Archive for December, 2009
Emerging Food Safety Issues in 2010
The Produce Traceability Initiative is the grower-vendor answer to events like the outbreaks involving spinach and (FDA thought) tomatoes. With bar codes and radio frequency tags and ways to link all the information in the supply chain, those behind traceability want to be able to drive to the specific field, walk down the right row, and reach over and pick up whatever the problem is.
They want a system with no fuss, no muss that will prevent financially devastating recall costs and outbreaks that make more people sick. They’ve been at it for a couple of years now and the next important deadline is approaching in Oct. 2010 when it is supposed to be possible to read the labeling involved.
The industry wants FDA to enforce the so-called “one up and one down” requirements of the PTI, but not impose anything that’s not already in the plan. FDA opted to end 2009 without putting out its own traceability regulations on the table.
Lavazza Uses RFID to Track Packaging Materials, Boosting Efficiency
Italian coffee producer Lavazza and its packaging supplier, Goglio Cofibox, have implemented a radio frequency identification system that automates the replenishment of reels of packaging materials used to create Lavazza’s products, and to improve those materials’ traceability.
According to the two companies, the system—which employs EPC Gen 2 passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tags—enables just-in-time delivery of reels of printed packaging materials manufactured by Goglio Cofibox in Cadorago (near Como, Italy), and an automated process for receiving the reels at Lavazza’s facility near Turin. The technology has reduced Lavazza’s inventory of packaging, as well as the space required to store it, and provides the coffee company with real-time visibility of stock levels, says Fabio Marzorati, an industrial engineer at Goglio Cofibox who works in product development. Marzorati and Antonio Rizzi, the director of the University of Parma’s RFID Lab, presented the Lavazza project results at October’s RFID Journal LIVE! Europe 2009 conference, held near Frankfurt, Germany. The RFID Lab, Rizzi says, engineered the solution and carried out tests to assess the technology’s benefits.
Food Trends for 2010
With the new year approaching I thought it would be good to explore some of the predicted food trends for 2010. I thought that I would use the “Top 10 Food Trends for 2010″ that www.foodchannel.com put out and add my own thoughts to their predictions in some future posts. So here we go, Food Channel’s Tops 10 Food Trends for 2010. You can use the link above to head to their site and get some more information about each of their predictions.
Is clean tech the next bubble?
The past decade saw investors do a tap dance to the tune of Boom and Bust. First there was the dot-com bubble and the slew of other technological breakthroughs that came with it. Then we witnessed the supposedly invincible housing market complete a jaw-dropping boom-bust cycle. The young 21st century even delivered a notable financial bubble, as well as its inevitable bust.
Sidling along in the background were the seedlings of an industry on the verge of taking flight — alternative-energy technology.
Despite a drop in the overall volume of venture-capital deals last year, investments in clean-technology companies totalled US$8.4-billion, up nearly 40% from 2007, says a 2008 report by Cleantech Group, a San Francisco-based trade organization. In the third quarter of 2008 alone, venture capitalists poured US$2.65-billion into clean technology, a quarterly record. In the fourth quarter, they invested US$1.7-billion.
Sustainability moves up the agenda as brighter 2010 beckons: just-food
In spite of the global downturn, 2009 turned out to be an eventful year for the food industry. Economic recovery, albeit a slow and slightly faltering one, should bring equally if not more interesting times. Ben Cooper looks at what is likely to be dominating the headlines in the coming year.
As 2009 closes and the food industry prepares for a well-earned break – and a chance to consume far too much of its own product – attention inevitably turns to what might be dominating the headlines over the next 12 months.
In this diverse and unpredictable industry, soothsaying is a risky business but the latter part of the year has at least provided one no-brainer for any crystal-ball gazer. The first months of 2010 will see the resolution of the Kraft Foods-Cadbury takeover battle. Indeed, Kraft and Cadbury have even made sure we have finished the year with a cliffhanger.
Carbon Craziness
France may be the first country to impose mandatory carbon footprint labeling requirements for all consumer products. A bill will be considered in early 2010 to make reporting of the carbon footprint mandatory in France by 2011. The USDA FAS, in its report “Proposed Carbon Footprint Labeling Could Step on Trade,” looks at the trade implications of the issue.
Though it stands to impact processed food more than fresh, this move strikes me as about the most anti-consumer law that could be devised. With as much as 5% of the product cost expected to result from the reporting exercise, the law would produce nothing more than a “gee-whiz” number that most people would ignore anyway. Plus, as the USDA FAS report points out, there are numerous questions about both how the numbers that would be reported and the potential trade impact of the law.
Business forum on water, sustainability
The importance of putting the issue of water supply high on the business agenda will be the focus in an upcoming forum on water and business.
The ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), together with the Institute of Corporate Responsibility Malaysia (ICR Malaysia) and the Malaysia Association of Water (MWA), have collaborated to jointly organise a business agenda forum entittled “Business and Water: Should we be concerned?”
Food recall from filthy Elland food factory
FOOD products canned at an Elland factory are being recalled and destroyed.
Officials at the Foods Standard Agency have taken the rare step after environmental health officers found a shocking catalogue of hazards and filthy conditions at a chick-pea canning factory.
They have recalled all Pakstar Curried Chick Peas, 400g cans with ‘Best before’ dates of August 2012, September 2012, October 2012, November 2012 and December 2012.
