September/October 2021 - 28

THE PULSE
INDUSTRY
INSIDER
Winners of low-cost traceability awards
announced
The FDA recently announced 12 winners of the FDA New
Era of Smarter Food Safety Low- or No-Cost Tech-Enabled
Traceability Challenge.
The winning teams represent the U.S., Canada and New
Zealand. Among the 90 submissions, other teams hailed from
Australia, China, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland,
Singapore, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan.
A goal of the FDA's New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative
is to help achieve end-to-end traceability - from source to
table - throughout the food safety system. Tapping into new
technologies and integrating data streams will help to advance
the widespread, consistent implementation of traceability
systems across the food industry.
However, the affordability of such technologies, particularly
for smaller companies, can be a barrier to adopting techenabled
traceability systems. To achieve end-to-end food
traceability, accessible tracing solutions are needed.
The primary goal of this challenge has been to encourage
stakeholders, including technology providers, public health
advocates, entrepreneurs, and innovators from all disciplines
to develop traceability hardware, software or data analytics
platforms that are low-cost or no-cost to the end user.
The winning teams are:
* FarmTabs is free, downloadable software run on Microsoft
Excel that helps small and mid-size farmers manage records
for traceability and other farm-related metrics.
* Freshly is traceability and batch-tracking software designed
for small businesses, including retailers, manufacturers, and
distributors.
* HeavyConnect provides cloud-based digital traceability
and compliance documentation solutions, including an
intuitive mobile app that allows producers to capture
traceability data in the field and seamlessly share it across
the supply chain.
* ItemChain provides item-level traceability to each participant
in the food supply chain, from source to store and from
farm to fork, using Avery Dennison systems and proprietary
blockchain technology using Mastercard Provenance.
* Kezzler uses self-service portals to generate item-level
identifiers and associate homogenized datasets at the grower
level through simple mobile applications.
* Mojix uses industry standards to link traceability events
for each individual item and/or lot throughout the food
supply chain to enable a low-cost and collaborative open
data network.
26 SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 2 0 21
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* OpsSmart provides an industry-proven, cloud-based
traceability software solution to meet food safety, recall
management, and traceability needs of a complex supply
chain.
* Precise's Traceability Suite delivers efficient end-to-end
supply chain tracking to all segments of the food market by
utilizing geospatial, machine learning, and Internet of Things
(IoT) technologies.
* Roambee/GSM/Wiliot's solution uses low-cost IoT sensor
tags in combination with shipment visibility and verification
technologies to provide end-to-end traceability from farm
to plate.
* Rfider is software-as-a-service that simplifies capturing,
securing, and sharing critical event data along supply chains
all the way to consumers.
* TagOne uses a role-based data capture framework that
updates an open source blockchain platform, leverages
industry standards to ensure interoperability, and ensures
ease of use and data security.
* Wholechain is a supply chain traceability system that utilizes
blockchain technology, in collaboration with Mastercard, to
trace products back to their original source.
Peterson Farms acquires Lakewood
Organics
Shelby, Michigan-based produce processor Peterson Farms
says it will retain decision-making authority following investment
by an Abu Dahbi-based fund, and Peterson's acquisition of a
Miami juice company, Lakewood Organics.
Mubadala Capital referenced Peterson Farms in an Aug. 17,
2021 news release about the closing of its third private equity
fund, MIC Capital Partners III.
In a letter to growers the next day, Peterson Farms' CEO,
Chairman and President Aaron Peterson gave more details
about the deal.
" The Peterson Family is pleased to have partnered with
the MIC team in February 2020 on a shared investment
with the goal of continuing to grow Peterson Farms into a
dynamic, healthy-for-you, fruit-oriented platform company that
crosses into multiple sales channels (industrial, food service,
K12 & retail), " Aaron Peterson wrote in the letter, which the
company shared with Fruit Growers News, a sister publication
of Produce Processing. " In a very unique partnership setup,
the Peterson Family retained all daily and long-term strategic
decision making. I can assure you that the Peterson Family
and our senior leadership team are in firm control of the entire
organization. "
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September/October 2021

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