Real-time data as the key to smarter delivery at Foodbag

In recent years, Foodbag has grown into a fixture in the Belgian meal box market. With a clear focus on fresh, local ingredients and quality recipes, the company was able to build a rapidly growing customer base. This growth not only resulted in more orders, but also increased operational complexity. Logistics became more challenging, costs rose and the need for insight into what exactly pays off became increasingly important.

To support this growth, Foodbag continued to rely on manual reporting via spreadsheets for a long time. Although this approach was initially sufficient, it soon became a brake on further professionalization. Information was spread over different files, insights were not always up-to-date and analyses took a lot of time. This made it difficult to quickly understand which recipes were most profitable, where delivery costs could be optimized and how to better inform decisions.

Together with competence center InfoFarm, Foodbag took the step towards a real-time analytics platform that brings together operational and financial data in one central environment. By continuously providing insight into delivery costs, food costs and margins, the team got a complete and up-to-date picture of the organization's performance for the first time. This insight went beyond global figures and made it possible to perform analyses down to the level of individual recipes, deliveries and customer segments.

The new data transparency caused a fundamental change in the way Foodbag works. Instead of reporting afterwards, the team can make proactive adjustments today. Delivery plans are optimized based on current data, recipes are evaluated for their real contribution to the margin, and pricing and promotion decisions are made faster and more targeted. Data thus became a permanent part of daily decision-making.

The impact of the new approach was not long in coming. The time spent on manual reporting decreased by as much as 80%, allowing teams to focus on analysis and optimization. At the same time, the improved insight into profitability led to better decisions at both operational and strategic levels, with a direct impact on cost control and efficiency.

Today, Foodbag has a solid data-driven foundation to support further growth. By embedding real-time insights into operations, the business can continue to scale efficiently without sacrificing quality or customer experience. This case shows how data, if used smartly, plays a key role in the sustainable growth of a rapidly evolving organization.