Dated: 1 August 2007 By Rainer Lutz, Marketing Manager, Market Sector RFID, NXP Semiconductors
The chain of meat products from farm to fork can be very complex. Breeding, raising, slaughtering, processing, packaging, logistics, distribution and selling are often done by different companies in different countries.
If a quality problem occurs, it is difficult to trace the way back to the origin of the problem. RFID can be a suitable and efficient way of tackling this problem, by increasing visibility and traceability along the supply chain.
RFID tags attached to an animal or a product allow it to be identified by a reader without any manual handling of the animal or product. With RFID, one can even detect all the items in a carton without opening it.
In some countries such as China, Canada, Australia, USA (Wisconsin), Uruguay, Botswana and Spain, the tagging of certain livestock is mandatory. In this case, ear tags containing an NXP Hitag IC can be used to tag animals like sheep, goats, pigs and cattle.
Similarly, RFID labels with NXP’s UCODE or ICODE ICs are used in the tagging of processed food. This helps with traceability, speeds up processes and improves efficiency all along the supply chain, enhancing the freshness of products for the end-customer.
Food with such a proof of origin along the various points of the supply chain can often be sold at a premium price.
Mistakes made in traceability are a rare occurrence, but there are definitely checks in place to ensure that these are minimized. As an added precaution, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) in Singapore constantly monitors information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other national authorities for new developments in food safety and potential threats. They also conduct random safety checks to ensure the safety of food imported into the country.
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Germany's METRO Group is making plans to open its first Metro Cash & Carry wholesale store in Kazakhstan in the summer of 2009. The Group officially agreed to the investment with the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Wednesday, a move which will extend METRO's activities to 33 countries.
Trent Ltd, the retail arm of the Tata group in India, is likely to invest around Rs 20billion ( €0.3 billion ) over the next five years in the roll out of 50 Star Bazaar hypermarket stores, according to Indian press reports.
The recent credit crunch has led all the major supermarket chains in the UK to increase promotions of cheap, unhealthy food, according to the country's National Consuner Council (NCC).
Auchan has published half year results for the first time as a result of new European regulations governing transparency. Although there has been a slow-down in mature markets, emerging markets remained buoyant for the French company and as a result sales for the first six months of 2008 were 9.4% higher than in 2007 reaching EUR18.7 billion.
Price promotions and the decision to only partially pass on food price inflation to customers have led to a downturn in second quarter margins for Ahold. Net sales for second quarter 2008 were EUR 5.8 billion, down 0.8% from the same period last year. At constant exchange rates, net sales increased by 7.3%.
Despite the credit crunch, drinks giant, Diageo reports another year of strong organic growth with net sales up 7% and operating profit up 9%. Sales rose to £8.09bn up from £7.48bn last year while sales volumes increased by about 3%.
