Members of the Food Processing Supplies Association (FPSA) no longer have to depend on anecdotal responses to the question “How is business?” For the past several years the quarterly FPSA Shipments and Outlook survey has provided some quantitative data organized by four major food industry sectors: bakery, dairy, fruit and vegetables, and meat. Respondents are asked to compare sales trend of the current quarter with the quarter passed as well as the same quarter of the previous year. Finally, they are asked their opinion of future business. This last query provides us the FPSA food industry confidence index (50 is the neutral point; below 50 shows pessimism and above 50 optimism).

For the current quarter each sector reported that business conditions are either staying the same or improving as compared to the previous quarter. When asked to forecast future trends (Confidence Index), most sectors had a modest rise in their expectations for the future, with an average of around 60. The notable exception was the bakery industry, which saw a measured decline especially in dough makeup and further processing. A one-sentence summary of this quarter’s results would be the industry is cautiously optimistic.