Food-processing companies are in the market for suppliers that can perform a variety of tasks.

As food-processing companies pare down to their core competencies, they are in the market for suppliers that can perform a variety of tasks as well as provide materials, according to a recent study for the International Association of Food Industry Suppliers. The study, conducted by Frank Lynn & Associates, Chicago, reveals that more and more food processors are outsourcing a wide variety of functions, including some that might be considered their core competencies, such as research and development.

Jeff Baden of Frank Lynn noted that food-processing companies are "de-verticalizing" their operations, getting out of the upstream aspect of making their products. For example, soup companies have divested themselves of the farms that provide the meat and vegetables for the soup. "They decided that their core competency was making soup," Baden explained. "So they sold the farms and the cannery."