One of the big worries about the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, which will mandate that food be traceable, has been that while large fresh produce organizations should find it relatively easy and affordable to implement and use, small growers will find compliance and the economics of it overwhelming. That problem, say critics, will produce gaps in the system and force some small farmers out of business. Unless everyone is using the same traceability system, there can be no standard.
But it seems entrepreneurial people often find ways to solve problems like this. In fact, there appears to be an example of this in an article published by The Californian, carrying the headline, “Top 10 Produce LLC plans to help growers put barcodes on their food.” This doesn’t mean we can vouch for the company and we don’t have any business relationship with them or interest in their solution, but it does sound like they have a good idea. In a nutshell, according to John Bailey, executive director of Top 10 Produce LLC in Salinas, they are saying small fresh produce growers can get GS1 compliant for short money.
“The service we are providing is access to GS1 traceability and assistance in its implementation. Our people are trained to use the system and do all the number assignments for our clients,” said Bailey, adding that Top 10-labled produce is now in stores. “For those who sign up with us prior to Jan. 1, 2010, the annual fee is $180.”
Problem solved?
Filed under: GS1 Tagged: | GS1, Track & Trace
Thanks for writing about our company.
Our company solves the headache for small growers but we only work with independent growers who own or lease the land where the produce is grown and who oversee the operation personally. Also, we limit the amount that any single grower can sell under our label to $1 million total per year to even the playing field between larger and smaller growers. All growers are welcome but we are interested in supporting smaller local growers specifically.
I appreciate your careful read of our website. We are very proud of what we are doing and we appreciate the recognition from someone who understands the intricate details of the GS1 system.
FYI – We are now a GS1 US Certified Solutions Partner. http://barcodes.gs1us.org/dnn_bcec/Default.aspx?tabid=502
Hey,
The Californian archived the article you linked to. Is there any way you could replace that link with one of these?
http://www.growingproduce.com/production/traceability/