March/April 2019 - 7

FOOD SAFETY
mangoes. After they implemented their
blockchain solution, it took them 2.2
seconds to go back to the 2 growers
and know everything
about the product right
back to the harvest. He
was so enamored by the
results, Walmart, which
could have pushed
ahead and gone on
their own, said this is
too big for us to do on
our own - this is gamechanging.
They actually
slowed and brought on
partners - competitors
with Wegmans and
Kroger being the main
ones - and said we've got to do
this thing together. They involved
Dole and Driscoll and made a concept
to have full-blown pilots, and some
other non-produce companies were
involved as well. (Walmart recently
made this a requirement for all of its
leafy greens suppliers.)
PP: What are the biggest
challenges?
ET: PTI got a really big bump the end
of 2013, when Walmart
issued a directive to all of
their produce suppliers
saying if you want to
cont inue to service
Walmart, you need to
label your cases with
PTI-compliant
labels.
Ed Treacy
... There is a handful
of other retailers that
have made a PTI a
requirement, but we
could still use more
making it a requirement.
I do know that in talking
to people at Kroger and Wegmans with
their work on the blockchain pilot, they
would very much like to be in the same
position as Walmart, but they know they
need to put some fundamental business
processes in place in their operation
before they can take advantage of PTI
labeling and posting information to the
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COVER STORY
blockchain. Walmart had an advantage
in that because, in June 2017, they made
it a requirement that all companies
shipping fresh produce had to send them
an advancement shipment notification
(ASN), which is basically an electronic
bill of lading. ... That brings efficiency
in receiving and planning capabilities
within their distribution network.
PP: How can food producers and
shippers use PTI labels to their
advantage?
ET: My advice to anybody growing and
packaging fresh produce is to implement
PTI. There is a number of examples of
companies that have offset the cost
of the couple of cents it costs them to
label a case through reengineering their
business processes. I've seen companies,
and my recommendation, is I would
ship produce in plain brown boxes. All
the information you would typically
pay printers, the logo, the country of
origin, the products in the box, put
that on your PTI label. That way your
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March/April 2019

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