Food Safety and Traceability in CPG Industry
In this post I will explain how the Food Safety and Traceability needs can be addressed by SAP.
How SAP can help?
Today companies must increase efficiencies, reduce costs, and ensure compliance with food regulations over the whole supply chain. Hampered by a legacy of nonintegrated systems that impede visibility and perpetuate inefficiencies, many companies recognize the need to standardize on a single platform.
SAP has the necessary features already inbuilt for handling food safety and traceability. Safety measures can be implemented in the whole process chain, right from procurement of raw materials from supplier, during production of goods in the plant till the delivery of the finished product to the customer / end consumer.
SAP can help the CPG industry with:
* Track, monitor, and trace batches and inventory
* Streamline procurement, production and sales processes
* Manage sales returns
* Enable targeted product recalls
Food Safety News Naughty List 2009
After much thought and consideration, here is the Food Safety News Naughty list for 2009:
NAUGHTY: Stewart Parnell, President of Peanut Corporation of America, for asking for nearly $1 million from his bankrupt business for his own criminal defense fund after shipping peanuts his own tests showed were contaminated with Salmonella that sickened over 700 and killed at least nine. (See “PCA Executives To Divide $875,000,” Dec 11, 2009)
Logistics sector spends little on IT: Study
Although the Indian logistics industry is growing at about 10 per cent, its investment on information technology is not keeping pace.
“The industry as a whole is at a relatively early stage of technology adoption. This is evident from the fact that capital expenditure is completely uncorrelated with (technology) adoption.
Also, there is a clear message for players in the Indian IT industry to develop cost-effective technology products and solutions that are specially targeted at small and medium-sized logistics service providers,” says a study by Kale Consultants, a global solutions provider for airline, logistics and travel industries.
Smart blood bags
Using the wrong type of blood in a transfusion could be fatal for the patient, but a new radio node attached to blood bags could prevent these mistakes occurring.
More tracking, and are we ready for CDN COOL?
Two questions for producers to ponder. How important is the enhanced traceability of cattle through the production system, to producers? It could be coming along in 2011. And secondly, is it time for COOL (Country of Origin Labeling) in Canada?
Top 10 Postings on Logistics Viewpoints in 2009
t’s that time of the year again, where we look back at the year that was and look forward to the year ahead. We formally launched Logistics Viewpoints on January 26, 2009 and thanks to all of you, our readership today is almost 5X greater than it was in February, and we’re getting an average of about 2 new email subscribers per day. What were you all reading? Below are the top ten postings (in terms of page views) so far this year:
1. Crocs: From Revolutionary Supply Chain to Almost Bankrupt
2. Walmart’s ‘Win-Play-Show’ Assortment Strategy
3. UPS Getting a Bailout (So Says FedEx)
4. A Google Approach to Supply Chain Management
5. Is it possible to accurately calculate Total Landed Costs?
6. Video Game Technology Comes to Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) Market
7. Performance-based Outsourcing in Logistics
8. Who Is The Best Logistics Service Provider (3PL)?
9. Explaining the Value of Logistics to the CEO
10. Initial Thoughts on Walmart’s Sustainable Product Index
iGEPIR, another product traceability solution
This in from my friends at GS1…Many, many mobile applications for product information coming out…
“Technology evolves and GEPIR is no exception: There is now an iPhone application called iGEPIR.
Based on a collection of interconnected databases, it collates information from approximately 1.5 million GS1 member companies.
Two GEPIR applications are now available on iTunes, to download to an iPhone.
· iGepir Premium
· iGepir Lite
Have you ever wanted to know which company makes a particular product? Where the company is? What numbers the company has to identify its products? iGepir Premium answers all of these questions.
Fish traceability system offers safety model
In response to wide-spread public concerns about the safety of food products, many industrialized nations have begun imposing stringent measures to safeguard the health of their citizens. For Taiwan, this means that its food product exporters will need to quickly come up with a way of proving that their goods meet these tough standards.
Organic RFID could reduce waste in food transport
Research at the University of Manchester is developing organic RFID tags to monitor food in the retail supply chain and better manage fresh produce.
The project will deliver a printable, organic proof-of-concept when it concludes at the end of 2011, says Bruce Grieve, director of the Syngenta Sensors University Innovation Centre at Manchester.
Syngenta then hopes to collaborate with an industrial partner to produce the proven device on a commercial scale.
2.45GHz Active Temp Sensing RFID Tag
GAO RFID Asset Tracking has launched its active temperature sensing RFID tag operating at the frequency of 2.45GHz.
It is intended for identification and location of items in applications such as cold logistics such as in the transportation of food or medicine.
This tag has the ability to collect temperature data in real time and transmit the data to a reader for recording.
Brazil – Supermarkets demand traceability
The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (Abras) announced on Monday, December 7, the Abras Program for Certification of Responsible Beef Production Chain, an initiative that aims to contribute to the improvement of production practices in the industry, addressing environmental, social and health issues.
“The idea is to meet consumers’ wish of buying a product that does not originate in areas of deforestation and is not committed to other social issues, still part of the country.
Brazilian consumers that appreciate a good barbecue can be sure that the meat found in supermarkets is produced with environmental responsibility,” said the president of Abras, Sussumu Honda.
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