Allow us to open this blog with a humble brag: At Mintec, we're disappointed that we only provide food commodity pricing data to 10,000 users every month, and that we only track prices for about 30,000 commodities and counting.

That's a brag because, actually, we are pretty proud of the services we provide our customers today. Delivering real-time price reporting for tens of thousands of commodities based on proprietary data from markets across the globe is no mean feat. We're proud that so many buyers and sellers of commodities rely on us to gain the pricing insights they need to operate profitable businesses.

But it's a humble statement, too, because we do truly believe we can do more – and we will. In the year ahead, we're looking forward to doubling down on the unique value that we bring to the food commodity pricing ecosystem.

Keep reading for a taste of what's in store as we make our solutions even better.

Where Do We Excel Today?

At Mintec, we like to believe that several factors set us apart in the food commodities pricing world.

One is our proprietary data. The pricing information and forecasts we provide isn't based just on commodities costs reported by government agencies. We analyze that data, but we also draw heavily on proprietary information collected by the thousands of boots we have deployed to monitor commodities prices around the globe. This is why we're able to report on such a wide range of food commodities (not to mention other commodities relevant to the food industry, such as the cost of packaging) with unparalleled accuracy.

We also pride ourselves on the end-to-end view of the food supply chain that we bring to clients. We don't just tell customers how much to expect to pay for steak at the market. We know how much it costs farmers to feed the cow, butchers to process and package the meat, transport companies to bring the meat to the market – not to mention a whole host of other activities that happen in between. With this holistic information, our customers gain incredibly deep insights into how pricing fluctuations at any point in the supply chain may impact them.

We believe, too, that we combine a small-company touch with big-company insights in a unique way. We offer hands-on guidance that large commodities tracking databases can't provide, while simultaneously tracking a much broader set of data than you'd expect from a high-touch provider like us.

What's Next?

But again, we believe there's plenty of room to bring even more value to commodities pricing – which is why we're working hard on a next generation of food commodity pricing solutions.

One big innovation that our customers can look forward to is a consolidated platform. Currently, we report pricing data through multiple products, an approach born out of the diverse data sources and types we track. But going forward, we'll be bringing all of our tools and insights into a unified solution where anyone can find any pricing insights they need, all in one place.

We'll also be taking our price forecasting and predictive analytics features to the next level. We already help customers anticipate where food commodities prices are headed. But soon, we'll also enable what we call a deductive analytics approach to commodities pricing. Deductive analytics means being able to ask questions about how various events or developments might impact commodities pricing in ways that go far beyond simple forecasting based on historical data.

For example, if you want to know how a drought might impact wheat prices in the United States, or how a new meat processing regulation could affect the price of beef in Asia, you'll be able to use our deductive analytics tools to ask and answer those questions. In turn, you'll be ready to make even better-informed decisions about how to source and price your own products.

These capabilities will leverage AI – but we want to emphasize that when we talk about AI, we're not just slapping a novel label on old technology. We're using AI to help power fundamentally new solutions.

Stay Tuned!

The innovations that we're talking about today amount to much more than just a new product release or a new platform update. We'll be unveiling a series of changes over the coming years to make Mintec's solutions even more unique and cutting-edge. Stay tuned for much more.