Sr. Business Analyst Becky Bazabal

The way Becky Bazabal describes it, her job entails working with users to design software — which pretty much means she writes blueprints for developers. Becky is currently redesigning our CropTrac^TM application, which is an integral part of the suite of solutions offered by TRUETRAC. That being said, let’s just go ahead and analyze this analyst a little farther.

Meet Becky:

TRUETRAC: What did you do prior to coming to work for TRUETRAC?

Becky: I have over 11 years of experience designing and developing software for the agricultural industry, doing everything from the analysis, design and development to testing and user training. I have spent countless hours riding around in pickups with farmers and harvest managers while they explain the intricacies of agriculture and what makes it tick. And I’ve designed and developed a couple of other applications similar to CropTrac. Needless to say, I’ve been around the block — or the field — a time or two.

TRUETRAC: What attracted you to come to work for TRUETRAC?

Becky: The opportunity to do what I love, which is working with farmers and the agricultural community. The joke around the company is that they used my resume to write the job description. I wasn’t exactly looking for a new job but when I saw the job posting I couldn’t pass it up. It’s been a blessing working with such a talented and hardworking group here at TRUETRAC.

TRUETRAC: Where did you go to college, what did you major in, and how did that prepare you for the job you have today?

Becky: I’m an Aggie. I graduated from UC Davis with a degree in agricultural economics, and I think the understanding I gained of the dynamic and unpredictable nature of agriculture really helped me keep an open mind when it comes to developing systems for agriculture.

TRUETRAC: If you were elected President of the U.S. or some other country tomorrow, what would be your first executive order?

Becky: There would probably be a couple, but one of the first would be to rein in spending. The overspending by our government is irresponsible and I don’t feel it is at all sustainable.

TRUETRAC: If you could take a one-year paid sabbatical from work to set up your own farm, what would you call it and what would you grow?

Becky: I’ve loved blackberries ever since I was a kid. My grandmother used to pay my cousins and I to pick them so she could make cobbler — which we happily ate. It was truly a win-win situation for us. So if I were to farm, it would have to be berries with a bakery for pies, jams and other berry goodness. I think I would name it Sweet Berry Farms. Stop by and have some cobbler, because grandma’s recipe is awesome.

TRUETRAC: What do you like to do in your free time?

Becky: I love to be outside, so when I’m not working I’m usually riding my horses or playing golf. I have a couple of quarter horses and enjoy working cows and hanging out with friends. When I’m not riding you can find my husband and I at one of the local golf courses chasing a little white ball. The winner buys after the round and that’s usually him.

In recent years, consumers have displayed a growing awareness — and concern — about how food reaches the table from the fields. Everyone it seems is weighing in on the issue of preserving this huge globe we all live on, and everyone it seems has a differing opinion on how that is to be accomplished. Hosts of television cooking shows, book writers and filmmakers, as well as members of the health-care industry are challenging the way we run our industry, according to the AgAlert editorial.

Written by Tom Nassif, CEO of Western Growers, and Paul Wenger, president of the CFBF, the article asks how our industry can respond to concerns about ineffective production techniques, the waste of natural resources, the use of pesticides and fertilizers, air and water quality issues and the social challenges of establishing sustainability. In addition, the writers ask, how do we as an industry join the conversation without sounding defensive or combative?

The editorial’s asserts there’s no doubt we need to utilize the most efficient, sustainable and effective production technologies in order to be good stewards to the planet, but on the other hand, we can’t have consumers telling us how to grow and harvest our crops. We must work together to join this conservation conversation, or we’ll face a mountain of unrealistic regulations and legislation imposed on our production facilities and farms.

At TRUETRAC, we’ve been blogging on this same theme for quite some time now, and we couldn’t agree more. Like the AgAlert editorial says, the reality is that the world needs to produce more food by using more efficient and sustainable production techniques. We must assess the environmental problems associated with the resource cost of food packaging, transportation and retail. These are what the public sees as the resource-hungry activities of our industry.

Western Growers and the CFBF are working on an initiative called the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops, where our industry and environmental groups identify and test science-based metrics that make economic sense for measuring resource use efficiency. We plan to have a follow-up post about that entity shortly, and we’re pleased to be part of that process by having Ray Connelly, TRUETRAC’s president, volunteering to serve on a number of working committees that are central to the overall effort.

