Farmers receive $300 per metric ton for wheat, yet the same weight of sliced bread at Safeway Supermarket costs $7,000. That's a dramatic 23X markup!

Yes, the wheat-to-flour yield is around 70-75%, and other added costs include transportation, ingredients, power, and margins. Still, the markup from wheat to bread is over 20X, and special baked goods have an even higher markup.

Farmers, like others in the agriculture and food supply chain, work hard to deliver food to our tables. Yet, they take on the most risk—financing inputs and dealing with weather, diseases, and market price fluctuations. Despite this, they’re often the ones paid the least.

At Vibe, as part of our product development, we focus on understanding the numbers, value, and ROI across the entire agriculture and food supply chain to communicate and effectively provide value to our customers. This price gap was eye-opening.

More digital technology in the supply chain will lead to greater transparency, reduce waste, and enable better decision-making, ultimately helping achieve a fair value distribution.

Note: This post reflects observations from my professional experience in the agriculture and food markets. It’s intended to spark discussion around transparency, food safety, food security, and fair trading and is not a critique of any specific groups.

Vision of Things® for Better and Safer Food

Ron Hadar

Vibe Imaging Analytics