With the onset of new supply chain regulations, the rising cost of recalls and the increase in counterfeit products, food and beverage processors seek brand protection solutions. According to PMMI, “the average cost of a recall for a food company is around $10 million, indirect costs, business interruption, brand damage and lost sales, this is driving food and beverage suppliers toward more track and trace in order to better trace accountability for losses.” With the Listeriosis outbreak in 2017 regulation R962 was reviewed and amended which resulted in regulation R638 coming in to effect and has seen minimum hygiene requirements become stricter if you prepare, transport, handle or sell food you not only have to comply with the new regulations but have a traceability system and recall procedure in place and keep the applicable records for a period of at least 6 months.
Seven percent of products found in grocery stores contain fraudulent ingredients as well as counterfeiting experiencing an increase in certain products such as honey, olive oil, fish, coffee and vinegar. Brand protection solutions currently available include RFID, IoT monitoring solutions, item-level serialization, as well as overt and covert codes. Included in these solutions we can offer HAACP food-grade visible and invisible ink as well as laser engraving directly onto fresh produce. Consumers today are more aware than ever about where their food has come from and how it’s being handled right across the supply chain, we are seeing a movement towards consumers being able to scan the code on the items and authenticate products, creating consumer confidence in the products and brand or helping the consumer to connect with the journey of their food from “farm to fork” through a kiosk at a retail outlet.
Smart packaging technologies such as RFID are on the rise, used on food cartons, beverage bottles and other containers, although RFID has been around for decades, it has quickly gained traction in recent years due to improved read rates, new industry standards, lower system costs, and greater solution reliability. In fact, IDTechEx predicts that the RFID market will reach $18.68 billion by 2026. That growth is across all industries, including food and beverage manufacturing and processing. RFID packaging technology is designed to increase the security of food products and facilitate traceability.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is poised to have a major impact on the food supply chain – all the way from the farm to the individual buying food from a retail outlet. Farm to Fork IoT is the way one can link the information about produce from before it is even planted and up until it is about to be used or consumed by the end consumer. Basically, this will mean that the environment and conditions at the time of planting are recorded and placed in a database and all the information about the farm or location is added to the database through the growing life of the produce. So, on the day of planting, what was the conditions of the soil, the temperatures, the water content in the soil, etc. At the time of harvesting, the combination of the IoT, as well as the history of the specific growth, is used to start the visible or batch traceability of the product
Currently, fruit and vegetables are batch identified through the containers that carry them. Moves coming for serialized product to GS1 SGTIN standards. The objective of the GS1 Global Traceability Standard is to assist organisations and industries in the design and implementation of traceability systems based on the GS1 system of standards. The GS1 GTS is intended for use across end-to-end supply chains and is relevant to all events that span the lifecycle of a traceable object
Fresh produce or products can be marked with either covert, overt or forensic codes, technology within our portfolio for HAACP food-grade inks can either be visible or invisible and are a first of its kind containing FDA approved food grade solvents, resins and dyes, in a recent study we did we found that consuming a slice of cake with edible ink printed rice paper is the equivalent of consuming around 200 apples with the same food dye printed on the product. Alternatively, we can laser engrave directly onto the skin of products and produce such as sweet potatoes, gem squash, butternut as well as perishables such as bread, thick-skinned fruits, eggshells or edible, invisible on-food traceability solution which is an effective, efficient and low-cost system, using FDA approve DNA barcodes which can trace the food and not the packaging. These solutions enable producers and processors the ability to protect their brand and reduce food waste and recall costs.
Consumer perceptions and a high-profile product recall can make or break a food brand. The damage, if left unchecked, can come back and haunt a company for years to come. Traceability enables products to be made visible across the supply chain and while marking of the products is important for brand protection, food safety is just as important, contamination is a food safety issue that can have an incendiary effect on a food company’s reputation. With today’s social media culture and 24-hour news reporting, a single contamination incident can make national headlines almost instantly. The reputational and financial consequences can be devastating. When choosing your inspection technology such as rejections systems, metal detectors, vision systems, check weighers and x-rays systems It’s important to look beyond the upfront costs and consider the Overall Equipment Effectiveness within your productions line to ensure that non-compliant products are removed from the supply chain.
Production Packaging Systems provides packaging and inspection and quality control equipment for farmers to ensure that the product they deliver complies with all relevant standards and regulations and gives the consumer peace of mind that the product meets their standards and requirements.
TracePack specializes in the sale of equipment to mark, code or label products dependent on your needs as well as track it, scan it, verify and authenticate it throughout the farm to fork process.
Informed Decisions uses IoT, analytics and AI, Farming can drive greater efficiencies and more accurate automation than ever. Farm to retail traceability, visibility and monitoring of supply chain environmental conditions mean retailers, restaurants and consumers have access to proof of conditions and accountability.
Traceability Solutions is the leader in the field of marking, identification, and traceability. Our solutions give our clients brand protection, accountability, authentication, traceability and many more vitally important business requirements.
Mitas Corporation can provide a very comprehensive solution for traceability, authentication and brand protection using world-class and industry-leading solutions.
Discover more at https://www.mitascorp.com/