The Stewardship Index is also involved with other initiatives, such as the Field-to-Market Initiative and the Sustainability Consortium in order to coordinate sustainability metrics. There are dozens of stakeholder initiatives around the country that are focusing on feeding hungry nations while at the same time saving natural resources. But most of these projects lack our industry’s involvement.

That makes it imperative that we join in, both from an environmental standpoint and to ensure that we aren’t faced with unworkable regulations and restrictions imposed on us by outside parties.

To read the full AgAlert editorial, read Commentary: Agriculture must engage in conversations about change.

To be sure, progress has been made over the past 12 and a half months, with strong support for a seamless food safety program coming from those in the food industry, a consumer populace that is proactively pursuing the goals of the FSMA, and a variety of government partners.

The new bill gives the Food and Drug Administration more power to act when E. coli and salmonella outbreaks occur, including the ability to institute recalls, strengthen inspections, and demand that everyone along the food supply chain maintain tougher standards for keeping food safe.

So how is this food safety legislation stacking up a year after its enactment? Food Safety News, a daily Web-based newspaper dedicated to reporting on issues surrounding food safety, recently interviewed an FDA commissioner to gain insight on progress being made, as well as problems the agency still faces in imposing the new law.

Michael R. Taylor, J.D. is the deputy commissioner for foods at the FDA. What we want to do here is highlight some of the notions, predictions and thoughts he put forth in a recent Food Safety News conversation, beginning with progress in enacting the new legislation. Here are some of the issues culled from that interview:

Are the FSMA deadlines being met? Taylor said the FDA is focusing on five major foundational rules that he says are receiving priority attention. Those include preventive control rules for human food facilities and animal feed facilities. A third rule deals with produce, and it would set standards for growing practices in the fields. Another rule looks at making foreign importers accountable for the foods they ship here, and the fifth rule is accredited third-party certification.

Is the process bogged down in bureaucracy? The deputy commissioner claims the stumbling block is getting a huge amount of policymaking done in an orderly fashion. He said the number of attorneys, regulation writers and economists involved in the process has resulted in a need for prioritizing projects, but he is certain the first four rules mentioned above will be implemented shortly, with third-party certification following thereafter. He also expects to see action on several other rules this year.

What was the FDA’s reaction to the recent cantaloupe outbreak? Taylor believes the system worked well in the aftermath of that food-borne outbreak, with the FDA and CDC mobilizing quickly and tracing the problem back to its source in rapid fashion. He said the incident underscored the importance of produce traceability to get to the root of an outbreak when prevention fails. And it pointed out the need to get the rules in place as soon as possible.

Is progress being made to improve state inspections of food facilities? The FDA official admits that 10 percent of the 20,000 inspections conducted last year were incomplete, adding the agency needs to strengthen the federal-state partnership. He said progress has been made to have states meet a consistent national standard when it comes to providing oversight of the industry, calling it a continuing process that will require a big investment in order to achieve big dividends.

What about the states’ contention that there’s no money for such inspections? Taylor admits it’s a big problem, with states not adding inspectors or the staffs necessary to ensure national food safety goals. He said the federal government has the task of figuring out how to make an investment in the states that strengthens the edicts of the FSMA. He said the way to obtain the resources needed to fulfill the mandate of the new food safety law is to work with Congress and the states to get additional funding. He said that, plus redeploying resources and making due with existing resources is the challenge his agency faces to make food safety a reality in this country.

Since there is no “one size fits all” in the fresh produce industry, the PTI’s leadership has assembled committees of knowledgeable industry veterans across retail, distribution, packing and technology, all of whom are working hard to recommend sound solutions and tackle known challenges so the rest of us don’t have to. These committees, and the people behind them, are working to navigate our industry, with its labyrinth of complexity, toward the greater good of PTI compliance. From time-to-time, documents are created and updated as questions are asked and solutions come to light.

