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Advantage Traceability
Profile: Sunshine Pickles
Traceability
Provides Peace of Mind
Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. So when more
and more Canadian asparagus processors shut up shop in the 1990s,
leaving growers with fewer and fewer markets, John and Claudia
Jaques were forced to find a solution to their declining sales.
The answer came in the form of salt, vinegar, and just the right
blend of garlic and herbs. The Thamesville farmers launched Sunshine
Pickles - an on-farm enterprise to convert fresh asparagus into
specialty pickles.
From a modest start in 1996, the company quickly grew and expanded
into other vegetables. Soon they needed a dedicated processing
plant to meet demand from grocery chains, independent stores and
restaurant suppliers, particularly in Alberta and B.C.
Figure 1: Claudia Jaques,
President, Sunshine Pickles
Sunshine Pickles installed:
- A server to connect the company's computers
- A customized Microsoft Access database application
- Record-keeping changes to track all inputs through production
to shipping
- Zebra direct thermal-thermal transfer bar code printer
- A high speed lot code printer for jars
What made their products such a hit? "We try to keep them
as natural as possible, just like Grandma used to make,"
explains president Claudia Jaques. Their traditional pickled
asparagus, beans, beets, carrots and garlic contain no additives
or preservatives, and the company produces a 100% organic line
as well.
In 2007, the success of the thriving family business earned
Sunshine Pickles a Premier's Award for Agri-Food Innovation
Excellence.
It was that same spirit of innovation that prompted the Jaques
to participate in the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food
and Rural Affairs' Traceability Pilot Project. Traceability
is designed to help food growers and processors track vital
information at each stage of production and distribution.
For the Jaques, it offered an opportunity to expand and computerize
their existing recall program and meet national Can-Trace data
standards. Up until then, they had been able to track their
final products, but not individual inputs.
"We wanted to be able to incorporate the whole farm and
both our lines of pickles," explains Claudia. "The
program helped us tremendously."
Working with a consultant, they started right at the source,
designing a system where each skid of asparagus they harvest
is assigned a lot number that follows it from field all the
way to the final product. A letter "P" at the beginning
of the number identifies asparagus destined for pickling, distinguishing
it from that headed for fresh markets.
Similarly, all the other inputs, from vegetables to spices to
jars and lids are assigned lot numbers when they arrive on the
farm. Revised recipe batch sheets capture all the extra information,
while a new server connects computers in the office and the
processing barn so that information can be entered on the spot,
using a customized Microsoft Access database.
Implemented in May 2008, the new system successfully passed
the test of peak asparagus season, when more than 40 staff put
in long shifts to harvest and process the year's crop.
Although traceability took significant time and energy to set
up, Sunshine Pickles is now reaping the benefits of that investment,
including more production information at the touch of a key
and better order management.
"When you can see all the extra data that you can get
from it, you know that it's worth it," says Claudia.
In the future, they plan to add another computer in the warehouse
and link the system to their financial software to achieve even
more efficiency.
To date, the Jaques have never had to test the system with an
actual recall. If a problem ever arose, however, they could
track it back to the specific input and lot number in a matter
of minutes and identify other product lots that might be affected.
For example, if the culprit were a particular spice, Sunshine
Pickles could notify not only the customers who bought the pickles
in question but also the supplier who provided that spice. In
turn, the spice company could then notify other manufacturers
who might be affected.
It's a much faster and more comprehensive system than the manual
one they used to rely on - and it helps the Jaques sleep better
at night. "It gives us peace of mind knowing if there is
a problem, we can identify it quickly," says Claudia.
Traceability brings benefits:
"It gives us peace of mind knowing if
there is a problem, we can identify it quickly"
- Claudia Jacques, President, Sunshine Pickles
Funding for the Food Safety Initiative
Traceability Grant Program and Pilot Project was provided under
the Agriculture Policy framework, a federal-provincial-territorial
initiative.
For more information:
Toll Free: 1-877-424-1300
E-mail: advantage@ontario.ca
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