DUBLIN, CA - With factors like food waste and safety looming in the industry, technological solutions are being implemented more and more. iTradeNetwork, one of the leading global providers of supply chain management and intelligence solutions, announced a pilot program, offering the newly-enhanced iTracefresh traceability suite free of charge to 2,000 of the food and beverage industry’s most prolific perishables suppliers. The offer is an important leap toward broad-scale, industry-wide traceability and creating the world’s safest, most transparent food supply chain.
“We need to take steps to minimize the harmful effects of recalls for all parties—consumers, growers, retailers, and the industry as a whole,” commented Rhonda Bassett-Spiers, CEO. “By offering a year of traceability solution for free, iTrade will foster greater supply chain visibility, optimize product receiving, improve product shelf life and quality, enable more efficient recalls, boost brand loyalty, and ultimately usher in a supply chain we can all trust.”
According to a press release, 48 million Americans get sick every year from food-borne pathogens, and every year there are roughly 700 FDA-managed recalls. As a result, the industry suffers an average economic loss of $10 million per recall, and only 33 percent of consumers now trust the safety of their food. Everyone agrees that industry-wide traceability is a priority, but it hasn’t yet been propelled by a catalyst with the scope and reach to make it a practical reality. Enter iTrade.
“iTradeNetwork has been around for 20 years,” said Dale Slaughenhaupt, CTO. “Over the years, we’ve built the industry’s largest network of retailers, distributors, grower-shippers, food manufacturers, operators, and logistics providers. This wide reach puts us in a very unique position to take meaningful strides toward industry-wide traceability. The offer will spark real change that will produce a ripple effect throughout the industry.”
iTracefresh’s mobile application will allow growers and shippers to trace their products from field to fork, automate and speed up product receiving, improve shelf life and product quality, simplify substitutions, and ultimately ensure food safety by giving participants complete transparency into every step of a product’s journey.
This traceability data will be tied to other data on the iTrade Platform, including purchase order data within iTrade’s Order Management System, freshness analytics from the iTradeFresh module, and logistics data from iTrade’s soon-to-be-released logistics module. It will also populate directly into the iTrade Blockchain, allowing buyers and suppliers real-time access to downstream activities in the supply chain as well as the opportunity to take perishable analytics to the next level.
During the first phase of the offer, iTrade will provide its traceability suite free-of-charge to suppliers on its platform who grow commodities susceptible to food safety events. To remove any barriers to capturing traceability data as quickly as possible, each pilot customer will also receive a free hardware package of 2 mobile devices, a printer, and a field kit to get them started. They will also receive a publicity package that promotes their company as “certified safe” to buyers via press releases, case studies, website mentions, sales collateral, and more. After the pilot program, the offer will be extended to 2,000 more suppliers, ranging from small, remote farms to large farming operations.
Technological solutions like those at iTradeNetwork create endless opportunities for us to tighten up the supply chain, boosting profits and avoiding waste. To keep up with the industry’s advancements, keep reading AndNowUKnow.