Click on any of the items below for some of the more recent available updates:

• Best Practices for Product Substitutions (updated: February 3, 2012)
• Best Practices for Preparing to Assign GTINs (updated: February 3, 2012)
• Best Practices for Formatting Case Labels (updated: February 3, 2012)
• Data Synchronization: Growing Method Codes (updated: February 1, 2012)
• Data Synchronization: Grade Codes (updated: February 1, 2012)
• Data Synchronization: Commodity and Variant Codes (updated: February 1, 2012)

While we won’t go into the details of all the updates here, it’s important to point out that these documents may very well contain specifics that pertain to your operation and may alter the way you may implement PTI.

Best Practices

The requirements of the Produce Traceability Initiative are causing companies to examine their operations and to take a look beyond internal needs. When considering the implementation of a PTI program within your company, lean on these best practices documents, which are continually being updated for your use.

Several changes worth pointing out here include those found in ‘Best Practices for assigning GTINs’. Specifically, this document asks produce brand owners to assign Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) to all of their products so they can be easily identified at any point along the supply chain. The ultimate goal is to have a GTIN and batch/lot number on each case of fresh produce in the system — from the fields (or the packing plant) to the supermarket shelves.

To assist brand owners in the process of case labeling, the PTI leadership council recently revised  the document called Produce Traceability Initiative Practices for Preparing to Assign GTINs (Revision 1.2), which you can access by clicking on the document to the right of this paragraph.

Remember: The Produce Traceability Initiative is a voluntary project, and its best practices are recommendations that have been initiated and approved by knowledgeable volunteers and leaders from throughout the fresh produce industry. By assigning GTINs to identify their products, brand owners are assured that each case of fresh produce they pack is accounted for every step of the way through the process, from harvest to marketplace.

This document, updated in early February 2012, offers tips and advice for preparing brand owners to assign these labeling numbers to their projects in an efficient manner that doesn’t become an overwhelming burden to those tasked with keeping tabs on the produce along the way.

These best practices include employing strategies that will minimize the number of GTINs assigned, minimize delays associated with packing transitions that need a different label, and standardizing product descriptions in order to reduce confusion.

The document also includes a breakdown of produce industry terminology and definitions so there is no confusion in communicating GTIN orders. And the report also offers examples of GTIN assignment charts.

Download Produce Traceability Initiative Practices for Preparing to Assign GTINs today (by clicking the image above) and share this important resource with the people inside your organization tasked with managing PTI compliance.

Data Synchronization

For traceability data to move from trading partner to trading partner, there must be a refined process built upon accurate harmonization of information between all trading partners. This process ensures that the master data is the same across all trading partner’s systems. Various elements may be required for effective global data synchronization (download the documents labeled “Data Synchronization” found on the PTI’s Recent Updates page for more information).

As we move toward a transparent and traceable supply chain, “data synchronization” will play a greater role in our everyday language. And while it may not be important now, understanding what is coming may alter your opinion of the present.

For instance, growing method and grades share a common understanding when discussing various commodities within the produce industry. They also play an important role with data synchronization. Most everyone in the fresh produce industry can provide a definition of a growing method or a grade based upon their experience. When data synchronization becomes required, tracking these data elements must be accomplished with harmonized definitions and in a systematic way.

Example: “Growing method” is defined as conventional, field grown, fly free (a citrus requirement), greenhouse, hydroponic, integrated pest management, and organic.  Identifying these distinctions will be important if a company grows, ships or sells products that fall into two or more of these categories.

Let’s say you have a small organic program within your operation but not all of the product you grow is organic. If this is the case, you will need to differentiate systematically which products — and their associated GTINs — are conventional and which ones are organic. On the other hand, if your entire operation is conventional, this requirement can be a default entry and recorded automatically against all GTINs.

Here at TRUETRAC, we recommend downloading and reviewing the above referenced documents to gain an understanding of the direction your company may need to take. Check back often as they are continually updated. You might even want to set up a Google Alert so you know first-hand when things change (or you can just contact the TRUETRAC office and we’ll be happy to show you how to do this).

Blindly grabbing at the first vendor who turns up at your corporate doorstep offering you a solution is not the way to handle this all-important tasking decision. This is a time when comparison-shopping is worth the extra time and effort to ensure you are getting the technology solution provider you need.

Here, we pose 10 points that fresh produce growers should be asking vendors when shopping for a PTI-related provider:

1. Does the vendor have a good understanding of the PTI initiative? The ability to understand, discern and discuss the objectives of the PTI can indicate that this vendor is committed and compliant to the overall objectives of the initiative.

