, while a Vehicle Location Tracking System monitors foodgrain trucks in real time. Global experience offers further evidence. The World Food Programme uses digital tools for sourcing, route planning and supply-chain management. Its SCOUT platform, which applies artificial intelligence to global food sourcing and delivery planning, generated $3 million in savings in 2024 and is projected to produce much larger gains.

5 priorities

Such experiences demonstrate that data is valuable not merely because it automates paperwork, but because it improves decisions under uncertainty.

The leadership question, therefore, is not whether the food industry should use data more, but why they cannot ignore it. It also questions whether leaders will treat data as a procurement department’s software investment or as a strategic public-good infrastructure.

A responsible leadership approach would suggest five priorities. First, build interoperable data systems that link farmers, FPOs, mandis, warehouses, logistics providers, processors, and retailers. Second, invest in data quality, because inaccurate crop estimates can produce equally damaging over-procurement or shortages. Third, make small farmers participants, not passive data subjects, by offering digital access, fair prices, and transparent contracts. Fourth, use procurement data to reward sustainability—lower water intensity, soil health, reduced emissions and less food loss—not merely the lowest immediate price. Finally, establish strong safeguards for consent, privacy, cybersecurity and algorithmic accountability.

This certainly does not mean machines will replace farmers or procurement officers. When their work is data-enabled, timely, shared, and verifiable evidence strengthens human judgement. Leaders who understand this will move from reactive buying to anticipatory planning, from fragmented transactions to connected value chains, and from measuring tonnes procured to measuring nutrition, resilience, farmer prosperity, and environmental performance.

Food procurement will become smarter only when its data becomes more inclusive. The real test is not whether algorithms can predict a harvest or the stocks in the warehouse or shops. It is whether that prediction helps farmers earn better, consumers eat better, and the food system wastes less water and soil.

The author is Head - Rice Procurement & Dhuri Unit, KRBL

Published on October 24, 2026

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