Modern farmers want to claim their products are sustainable with confidence. This means chain of custody is an essential component in the agriculture supply chain — especially with the need for food safety and food quality doing rounds in international media.
Regular climate change and sustainability discussions are building awareness in consumers. They demand all the information about the product – where it’s from and how it was grown.Chain of custody in the supply chain provides foundation to address many of food-systems issues — helping farmers to contribute to the goals of sustainable development.
What is Chain of Custody?
Chain of custody is a process that tracks a product from a certified farm and establishes its journey during different stages of production till it reaches the consumers. The process assures the end consumer that the sustainable claim made on the product is accurate — protecting the credibility of the farmer.
Consequently, farmers across the world are embracing chain of custody as a valuable tool. It advertises and confirms that the product has been responsibly produced.
More farmers understand that this means improved access to premium markets. It will improve their operational efficiency, helping them with better prices from processors and retailers — who are looking for more detailed product information.
Reasons why farmers are moving towards chain of custody:
Credibility and Assurance
Undoubtedly, chain of custody adds more credibility and assurance to the produce — making livestock farming more efficient, inclusive and economically viable.
It facilitates potential tracking of the environment, economic, health and social consequences of different agricultural production processes. This means it is possible to determine the ‘true cost of food’.
As consumers get to know about the real costs, it improves transparency — which indicates that chain of custody can improve producer revenue, market access and opportunities for affordable access to capital.
Identifying, Responding and Preventing Food Safety Issues
Government interest in examining on-farm practices is all time high, given continued significant outbreaks of foodborne illness. Food safety experts agree that an effective, comprehensive supply chain review should include potential hazards at the farm level.
Chain of custody helps farmers to more efficiently identify, isolate and address the source of a food safety issue. Though farmers and ranchers are not directly regulated under food safety laws, however potential outcome could result in better performance during inspections. This reduces the prevalence of food safety issues, minimizing food loss.
Support Supply-Chain Optimization
Consider all aspects and assets of supply chain as critical.
For instance, we effectively mine the soil for nutrients, replace them industrially, and ignore the biological assets that would make farming sustainable. But as we come to understand the practical economic values of individual groups through chain of custody, we also grasp the costs for replacement, resulting from intensive agricultural methods.
Also, the agricultural sector chain of custody enables more effective identification of vulnerabilities. For example, you can determine and measure food loss occurring at inspections or in transit, for which farmers have been bearing costs.
This will make food value chains more efficient and better equipped. Also, being able to better understand the chain of custody can accelerate product processing and reduce spoilage costs.
Validate Sustainability Goals for Better Market Access
Your ability to sell your produce depends on your reputation. Chain of custody technology can help validate your sustainability claims when selling your product, giving farmers better access to the markets.
Companies and governments hold themselves accountable for food safety and sustainability commitments. Consumers directly question them. Using chain of custody technology can help them support their claims and measure the social and environmental footprint of production in real-time and with lower costs.
In fact, your product will have special value to some segments of the market. The companies will sell it as organic, environmentally friendly, rich in omega-three or many different things. You can sell for additional value if your chain of custody provides proof for the claims.
Bringing Incentive Solutions to Promote Transparency
The benefits of chain of custody are different for each supply-chain actor.
At TrustBIX, we have done the cost-benefit analysis for the farmers to support chain of custody in the supply chain and promote sustainability. Our incentive solutions and premiums over farmer’s produce enhance their willingness to collect and transfer information in the production phase.
This is followed by network coordination in sharing the information along the supply chain. Our aim is to enhance precision and reduce costs for farmers while assisting the quality and safety of products.
If you need more information or help with chain of custody technology, or want to enroll in one of our incentive programs, please get in touch with us.