Congdon sees it as the way of the future, especially for
suppliers like Sun Parlor Honey whose customers include not
only small retailers and individual consumers but also bigger
processors and retailers.
"If you don't have some kind of program in place, you're
just not going to be in the marketplace for those companies
anymore," he predicts. "It's inevitable that our
industry's going to have to have systems in place to prove
traceability."
A traceability system also enables Congdon to prove his honey
is 100 per cent Canadian, distinguishing it from imported
products.
With funding from OMAFRA, Sun Parlor Honey worked with a
consultant to replace its existing paper-based system for
hive maintenance, honey extraction and bottling records with
a more comprehensive and efficient electronic one.
The first step was barcoding and lot coding all the raw materials
the company uses, including containers, lids and even the
beehives themselves. Handheld scanners allow employees to
scan that information - both in the plant and in the field
- and download it to Apitrack, a software program specifically
designed for the beekeeping industry.
The result is faster access to hive records, streamlined
hive management and fewer errors in recording information
about Sun Parlor's 1,600 hives.
At other end of the production process, a new point-of-sale
system in the on-farm store tracks the honey that goes out
the door. The system also means that should Sun Parlor Honey
ever need to issue a recall, employees can quickly identify
the lots in question and contact the customers who bought
them.
That's particularly important for on-site sales, where many
customers bring their own containers to fill. Until Sun Parlor
Honey launched its traceability program, the company had no
way to track the product sold that way. Now when customers
bring their own containers, a lot code label is created that
gets stuck right on the jar or bucket. If a recall occurs,
that code immediately reveals whether their honey is affected.
"What we're trying to do is have traceability from the
honeybee colony right through to the bottle that you see on
the shelf," Congdon explains.
For Sun Parlor Honey, however, the biggest benefits of a
traceability system lie in the field. "You can track
each colony and where those colonies moved to, so it will
give us a new management tool," says Congdon.
If the bees in a particular hive die off, for example, he
can look at the data to pinpoint areas where there might be
a problem and make management decisions that hopefully will
avoid losses in the future.
Congdon predicts Sun Parlor Honey's system will soon be a
model for beekeepers large and small across the province,
helping them not just to manage their hives better, but to
create more safety and transparency within the food chain.
A sweet result indeed for Ontario consumers.
Traceability brings benefits:
By implementing a traceability system, Sun Parlor Honey:
Figure 1: Tom and Tracey
Congdon, Co-owners, Sun Parlor Honey Ltd.
