Rising costs push food processors to switch to more agile inventory management

Cost and growth pressures are pushing manufacturers to rethink ERP and adopt more agile and cost-effective operating systems.

As the Australian food and grocery sector enters 2026, it faces a paradox of strong growth alongside mounting cost pressures. ABS data shows turnover rising 5.3%, exports increasing by 5.2%, and employment growing by 4.4%. Yet, rising interest rates, fuel prices and operational costs are tightening margins across the industry.

In the face of these competing forces, many manufacturers are turning to technology to maintain efficiency and control. Reporting from Technology Decisions notes 78% of distributors in Australia and New Zealand plan to expand AI within operational systems, while other research shows around 60% of manufacturers increasing enterprise software investment, often prioritising simpler, more flexible technology stacks.

For Thrifty Ice Cream, the shift toward more agile technology, meant shifting away from a monolithic and cumbersome ERP platform toward a modular system that combines accounting and operational software more effectively.

A business transition forces change

When the parent company of Thrifty Ice Cream entered bankruptcy and the business was sold, Thrifty suddenly had months to become a fully independent operation.

Its legacy ERP system, Sage X3, had been deeply integrated with the parent company and access was set to end after the sale. Thrifty considered keeping it, but it was too big and clunky for what they needed and continuing with the platform would cost far too much, at more than $100,000 annually.

Relying only on their QuickBooks Desktop was considered, but alone it didn’t have the critical manufacturing capabilities such as lot tracking, expiry management and traceability. These things are essential for maintaining compliance, quality and supply chain transparency in frozen food production.

Building a modern operational backbone

Working with advisory firm Saber Consulting, Thrifty Ice Cream decided the best move was to shift away from a single monolithic ERP toward specialised operational platforms that combined two agile tech stacks. Now they use QuickBooks Desktop for financial management with Fishbowl Inventory for manufacturing and inventory control.

To meet the deadline and restore operational independence, the sensible choice for Thrifty was not to replace the previous system with another large enterprise platform, but instead adopt a more focused approach, separating financial management from operational processes.

This allowed the team to concentrate on the core data required to run the business rather than attempting a complex historical data migration.

Fishbowl Inventory pairs with QuickBooks: Two is better than one

Financial master data and chart-of-accounts activity were moved into QuickBooks, while Fishbowl became the operational engine managing production, inventory and warehouse activity.

Within Fishbowl, Thrifty Ice Cream implemented full inventory visibility across its production facility and off-site storage locations, including lot and expiry tracking designed for food-grade traceability.

Bills of materials were rebuilt and validated, enabling consistent production workflows and more accurate manufacturing outputs.

The platform also allowed the business to manage both internal components and finished products through a flexible item structure that supported customer-specific product variations without creating unnecessary complexity within the system.

Costing models including FIFO, LIFO and average costing were aligned with operational requirements, providing greater transparency into production costs and inventory value.

Why manufacturers are rethinking legacy operational systems

For many food processors, Thrifty Ice Cream’s experience reflects broader industry realities.

Legacy enterprise systems can become expensive to maintain, difficult to adapt and poorly suited to modern operations.

As companies grow, acquire new businesses or expand into new distribution channels, older systems can struggle to support evolving warehouse networks, production processes and compliance requirements.

“What we’re seeing with manufacturers and food processors is a strong move toward specialised operational platforms that automate many of the repetitive tasks that slow teams down while also giving businesses real-time visibility across production and inventory,” says Simon Jupe, APAC Managing Director at Fishbowl.

“Modern, AI-driven inventory platforms also improve traceability, reduce bottlenecks and scale much more easily as businesses grow or expand into new locations.”

Preparing for the next phase of growth

For Thrifty Ice Cream, the transition delivered more than simply replacing a system that no longer fit the business. It established the operations backbone needed to run the business independently while preparing for future expansion.

“Before considering large, single and expensive platforms, there is agility that can come with combining accounting systems with specialised AI-driven inventory and manufacturing solutions designed specifically for agile growth,” said Simon.

Free resource for food processors

To support food processors evaluating their operational systems, Fishbowl has developed a practical guide designed to help businesses recognise when it may be time to move on from outdated platforms and how to transition smoothly to modern inventory and manufacturing solutions. Download AI in Manufacturing: Benefits, Impacts, and Use Cases to learn more.