Survey: Digitalization Drives Sustainable F&B Growth

This article was machine translated.

In recent years, the global food and beverage (F&B) industry has faced mounting pressure from climate change, rising costs, and supply chain volatility. At the same time, urbanization and a growing global population continue to drive demand for food, even as traditional agriculture and available resources face increasing constraints. The global food production system also accounts for around 35% of carbon dioxide emissions and consumes nearly one-third of total energy use. These factors underscore the need to make food production more efficient, more resource conscious, and more sustainable.

The Siemens Infrastructure Transition Monitor 2025, which surveyed 1,400 executives from leading organizations, offers a focused view of the F&B sector. It reveals a notable gap: while more than 53% of F&B executives believe their businesses will continue to grow, only 43% are confident that their organization’s infrastructure is resilient enough to adapt quickly to market volatility.

The central question for F&B companies, therefore, is how to build resilient production infrastructure that enables them to produce more, use fewer resources, and reduce environmental impact amid global growth and change.

Three Ways to Drive Production Infrastructure Toward the Future of F&B

1. Accelerate the adoption of electrification and renewable energy
According to the survey, 61% of respondents see electrification—the shift from fossil fuel-based systems in processes such as heating, cooling, and transportation to electric-powered systems—as one of the most effective mechanisms for advancing energy systems toward Net Zero, particularly when that electricity comes from renewable sources. For food and beverage manufacturers, this can be a powerful lever for reducing carbon emissions. The survey also shows that the manufacturing sector is making tangible progress: organizations at a mature or advanced stage in on-site renewable energy production increased from 27% in 2023 to 42% in 2025, while progress in the electrification of heating and cooling rose to 41%.

For example, Marble Distilling Co., a premium vodka distillery in the United States, has adopted smart valves, actuators, and intuitive controls. As a result, the company has been able to triple production capacity without adding staff, reduce energy costs by around 20% per year, and save more than four million gallons of water annually.

The survey shows that a majority of F&B executives (61%) see electrification and digitalization as key enablers of sustainability.

2. Unlock sustainable production potential through digitalization and data integration
Environmental change is pushing food and beverage manufacturers to prioritize efficient energy and resource use while improving operational performance and maintaining product standards. The integration of hardware and software solutions for digitalization and automation is therefore central to this transformation, helping manufacturers continuously monitor, measure, and improve environmental performance.

One common challenge for many organizations is that they “have sustainability targets, but lack the tools to measure progress.” The survey found that more than half of respondents view digitalization as a critical mechanism for driving the energy transition, while digital technologies are seen as having strong potential to improve productivity by 83% and resource conservation by 55%.

At the same time, data integration is becoming another strategic priority. Only 40% of respondents believe their organizations are highly advanced in this area, while 54% say smarter technologies are needed to connect fragmented data, and 48% plan to increase investment in this field.

More than 54% of executives agree that digitalization has strong potential to improve employee health and safety, showing that the benefits of digital transformation extend beyond production efficiency and environmental performance.

3. The era of smart factories and AI-driven optimization has arrived
Over the next three years, respondents from the food and beverage industry expect to place greater emphasis on scaling advanced technologies such as AI and digital twins, deploying automation across processes, and making decisions increasingly driven by data. Most believe AI will transform operations.

• 49% say they are already using AI to help reduce carbon emissions from operations.
• 51% say AI is already helping improve infrastructure resilience and the ability to respond to change.
• 47% plan to increase investment in building technologies, including autonomous systems for buildings.

Respondents also expect these technologies to help reduce operating costs, improve energy efficiency, and strengthen emergency response.

57% of F&B executives are ready to adopt autonomous systems in buildings and factories.

Turning cost challenges into opportunities for efficiency
Although the direction of travel toward sustainability is becoming clearer, the survey highlights challenges that industries around the world still face. Nearly half of manufacturers (48%) believe decarbonization remains too costly, while uncertainty in government policy (57%) and limitations in grid infrastructure (57%) continue to slow investment in clean energy technologies.

While the share of organizations with a clear decarbonization plan has risen sharply to 60% in 2025, more than 43% of executives still prioritize cost and revenue considerations when making environmental investment decisions. For this reason, demand-side flexibility—the ability to adjust energy use in line with energy generation and demand at different times—together with improved energy efficiency, offers a practical starting point within existing factories and can deliver short term results in both cost reduction and decarbonization.

One example is Ferring GmbH, a pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical innovation company in Germany. By adopting an integrated digital energy management system together with advanced controls, the company has been able to save approximately €925,000 per year in energy and operating costs and reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by up to 2,400 tons per year. This case shows that improving efficiency does not necessarily require building an entirely new factory. Digital technologies can be applied to existing infrastructure and machinery to enhance performance and deliver business value alongside sustainability outcomes. Connecting the real and digital worlds for the future of Thailand’s F&B industry Today’s challenge is not whether the technology is ready. Many of these technologies have already proven their potential and impact. The key question is how quickly organizations can adopt them—and how systematically they can connect the bigger picture.

For Thailand’s F&B industry, as a globally significant producer and exporter, this represents an important opportunity to strengthen competitiveness. Connecting the real world of operations— machines, production lines, and factory infrastructure—with the digital world of data, AI, and automation will not only make production more efficient and environmentally responsible, but also improve resilience, reduce costs, and reinforce long-term competitiveness in global markets.

This article is based on Transforming the Future of Food & Beverage Production and From Carbon-Heavy to Climate-Ready, part of the Siemens Infrastructure Transition Monitor 2025.