4 ways to build digital traceability into your food processing business

3.5 min read

The quest to find efficiencies in your food processing business can be a continuous challenge. Still, artificial intelligence may offer opportunities to put machine learning to work for you, especially in country-of-origin labelling, supply chain visibility, and other quality assurance measures.

AI and then traceability via AI may seem daunting, but experts agree that multiple meaningful changes can help drive implementation.

Embrace the digital world

FCC Senior Economist Amanda Norris watches food and beverage sales, margins, forecasts and other critical data across the country. She says food and beverage processors are part of the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence. Having a program to filter and sort vast amounts of data into a usable format is incredibly useful.

“The AI gives you a sense of what the trends in consumer demand are, and, in our sales, what is not trending anymore,” Norris says. This kind of AI-generated data is also helpful for forecasting in areas such as product innovation and the ingredients people want to see in the products they purchase.

Digital traceability makes your company visible, verifiable and viable.

Traceability continues to gain momentum across all consumer demographics, Norris says, as consumers seek ways to understand better where their food products come from, how they were produced, and to verify any health- or quality-assurance-related claims a product may make. It makes it easy to communicate with your customers.

“The more aware and more documentation you have, the better,” Norris says. Being able to verify claims through documentation ultimately serves your business but also builds more trust from your consumers.

Lisa Bishop-Spencer, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity, agrees, adding that digital traceability makes your company visible, verifiable and viable.

“Blockchains are not just about operations, they’re about reputation, resilience and market confidence,” Bishop-Spencer says.

For food processors exporting to the United States and Mexico, AI traceability is an invaluable asset for digital paperwork.

Norris and Bishop-Spencer encourage processors not to get stuck on the idea of implementing AI into their business. Instead, begin with these four business practices to make small, meaningful steps to both improve and leverage traceability in your operations.

1. Go digital

Wholly digitize your business if you haven’t already. Pen and paper may be valuable for notetaking, but leave nothing financial or business-critical in the analog world, including all distributors’/suppliers’ pertinent information.

“The most important thing is just ensuring your data is managed, up-to-date and in a usable, consistent format so that you can actually draw insights from it,” Norris says. “The information and the traceability are only as good as the inputs that go into it.”

Additionally, if you ever decide to sell your business, a digitized ledger organized with centralized data is very attractive to any prospective buyer.

2. Network

Bishop-Spencer encourages processors to seek out their trusted partners. Include industry associations which represent the commodities that may be in your product, supply chain partners, research institutions and technology providers who understand the realities of food processing.

Norris adds that involvement with your province’s local food and beverage association is an opportunity to learn from others who may have gone before you, navigating rules, regulations and consumer markets. Be humble and ready to learn.

3. Do an on-site audit

There are almost always cost savings to be found in areas like lighting, heating, and other things that can be controlled by AI, not only in greater cost savings but also in quality assurance claims for sustainable production practices.

4. Build trust

Examine existing tools, such as certifications you may already be eligible for and audits, to build public trust and traceability systems.

“Treat new technologies as part of your trust infrastructure,” Bishop-Spencer says. “The goal is to make trust practices more visible, credible and resilient, rather than focusing on a single technology in isolation.”

She adds that the ability to improve the integrity of what you produce can be a competitive advantage for your product and can demonstrate the standards and commitments you already uphold, from food safety to sustainability to traceability.

“That reputation to be resilient when things change and trace it all allows us to meet those consumer expectations with transparency and accountability, which goes a long way in the minds of the people who buy and consume our products.”

Traceability is a net positive for a food/beverage processor. As technology evolves, it’s important to keep up to maintain the integrity and viability of your business.

Article by: Trevor Bacque

Consumer Trends & Innovation Marketing & Sales