Business Central for food and beverage: lot traceability, expiry, FEFO, recalls and quality — what's native and what to add

Bramvia — Business Central Experts

Food and beverage manufacturers and distributors need lot-level traceability both ways, expiry and FEFO picking, quality holds and a recall report that runs in minutes. Business Central does most of it natively — with the 2026 Quality Management extension closing a gap — and catch weight and allergen management via apps. The honest map for US processors and distributors.

Short answer: for a food or beverage business the ERP question is really four questions: can you trace a lot from supplier to customer and back in minutes, can the warehouse pick by expiry (FEFO) without relying on memory, can you hold and release lots on quality, and can you run a mock recall that an auditor believes. Business Central answers all four natively: lot and expiry tracking on every movement, FEFO in directed picking, item tracing forward and backward, and — since 2026 — Microsoft's own Quality Management extension for inspections and holds. What it needs an app for: catch weight (variable-weight items priced per pound), allergen and nutrition data management, and recipe scaling with yield. For a processor or distributor of $10M-200M, Business Central with one or two of those apps covers the FSMA and customer-audit reality.

The four questions, answered

1. Traceability both ways. Every receipt, production output, transfer and shipment carries the lot. Item Tracing shows where a supplier lot went (forward) and what went into a finished lot (backward) — in one screen, in seconds. That's the mock recall.

2. Expiry and FEFO. Expiration date on the lot at receipt or production; directed picking with FEFO so the warehouse picks the oldest-expiring lot first without anyone thinking about it. Sales lines can enforce minimum remaining shelf life per customer — the retailer who requires 75% shelf life on delivery gets it enforced, not remembered.

3. Quality holds. With the Quality Management extension: inspection on receipt (COA check, temperature, organoleptic), inspection on production output, lots held in quarantine and unavailable until released. Rejected lots dispositioned to return, rework or destroy — with the trail.

4. The recall you can run. Item Tracing plus the lot's documents gives you: which customers received which lot, what went into it, which supplier lot. Export, call, done. Auditors ask to see it run; it runs.

What's native and what's an app

Where food companies lose money that the system can find

• Shrink and expiry write-offs — lots expiring in the back because picking was manual. FEFO fixes it structurally.
• Yield variance — the recipe says 100 kg in, 95 out; actual is 91. That 4% is a variance the system can show per batch.
• Customer-specific costs — the retailer with slotting fees, rebates and chargebacks who is margin-negative once loaded. How to see it.
• Dead inventory in ingredients — seasonal packaging and flavors nobody reordered but nobody removed. The dead stock query.

Distributors versus manufacturers

Distributors need traceability, FEFO, catch weight (for protein and produce), route delivery and EDI. Business Central Essentials plus a catch-weight app is the usual shape.

Manufacturers / processors add production with yields, quality on output, and recipe management. Premium plus, depending on complexity, a process-manufacturing app for recipes and allergens.

FAQ

When should a food manufacturer move off Dynamics NAV? Before the deadlines decide for you. NAV 2017 support ends on January 11, 2027 and NAV 2018 on January 11, 2028. And if any of your products are on the FDA's Food Traceability List, FSMA 204 applies from July 20, 2028, so traceability has to be live and tested during 2027. For most food manufacturers that means starting in late 2026 or early 2027 and going live outside the peak season.

We're a food processor that needs lot traceability and recall management. Is Business Central sufficient, or do we need a specialized food ERP? For traceability and recalls, Business Central is sufficient natively: lot and expiry tracking on every movement, forward and backward tracing in minutes, FEFO picking and quality holds. Catch weight and allergen and nutrition data need apps. A specialized food ERP starts to make sense when formula-driven process manufacturing with nutrition labeling is the core of the business.

FSMA 204 traceability? The lot-level data FSMA's traceability rule requires — key data elements at critical tracking events — is what Business Central records on receipt, transformation and shipment. Reporting it in the required format is a report over that data; we build it as part of scope. The compliance date is July 20, 2028. Distributors of produce and seafood have their own checklist: FSMA 204 for produce and seafood distributors.

Catch weight is essential for us. Then it's an app from day one; native units of measure don't do variable weight properly. Several mature options exist on AppSource.

Can we do a mock recall in under an hour? With lots on every movement, in minutes. The hour is usually spent finding the paperwork in companies that don't have this.

Temperature and cold chain? Recorded as inspection results (Quality Management) or via IoT integration for automated readings.

Related: ERP for pest control companies and ERP for wineries, breweries and distilleries.

Food or beverage and a recall drill that takes a day? Free assessment, no commitment — we'll run your traceability against the system and show you the gap.

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