2. Does the vendor offer a solution that complies with the PTI initiative? Be careful, because some traceability vendors do not offer systems that comply with the PTI! This only serves to confuse the true mission of the PTI for many growers. Solutions must comply with the standards set forth by PTI, which include GS1 compliance with case level traceability.

Warning: Don’t make a decision based on price alone. Industry experts understand the need for an industrywide, standards-based, non-propriety supply chain solution. Understanding your own needs and weighing those against the solutions available will help you determine the right solution for your particular needs.

3. How long has the vendor been providing traceability systems? Some companies are offering solutions, but they don’t necessarily have strong industry experience.. Oftentimes, vendors will use new customers to gain the experience they need to see how the industry works. Ask prospective traceability vendors to provide reputable references and tell them you’d like a field trip to another customer’s their facilities in order to observe their system in operation.

4. Does the vendor have significant depth on their staff? Ongoing support is essential after you’ve purchased a traceability system. Small companies are often dependent upon a single employee or a small number of key personnel for their success. Sustainability is very important from any vendor, especially one that will be providing a solution for an extended period of time.

Tip: Check to see how many employees/dedicated resources they have that are focused solely on the ongoing development of their solution. Then ask how many of their employees are experienced in technical support, sales, customer implementation, account management, etc., as well as growing and shipping fresh produce!

5. Does the vendor offer experienced training with their product as well as ongoing support? You want a traceability vendor who’ll get ”down in the weeds” with your employees and assist your company to achieve a successful implementation. Look for a vendor who will provide you with direction regarding your SKU’s, commodity codes, lot codes, etc., so you can implement a sustainable, manageable companywide PTI solution. In addition:

• Make sure that there’s telephone hotline, email and Web support available — and that it’s in the languages that will be most helpful to your team.
• Verify that their hours of support provide you with ample coverage throughout your workday and even after hours.

6. Does the vendor have a good understanding of your commodities and the typical workflows associated with each? There are significant differences between commodities relative to the application of a label at harvest and packing time. One PTI labeling solution may work for one commodity and a specific workflow but might not be sufficient for another. Communicate your specific harvest workflow processes clearly and discern if the vendor is knowledgeable about your commodities and your specific workflow environment.

7. Does the vendor offer pilot programs? Testing a traceability system prior to purchase can be a good way to determine if the product will work for you. Pilots also determine if your relationship with the vendor will be sustainable. And a pilot program can assist in exposing unforeseen gaps in your operation or the vendor’s. If you engage with a vendor, clearly define the goals upfront and analyze the success after the pilot with the vendor once the pilot is completed.

8. Does the vendor offer a comprehensive solution for case labeling and will the case label work with your specific commodity and post-harvest processes? The label is paramount to the success of your PTI system. Labels must be readable and sustainable throughout the life of the carton. If your vendor offers labels, be sure that they can demonstrate tested and successful label technology. Be sure they are selling you a label that will work for all your requirements. For example, the labels should easily assimilate with your type of boxes and processes, including reusable plastic containers. Also, remember that the workflow required to apply a label to a carton that is packed in the shed will be different than if the label is applied in the field.

Tip: Identify all your specific packaging workflows and determine if the label application will work even if variables such as humidity, ice, dust, wind, temperature or other potentially adverse conditions exist.

9. Does this traceability system integrate with other systems easily? Since integration is a key component of a comprehensive, industrywide, traceability system, solutions must be able to receive and send GTIN data. Integration between systems will need to be accommodated in several places throughout the life span of a case of fresh produce.

For example:

• The GTIN data on the label will need to be passed onto inventory systems.
• Outside purchased produce may need to be received by internal inventory systems.
• Internal inventory systems may need to be able to create, capture and store appropriate GTIN data.
• Product labels will need to be associated with outbound shipments.
• Outbound shipments with accurate GTIN data will need to be sent onto the next recipient in the supply chain.

Identify and define all the places where integration between systems may need to take place within your organization’s workflow processes, and then be sure that your vendor can easily integrate within your system.

