Agri-food businesses dealing with Brexit uncertainty are being offered bespoke information they need to get to grips with market challenges faster thanks to a new-look data service.
Agricultural consultancy Promar International has launched a Market Dashboard service to provide agri-food businesses with tailored sector news and information to help them plan for future trends in their industry, as well as respond to changes in their sector.
Designed to support businesses of all sizes around the world – including agricultural input suppliers, food manufacturers, retailers, levy bodies, and exporters and importers – the dashboards offer information on past and current prices, international market comparisons and predictions for future costs.
The aim is for companies to use the data to help inform their business decisions, putting them in a stronger position to be able to ride out volatility caused by Brexit and other challenges, such as rising input costs.
Lisa Williams, Promar’s head of agri-food, said the new-look dashboards were part of the consultancy’s efforts to offer “clear, relevant and useful data” and insight to customers who are having to work in “increasingly unpredictable” conditions.
“No matter which sector they operate in, more and more clients are telling us that volatility is their major concern for the future,” she said.
“Whether it’s political issues such as Brexit here in the UK, rising input costs or extremes in weather, there are so many uncertainties that companies are having to manage and react to.
“For UK companies in particular, leaving the EU is going to have a major impact on trade barriers and import tariffs, so understanding the effect they could have on your business – and having the information you need to make informed decisions – is vital.
“By offering an overview of the market companies are operating in, as well as a projection of costs, the dashboards can help businesses understand their costs of production as well as their profitability. In such uncertain times, this kind of information is invaluable.”
Having first been developed almost a decade ago, Promar Agri-Food’s new-look dashboards feature interactive monthly reports tailored to clients’ requirements.
Written by sector experts, they can include specific data on market prices and costs, relevant news stories, and price comparisons across different countries, which are set to a single currency for comparison.
The data can be filtered so that clients can look at long-term and short-term price shifts, while the system’s algorithms can make use of a decade’s-worth of data to make predictions about future trends.
“By providing access to critical, long-term data, the dashboards are designed to be a one-stop-shop for all businesses, regardless of where they sit in the supply chain,” said Emma Gough, a senior consultant at Promar Agri-Food.
“As markets become more volatile, being fully informed about your own operations and the market in which you operate in will be critical to being able to adjust your plans and strategies to help you be a success.”
To take advantage of Promar’s Market Dashboard service, clients are guided through a detailed registration process to discover what information they would find most useful for their business.
Promar Agri-Food’s team of expert consultants then create a bespoke interactive report which clients and their teams can access online via a desktop computer, tablet or a mobile phone.
