FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN EFFICIENCY
Enabling ‘farm to fork’ efficiency between supermarkets and producers With the ongoing cost of living crisis in the UK, farmers and fresh produce suppliers are under pressure to work more effectively with supermarkets to improve efficiency. Neil Baker, head of auto ID sales for Northern Europe, BIXOLON Europe GmbH, provides his insights about how labelling plays an important part in this.
Today, there remains a cost of living crisis in the UK. As a result, many retailers and supermarkets are striving to keep their costs down, so that they can avoid passing rises onto shoppers. Within this, one area that is increasingly under scrutiny for many organisations surrounds how to improve supply chain efficiency at all levels across the supply chain – from ‘farm to fork’. Additionally, farmers, fresh produce producers and the large multiples are all facing increasing pressure to improve their food provenance tracking and traceability efforts, as they manage the sale and distribution of goods to consumers. Effective systems for labelling have been created to encourage this to take place. Today the responsibility for implementing these, including label printing, falls predominantly with the grower or supplier. In 2018, British supermarkets faced scrutiny from the UK’s Grocery Code Adjudicator (GCA) for profiteering at the expense of their suppliers. At the highest level, supermarkets were reportedly fining suppliers for several reasons, including barcodes that were not compliant with their own systems. Since then, the GCA stepped in to protect producers and suppliers, and has encouraged the likes of large supermarket chains to improve their understanding of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCoP). Fast forward to 2023, 10 Downing Street hosted a UK Farm to Fork Summit. Here, the government announced that £12.5 million was being made available to support research projects that promote environmental Protecting farmers, producers and supermarkets
sustainability and resilience on farms – and a working group to bring together plant breeders, food manufacturers and retailers to agree an approach that enables products to reach consumer shelves. It also pointed out that many farmers are taking advantage of an available £168 million grant funding, that supports investments in productivity, animal health and welfare and the environment. Additionally, it has decided to further endorse the role of the GCA and its efforts in ensuring fairness in the UK food supply chain. This sees the GCA act as an independent regulator, ensuring designated retailers and supermarkets treat their direct suppliers lawfully and fairly – while maintaining compliance with its GSCoP. This has many goals, and is trying to combat variations in supply agreements, supply chain procedures and ensure faster and fairer payments for all. Ultimately, while much of its code serves suppliers, all parties concerned would benefit from familiarising themselves with it, as it would ensure that everyone operates cohesively too. Enabling transparency and traceability Another important piece for all parties to consider, as they strive to work together effectively, is how to enable the supply chain efficiency and transparency that is required to achieve the traceability and tracking requirements that supermarkets and various governments require today. This is where working with standards bodies, like GS1, to implement GS1 Standards can help. GS1’s standards, frameworks and coding systems enable retailers, farmers and fresh produce suppliers to track and record all the necessary information that enables traceability to
Neil Baker head of auto ID sales, Northern Europe
bixoloneu.com
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