IT Spending in the Food Industry: How to Invest at the Right Level Without Overpaying?

Dans un secteur où les marges sont sous pression et les contraintes réglementaires de plus en plus complexes, la question revient souvent chez les dirigeants de PME et d’ETI agroalimentaires :Est-ce que nous dépensons trop (ou pas assez) dans notre système informatique ?

Digitalization is everywhere. But in the agribusiness world, we're not here to do "tech for tech's sake." What we want is to gain efficiency, reduce errors, manage compliance, and serve our customers seamlessly. So how do you know if your IT budget is well-calibrated? What are the right benchmarks? And how can you distinguish a real investment from a mere expense?

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What the numbers say:

According to several sector studies and specialist firms:

• Food companies spend 1% to 2% of their turnover on information technology (IT)
• Of these expenses, software (licenses, SaaS, ERP, CRM, business tools) represents 25% to 40% of the IT budget
• Which comes to around 0.4% to 0.8% of turnover for software alone.

Concrete example: A company with a turnover of €20 million will have an IT budget "on target" between €200,000 and €400,000 per year, including €80,000 to €160,000 for software.

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Underinvest = lose ground

Not investing in IT means saving money in the short term… but taking risks in the long term:

• Delays in order processing
• Input errors (on products, batches, best before dates, etc.)
• Bad surprises during quality audits
• Time wasted chasing information in Excel files, emails, or on shared servers

This always ends up costing a lot: in internal stress, in customer image, or in lack of commercial responsiveness.

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What to do: Invest smartly

The goal is not to digitize everything at any cost, but to choose tools adapted to your business challenges, such as:

• Specialized agri-food ERP (traceability, batch management, IFS/BRC compliance, etc.)
• CRM or integrated customer relationship tools
• Technical platforms for managing product and supplier data

Example: Tracklab is a technical product and supplier data platform dedicated to the food industry. It centralizes critical information, manages document compliance, and drastically reduces data entry errors.

Result ?

• Less stress in audits
• Less human error
• More time for your quality, purchasing and supply teams

And above all: a rapid return on investment without technical complexity.

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5 Best practices pour bien gérer vos dépenses IT :

1.Évaluez votre budget IT en % du CA

>1% à 2% du CA est la norme. Si vous êtes largement en dessous, posez-vous des questions.

2.Faites un inventaire de vos outils

>Quels logiciels utilisez-vous ? À quoi servent-ils ? Qui s’en sert ? Sont-ils redondants ou sous-exploités ?

3.Supprimez ce qui ne crée pas de valeur

>Un outil trop générique, mal intégré ou peu utilisé n’a rien à faire dans votre budget.

4.Privilégiez les solutions métiers expertes

>Mieux vaut un outil pensé pour l’agro que dix outils généralistes qui ne se parlent pas.

Agro ERP, platform like Tracklab, production software with batch management…

5.Mesurez les gains

>Temps gagné, erreurs évitées, conformité maîtrisée, satisfaction client améliorée : c’est ça, le vrai ROI IT.

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In summary:

• Your IT expenses should represent 1 to 2% of your turnover
• It is not a burden, it is a lever of competitiveness
• Tracklab, like other expert agricultural solutions, is part of this logic of targeted investment.
• The best software is not the one that costs the least, but the one that saves you time, provides security, and peace of mind.

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Do you have doubts about the relevance of your current IT budget? Conduct a simple audit: what you pay for, what you actually use, and what it brings you. And above all, don't hesitate to surround yourself with tools designed for you, like Tracklab.

Tracklab | Supply Chain Compliance Suite

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Charlotte Picard

Quality Engineer | Tracklab

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