Fonterra’s world-leading traceability system a first for Sri Lanka
View(s):People around the world now more than ever want to know where their food comes from and how safely it is made. In this context, New Zealand dairy co-operative Fonterra is leading the way as the first dairy company globally to implement a system that can electronically trace its products anywhere in the world within minutes. As part of this global commitment to boost food safety and quality standards, Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka has introduced this world-class electronic traceability system, called ‘Trace’, in Sri Lanka – a first for the nation.
Details of raw materials, packing materials and ingredients are sent to Trace by lab technicians after conducting mandatory acceptance tests.
In a media release, Managing Director of Fonterra Brands Sri Lanka and the Indian Subcontinent, Sunil Sethi said, “The theme of this year’s World Food Safety Day celebrations ‘Food Safety, Everyone’s Business’ echoes our approach: We believe food safety and quality is the responsibility of everyone in our organisation – from when dairy leaves our farms all the way to consumers around the world. Fonterra believes it is essential that food safety is integrated into every part of our daily lives and our traceability system is the platform we use globally to guarantee this, creating value for our consumers based on trust.”
Two examples of how the traceability system works include:
New Zealand: Using the batch number, Fonterra can track a pack of Anchor milk powder right back to the New Zealand farm where the milk was collected. The system gives a view of the product’s journey from raw milk throughout the production process, including details of ingredients, shipping, logistics, and storage details up to the point of distribution.
Sri Lanka: The product journey of a packet of Anchor Newdale flavoured milk or yoghurt can be tracked using its batch number from the Fonterra local milk collection centre in Sri Lanka to the point it arrives at the factory in Biyagama, through production, packing and processing and onwards to distribution.
Mr. Sethi further explained how Fonterra has converted its world-leading traceability system over the years with significant investment in technology. The system has been developed in accordance with the GS1 Global Traceability Standard, which is adhered to by world-class supply chains internationally.
“We have always been able to track our products through the value chain manually. However, the new Trace system gives us the ability to do it at a much faster pace. Our teams are now even more empowered to protect the safety and quality of our products through the Trace system. We have undertaken five months of extensive training and development involving more than 10 team members, including core food safety and quality personnel, plant managers, warehouse executives and shift leads, including a two week knowledge-sharing session in New Zealand to enhance our employees’ expertise in product traceability,” he said.