How to increase traceability in the food industry with the help of plastic pallets?

Published on 2019-08-13

When we talk about the food industry there is a fundamental factor that always worries both food producers, supermarkets and restaurants and consumers for safety reasons.

We refer to the traceability, tracking and monitoring of edible products throughout the entire supply, transport, and distribution chain.

And it is that knowing the origin, provenance, quality control of the food, what ingredients were used in each product or even if they were obtained in a sustainable way or not, is an aspect that is key, since collecting that information facilitates, for a On the other hand, that most of the food arrives healthy and fresh to its final destination and on the other hand, if it were not, that others that may arrive in poor condition be identified and quickly removed from sale. However, ensuring the traceability of products and improving food safety is not a simple process.

Therefore, how could we improve traceability in the food industry? What guidelines should be followed, especially in the logistics area of ​​the sector to achieve this objective? If you want to find out more about what type of measures to apply, take good note of the advice that we offer below at Naeco, previously Nortpalet!

Actions to improve the traceability of food

Throughout the value chain of food products, different exchanges of goods take place in which food producers, packaging and pallet manufacturers, supply and transport managers, distribution centers, supermarkets or points of sale, to focused staff participate. in the cleaning and disinfection of the pallets that transport fruits, vegetables, and other food.

Undoubtedly, many professionals involved in the chain, a fact that makes it difficult to achieve always correct, infallible and safe traceability. For that reason, we are going to present some of the measures that we recommend carrying out to achieve a complete monitoring of food. This requires:

• Design methodologies that improve coordination and communication. Correct communication at all levels and between all agents provides a greater degree of transparency at each point in the chain, but how to achieve it? The first important step would be to communicate and develop common standards and practices with suppliers to improve traceability in the food supply chain. Second, knowing how to enhance communication with partners and customers is also key. Identifying, for example, important data about products and batches used with retailers or making the customer aware of the history and origin of the food they buy provides valuable, useful, and highly effective information.

• Develop a transparent database. Most warehouses and processing centers in the food supply chain are usually equipped with a warehouse management system or an inventory management system to be able to track such inventory and its performance. However, greater transparency is also needed in the information regarding the sources and handling of food to increase traceability in the food industry.

• Create a reporting system to alert the company of possible failures. It would be appropriate to implement a reporting scheme to share problems that may arise along the food distribution chain with the company or organization in charge of food custody. This will allow compromised food to be intercepted before it reaches consumers.

• Apply identification systems to certify the quality of the products. They are often used from classic barcodes to much more sophisticated and intelligent RFID technologies. Today there are labels that can be personalized and made of waterproof materials.

• Adapt the supply chain to Industry 4.0. It is important to take advantage of the technologies that currently exist to guarantee the correct traceability of food. One option would be to apply RFID on plastic pallets, that is, devices that allow remote control and identification of each of the packages. When it comes to using RFID chips to track food products, plastic pallets are the best logistics solution as they allow the device to be perfectly embedded with the guarantee that the pallet does not break. In this way the traceability process is not interrupted and therefore the identification, control and monitoring of the merchandise is guaranteed.

• Use plastic pallets that ensure hygiene when transporting food. It is necessary to have these logistics solutions to transport food in a safe way, since plastic pallets, for example, are an option prepared to keep fresh, perishable and highly sensitive agri-food products in good condition from the first collection phase, during transport until the last and subsequent sale to the public. Its material prevents parasites, bacteria, or fungi from nesting with the risk of their passing into the product.

Conclusion

The use of plastic pallets throughout the supply, transport and distribution chain contributes to achieving growing traceability in the food industry and, therefore, being an efficient and economical logistics proposal for the sector in general and for your business.

Do you want your food company to also improve and increase its traceability with the help of plastic pallets? At Naeco, previously Nortpalet, we develop custom solutions, we serve directly from the factory, we deliver immediate from stock and we also offer volume discounts. If you want more information and personalized technical advice, do not hesitate to contact us.