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Traceability systems enable information to be captured throughout the farm and along the supply chain, tracing the path of food from farm to consumer.
Cherry Growers Australia is collaborating with Agriculture Victoria to conduct a major innovative pilot project to strengthen on-farm traceability of cherries for high-value export markets.
The two-year pilot project, funded by the Victorian Government, took place during the 2022 and 2023 cherry harvesting seasons and aimed, in the first year, to develop on-farm traceability and, in the second year, to build, diversify and protect exports by developing traceability from producer to consumer. The technology developed has the potential to be used throughout the cherry sector in the future.
The project team is implementing new traceability systems, including labelling and integration with cold chain traceability, to help maintain and enhance safety and quality for consumers and leverage the value of Australian export brands.
RFID Systems
During year 1 of the pilot project, the project team implemented RFID systems to test traceability on the farm. These RFID systems keep track of the fruit picked in the orchard, received and processed in the packing shed and shipped to fulfil customer orders. This automation of traceability brings great efficiency and accuracy to cherry production, giving our industry the opportunity to grow in future.
QR Code
At the heart of Year 2 of the CGA traceability pilot project is a small QR code with big power.
Each GS1 Digital Link-enabled QR code label is unique and serialised, enabling automatic identification of each package and data sharing with all companies in the supply chain. Everyone, from grower to consumer, can authenticate the precise origin of the food and interact with the label by scanning a smartphone on an open platform.
Scan the QR code and see all the product details!
Resources
The CGA invites members of the supply chain and the horticultural community at large to help raise awareness of the importance of traceability on farms and in the cherry supply chain to increase scanning rates throughout the supply chain up to the consumer and, in fact, strengthen future export capacity.
The organisation produced several resources to help partners in the supply chain to take on board the results of the pilot project and to deal with traceability technology.
Click here to watch all the resources
A calculator to analyse costs and benefits
This traceability cost-benefit analysis calculator was developed to help producers and processors assess the feasibility of purchasing traceability systems. The tool estimates the return on investment (ROI) based on data provided by the user regarding the costs and benefits of purchasing a new traceability system. The accuracy of the estimated results depends on the quality of the information provided by the user on the Inputs page.
This tool was developed by Agriculture Victoria in collaboration with stakeholders from the table grape, citrus and cherry sectors, the logistics sector, traceability solution providers and GS1 Australia.
Click here to use the calculator
Source: Cherry Growers Australia
Images: Cherry Growers Australia
