food Marketing - Technology 4/2023

Packaging
Protected geographical indication
(PGI) and protected designation
of origin (PDO) are official EU legal
terms which enshrine provenance in
law. And while many products cannot
meet the threshold to win PGI or PDO
status, it has become commonplace
to indicate geographical origin on
food labels (Irish Beef; Welsh Lamb;
Scottish Raspberries: Devon Custard;
Madagascan Vanilla).
Provenance really matters to
consumers because it delivers
prestige and satisfaction in perceived
or real product quality. Knowing where
it came from helps people to avoid
bad, unsafe or poor-quality products.
People want to know and believe their
beef is coming from Ireland so that
they can be sure they are not paying for
horse meat or out of date meat.
Most products may not be able to
market traceability quite so effectively
as Champagne, but it is clear that one
of the key pillars of the commercial
proposition is traceability to region.
Furthermore, if you can extend this
to identify the farm where a joint of
beef came from or the dairy producing
a particular cheese – and if this
information can also be accessed by
the consumer through a QR code on
the packaging – you are helping to
create an image of exclusivity for your
product that sets it apart from its rivals.
This type of traceability is clearly more
about marketing than product safety
– but the two things can be aligned
because the same technology can
deliver both.
assures traceability within the process.
The system instructs the operative by
displaying the plan or the recipe along
with work instructions. By scanning the
item, the operative directly records the
batch being used. In the act of weighing,
the operative follows the instruction and
records the weight taken.
In following these steps, the operative
did nothing more physically than they
did in a system without traceability
except scanning a barcode. Yet
through this one additional procedure,
it becomes easier to weigh out the
right ingredients and harder to weigh
out the wrong ingredients.
Equally important, this means that the
stock position for all the ingredients
(and their approved substitutes) will
be known in real time. Therefore,
integrated planning functionality can
calculate the exact requirements for
each ingredient and flag up a shortfall
- and an approved substitute - in
advance.
You won’t run out of the ‘right’ type of
sugar if you have the right type of ERP
system in place. What you will do is
transform a costly legal requirement
into a virtuous system of quality
assurance with a potential marketing
benefit – alchemy!
fmt
With the right ERP in place, the costs
of ensuring products can be traced
back to origin or forward to destination
can be transformed into a virtuous
system of quality assurance, product
consistency and increased efficiency
– which also automatically delivers
traceability.
Where the ERP is integrated to the
weighing scales and scanners, the
instructing, doing and recording steps in
the production process can be combined
into a single ergonomic routine which
food Marketing & Technology • August 2023 37