Track and trace

Explaining the concepts

Transparency is about knowing all participants in a supply chain, in every single tier. It is the map of a supply chain. In more complex supply chains, the entire chain might comprise fifty or more companies. Knowledge of the supply chain, with all its raw, semi-finished and finished products, offers companies lots of information that can influence inbound and outbound processes and parts of their business. Transparency data are static since they are not related to production batches. 

Traceability provides an opportunity to acquire ‘higher resolution’ data. Companies can get product related information on a batch level (origin, day of slaughter, catching method etc.). The information is dynamic: a continuous transfer of information from all participants is necessary. This also means that information for each finished product type can be different. Traceability is the ‘GPS’ on the transparency ‘map’ of a supply chain.

Ultra-fresh food sector

Traceability is mostly found in ultra-fresh food sectors focusing on meat and fish, but it is becoming more and more relevant in ranges such as fruits and vegetables, dairy and mixed products as well. 

Over the past five years, batch-based traceability solutions (like the GS1 compliant solution fTRACE) have become an established solution in the meat and fish sector. Some solutions are designed as open, standardized and extensible solutions for all food and non-food industry products. Others are developed quite proprietary. However, in a world of global connectivity and interoperability, the standardized approach seems more future-oriented.

Raw material suppliers in the meat and fish sector in particular can benefit from traceability solutions, to fulfil both statutory and food safety and sustainability requirements. Through all stages of supply chains, companies can use these solutions to transfer information in a standardized way, resulting in the exchange of high volumes of data on raw materials traded in the EU.

Since those raw materials can be used in both human and pet food products, the global solutions, like fTRACE, already have the data stock to enable the pet food industry to reap traceability benefits.

Benefits for companies

Traceability offers companies several benefits:

• Analysing and pre-checking data before processing the physical goods;
• controlling and improving internal processes;
• legal certainty for products promoted with origin or certification;
• incidents can be directly verified in the live system in terms of an issue/recall. 

Legal certainty is especially important. When promoting products made from fish or meat with statements about origin or specific certifications, such statements must be true and verifiable. Even for pet food. Traceability supports companies in meeting these legal requirements.

With end consumers becoming more demanding regarding topics such as sustainability, origin and organic production, even for pet food, traceability offers retailers and companies an opportunity to fulfil requirements and to increase consumer trust significantly. Most of the data are already available. So why not start today?