Produce Traceability

Over the last ten years most people have ditched their land lines and gone strictly to cell phones. With all the irritants associated with being a cell phone owner, shockingly large cell phone bills that sneak up on you for one, in all fairness there are upsides too; beyond even the obvious of being able to contact nearly anyone, anytime, anywhere. In 2008 eighty percent of consumers surveyed said they would like country of origin labels on produce, over fifty percent said they would like to use their cell phones to scan bar codes to see “date of packing”. Both have now transpired, with consumers regularly scanning bar codes on certain produce items at the grocery store to find out when and where it was picked. This brings focus on The Produce Traceability Initiative, the sometimes controversial industry led effort to move the supply chain to a common standard for electronic produce traceability by the end of 2012. PTI has been designed to treat all sizes of growing operations the same. One grower states, “it could be great for smaller producers because it knocks down a barrier they would probably face for gaining market access and making sales”. Could be, only time will tell.