Food Service Execs Say Traceability is Priority

Supply chain traceability is becoming increasingly important particularly for companies in the food and beverage sector and their customers.

In fact, more than three quarters (76 percent) of food service professionals recently polled by Voxware said that traceability is a priority for their companies.

The voice of the consumer appears to be getting louder. Nearly a third (31 percent) said their customers ask either frequently or urgently about plans on compliance, and more than half (52 percent) said their customers are asking about traceability occasionally. In addition, nearly three-fourths of respondents (72 percent) said they are either somewhat likely or very likely to adopt some traceability standards in the near future.

But for businesses, the expense of implementing traceability processes remains a significant challenge.

Not surprisingly, most survey participants (57 percent) said that cutting costs remains their top priority over the next 12 months. Only 10 percent said traceability was number one on their corporate agenda.

Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of respondents (93 percent) agree that outbound traceability data should be captured at the point of the pick, although there is no consensus on the best technique for capturing the data. Over half (55 percent) said that utilizing voice, in some cases combined with scanning, is the best technique for outbound data capture.

From both a food safety and risk management perspective, traceability is becoming a business necessity. In the food supply chain, the ability to track distribution is critical so that recalls can be accurate and efficient.