Our Food Traceability blog series part 7 is from Tejas Bhatt, one of our guest speakers at our Food Traceability Summit that is taking place right here in Brighton, Michigan on August 19th. The original source is from “A Guidance Document on The Best Practices in Food Traceability, Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, Vol. 13, pp. 1074-1103 by Jianrong Zhang and Tejas Bhatt”. We are breaking down the document into different blogs leading up to the event. This section talks about the processed food chain. If you missed part six on the processed food chain, you can find the link here.
Produce
This section describes the typical supply chain for the produce sector as well as develops a specialized CTE/KDE framework for this sector.
Supply chain
As shown above, the most likely groups of stakeholders involved in the production and distribution of fresh produce are presented.
Specialized CTE-KDE framework
Grower KDEs
- Commodity
- Variety
- Harvest Date and Time
- Product Identifier (unique code assigned to the particular product)
- Harvesting Field Lot Number
- Harvesting Crew Name
- Harvest or Production Lot Quantity/Weight (pounds or tons)
- Grower name
Packer KDEs
Harvest side:
- Grower Name
- Commodity
- Variety
- Harvest Date and Time
- Product Identifier (unique code assigned to the particular product)
- Harvesting Field Lot Number
- Harvest/Production Lot Quantity/Weight (pounds or tons)
Packing side:
- Commodity
- Variety
- Product Identifier (unique code assigned to the particular product)
- Product/Pack Style, Size, Quality
- Packing Date and Time
- Packing Lot
- Pallet Tags/Case Tags
- Shipping Manifest
- Detail Pallet Tags on Shipment
- Packer Name/Facility
- Packing Lot Quantity/Weight
Distributor KDEs
Packing side:
- Shipping Manifest
- Pallet Tags/Case Tags
- Commodity
- Variety
- Product Identifier (unique code assigned to the particular product) (GTIN)
- Product/Pack Style, Size, Quality
- Detail Pallet Tags on Shipment
- Packing Date and Time
- Packer Name and Location
- Packing Lot Quantity/Weight
Distribution side:
- Commodity
- Variety
- Product Identifier (unique code assigned to the particular product)
- Product/ Pack Style, Size, Quality
- PU Number (Pick Up number or Order Number; normally the identifier number for the sale transaction from the vendor)
- Customer Name
- Customer PO Number
- BOL
- Shipping Quantity/Weight
- Pallet Tags/Case Tags
- Shipping Date/Time
- Detail Pallet Tags on Shipment
Wholesale KDEs (the intermediary between the grower/distributor and retailer/restaurant)
Distribution side
- PU Number
- PO Number
- BOL
- Distributor Name
- Commodity
- Variety
- Product Identifier (unique code assigned to the particular product)
- Product/Pack Style, Size, Quality
- Receiving Date and Time
- Quality Control Information
- Pallet /Case Tags
Customer side
- Customer PO
- Order No
- Commodity
- Variety
- Product Identifier (unique code assigned to the particular product)
- Product/Pack Style, Size, Quality
- Wholesale BOL
- Shipping Date and Time
- Shipping Quantity/Weight
- Pallet Case Tags
Repacker KDE (an entity that takes prepacked produce and repacks it into different configurations)
Repacker Side
- Work Order
- Input Lot Numbers (BOL, PU Numbers, and others)
- Input Product/Pack Style, Size, Quality
- Output Product/Pack Style, Size, Quality
- Commodity
- Variety
- Product Identifier (unique code assigned to the particular product)
- Loss Report
- Pallet/Case Tags
Special considerations
- Growers/packers might have direct access to POS customers through partnerships, thus that scenario does not include the need for a distribution entity or any other 3rd party in the delivery of product.
- In any given transaction, there may be 2 or more entities involved but which do not receive or take possession of the product. For example, brokers may buy product from Distributor A and sell it to Customer X, but the product may ship directly from Distributor A. For tracking purposes, the events need to be considered, since different PU or PO numbers may be involved.
- Repackers may run several lots from different growers/distributors in a single repack, creating a commingling situation.
- A unified naming convention for a product could be very useful to homogenize product names across the distribution chain.
- Homogeneous tracking information capabilities (pallet tags/case tags) may also be very useful, especially for traceability in wholesale and terminal market operations.
