International trade in food commodities will continue to increase and the complex food supply chains make adulteration detection and traceability a technical, logistical and financial challenge. There is no magic solution for adulteration testing, but NIR spectroscopy in combination with chemometrics appears to be an efficient first choice for testing incoming raw materials and ingredients in the food production. However, in order to realize its full potential, it is necessary to move away from the current thoughts at the Parnassus, namely the targeted approach. This review will focus on the exploitation of the capability of NIR spectroscopy to fingerprint incoming raw materials and ingredients as an integrated part of the industry's self-monitoring program typically called process analytical technology.