Thoughts and directions on improving traceability in food retailing. Taking a process oriented approach and leveraging technology practically would be an optimal approach in progressive countries such as India.

1. technology
the retailers. For countries where
these products are not produced, it
is possible that the different supply
chain levels are accomplished in
different countries. The origins of
these products are in farms and
rearing sites that are fragmented
into organised and unorganised
segments. From there, the products
are handled by multiple intermediates
during aggregation, transportation,
processing and storage, resulting
in a complex web of producers and
intermediaries.
The products mostly enter into the
retailer’s control at collection centres
directly from farmers or product
aggregators. Stock from the collection
centres can be further aggregated at
city processing or distribution centres.
Food being the perishable item,
the supply chain management in
food retail business is the most
Traceability in Food Retailing:
vulnerable to risk factors. Let’s
explore how technology can help
the food retailers in significantly
A Buffet of Options
improving their supply chain across
different levels
By Shijo Sunny Thomas
Recent incidents in Europe have They could just change the labels to Products also come into the retailer’s
once again brought into light, the indicate that instead of 100 percent of inventory at the city processing
complex and global nature of the any other meat, the product has “x” centres directly from the suppliers.
food supply chain. Retailers being at percentage of horsemeat. Technically Retailers will have stringent quality
the customer frontline are obviously yes, but in the context of food safety standards and product attributes
susceptible to taking a hit on their this incident poses a very serious which are enforced at the collection
brand reputation due to oversight at problem. The original product had centres or at the supplier locations.
upper echelons of the supply chain. been adulterated with a cheaper This ensures that the retailer is able
It will be time till European horsemeat whose source of origin to fulfill the promise of freshness and
retailers start betting on horses again. has not been accounted for. There are quality to its customers. Suppliers,
The manner in which horsemeat cases when the horses are injected aggregators and producers are also
has trotted into the dinner tables with substances prohibited for human well aware of the product standards
of European households has left consumption and if these pose a grave that have to be complied with in order
governments, retailers and consumers risk if it enters the human food chain. to work with a particular retailer.
fuming. The predicament here is And that is just two of the many It is indeed a complex proposition to
not that horsemeat is being sold in problems that European retailers are manage the inflow of a wide variety
retail outlets, something which our grappling with today. of food products into the retail supply
Indian readers would find it hard to The larger context of the issue here chain. These products come from
believe. The problem is that other is that the food retail supply chain, a number of sources and suppliers.
meat products on retail shelves had be it vegetables or meat products, Considering these factors, maintaining
traces of horsemeat in them. In is very vulnerable and susceptible specifications, tracking and traceability
some cases, it was to the extent of to risk factors beyond the retailer’s of food products is of the highest
30 percent. Oh, then it is just a food visibility. The supply chain often runs priorities for a retailer who stocks food
labelling problem, you may think. four or five levels deep back from products. This could be a manageable
2 . images retail . April 2013

2. technology
scenario for food products which can When it comes to the actual developing standardised industry
be retailed with minimum or negligible implementation of technology, there approach, processes and guidelines
processing or value addition, such as are a plethora of options at each point related to produce traceability. The
in the case of fruits and vegetables. For of automation. There are hardware methods advocated by PTI and
those food products that are processed, devices to capture information at the practiced globally use GS1 standards.
ingredients from multiple sources points of procurement, transportation, GS1 standards have various facets
are used. The individual ingredients storage, shelving and sale. The that can be leveraged to identify the
in processed food would often lose tags used to store the products and the locations from
their traceability with each step of information can range which the products have originated.
processing. Retailers use effective from barcodes to RFID It also provides for methods to
batch and lot control mechanisms to tags. Even the barcodes encode the data at all levels of
maintain a record of the stock that is have different standards procurement and processing,
being used in the processing. and usages based on the thereby arming retailers
It is highly necessary for retailers information that is required with processing statuses and
to audit their entire food value to be tagged. The processes location information of all
chain covering activities such as driven by these devices and products within the chain.
procurement, transportation, storage, tags need to be woven together Technology is a highly
processing and sales. Managing by software applications which reliable enabler for
returns of food products will also apply various rules specific retailers looking at
need to be audited, which covers to the nature of the product, gaining control on their
supplier and customer returns, if that locations, storage mechanism food and beverage
is a practice followed by retailers.
Processes that are followed for
discarding damaged or expired food
products should also receive adequate
attention during the audit process.
Through this audit process, retailers
can immediately identify gaps or
points of vulnerability within their
food supply chain. The audit process
will also highlight opportunities for It is highly necessary for retailers to audit their
retailers to identify areas of data entire food value chain covering activities such as
capture, product labelling and process procurement, transportation, storage, processing and
improvements. sales
The business case and
implementation of technology and
information systems in the retail food and various other parameters. value chain. The food processing
chain should be looked at from multiple There will also be other applications and logistics segment in India
facets. Practicality and feasibility is in the integrated solution that track is set to receive a huge boost in
one of the key elements that should the movement of the products terms of investments both from
be considered. The extent and level within the supply chain. These the government and the private
of technology feasibility at the point applications will also perform the sector. This will result in significant
of origin will always be one of the task of generating alerts when there improvements at all levels of the
important factors in emerging countries is a breach of ambience that has been food supply chain. It is obvious that
such as India. This is due to the stipulated for the specific food product information systems will be a key
unorganised entities that exist at the or storage locations. Extensions to catalyst to the modernisation efforts.
point of origin. Other considerations are these applications can also be made Bon appétit!
the availability of modern supply chain available to logistics partners and
infrastructure that is employed during suppliers. In the event of any mishap,
storage, handling and transportation. contamination or hazard identification,
Skill level of the human resources is the applications can rapidly provide a
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
also a consideration. The methods product supply chain snapshot which
Shijo Sunny Thomas is the
and investments used to bring about a helps take appropriate decisions on
industry lead for Retail & CPG
reliable and accurate traceability within product recalls and quarantine. at Fujitsu Consulting India. He
the retail chain will also depend on One of the largest organised has worked closely with retailers
the availability of integrated solutions initiatives that have launched in the in India to conceptualise and
tailored for the local market and world is the Produce Traceability deliver technology solutions
conditions. Initiative (PTI) which aims at relevant to local needs.
April 2013 . images retail . 3