10. What is the total cost of ownership for each vendor’s solution? While initial cost is not always the best indicator when comparing technology products, it should contribute to your overall analysis. Also, review ongoing costs and determine true cost of ownership over an extended period of time. For example, if you are comparing labels, compare the exact films and substrates and dimensions per vendor. If you are comparing other costs, include all of the components, quality of warranty, support, upgrades, enhancements, responsiveness, simplicity, impact on process efficiency, potential inventory risk, potential shrink risk, etc. Make sure your comparison-shopping is accurate and consistent.

Tip: Some solution providers may be able to lower overall costs by driving efficiencies in other ways. Ask the question and see if your vendor has any definitive ways to assist you in minimizing the impact to your bottom line through direct offsets to the PTI solution.

By Ray Connelly, TRUETRAC President

According to the CDC, last year was the most active in recent history for food-borne illnesses that crossed state lines, and as a member of the fresh produce industry, we here at TRUETRAC don’t like to read reports like this. The CDC said there were 16 such outbreaks in 2011, with five of them involving fresh produce, including romaine lettuce, two outbreaks of cantaloupes, papayas, alfalfa and spicy sprouts. That’s up from figures released in 2010 that showed there were a dozen such outbreaks, with four of those involving fresh produce.

Do these statistics mean our practices are getting worse? Are incidents of food-borne illnesses more prevalent today? Or, is it that Pulse-Net’s — the national network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by the CDC — ability to detect food-borne illness in the early stages is greatly improving? It also helps that improvements to sampling techniques and testing technology have made early detection much easier than in the past.

Incidences of food poisoning are ripe fodder for predatory news organizations, with those of us in the industry becoming an accessible and easy target for blame. Not to mention the fact that today’s consumer is very savvy about food safety and demands immediate information about what is being sold at their market (user-generated content online, for instance, has made instant reporting a fact of life, providing increased public awareness of such incidents the moment they occur). Add all this up and we’ve got ourselves the perfect storm.

But the truth of the matter is this: It is the food industry that is providing the solution. By instituting industry wide traceability initiatives along with better food safety practices that check and validate the safety of fruits and vegetables as they make their way through the fresh produce supply chain.

And while the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) for complete supply chain traceability hasn’t been fully implemented yet, the fresh produce industry is working to ensure its success when it is finally put into place.

PTI is the framework to provide precise and speedy product and lot identification and withdrawal from the marketplace. Speed and accuracy will greatly reduce latent incidences of food-borne issues and save lives. When a recall is instituted, growers and shippers have exact plans they can put in place to get the product in question off the market, determine what caused the problem, and resolve the issue quickly and efficiently. We’re doing that along every step of the process, from the growers to the labor in the field to the suppliers to the marketplace.

In a recent example, one of our customers found themselves in the midst of a product withdraw. With the TRUETRAC PTI label, our client was able to pinpoint the exact location within the GS1 lot where the crop had been harvested. The accuracy, precision and instant availability of the information on the TRUETRAC label enabled our client to isolate and withdraw the product in question from the market. Further, their customers were able to easily and quickly identify the cases in question and dispose of them, based on the lot information printed on the PTI case label.

Our client might have been forced to conduct a full recall if they had not been able to prove to regulatory authorities their ability to isolate the potential threat. That near-instant proof saved our client hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention negative customer, consumer and brand impact in the process.

Yes, it’s disheartening to see reports such as the one just released by the CDC, but we’re optimistic with the actions currently being taken by literally thousands in our industry who are joining the fight to bring fresh produce to the dinner table.

Fresh produce should replace many of the less desirable choices we have at mealtimes. It deserves a larger share of our stomachs each time we sit down to eat. It’s simply better for us all around. And that makes food safety a win-win proposition for both the industry and consumer.

Ian Duffield, COO - TRUETRAC

Our favorite ex-pat stepped off a plane from across the pond more than two decades ago and put down permanent roots in this country. We here at TRUETRAC are fortunate that Ian Duffield decided those roots should be planted near our headquarters in Salinas, Calif. Our COO has a passion for produce traceability and food safety, and he has a hand in most everything we do here.

Meet Ian, our cheerful COO.

TRUETRAC: What is it exactly that you do here at TRUETRAC?

Ian Duffield: My official title is Chief Operating Officer, however as is often the case with small companies, everyone has to chip in wherever they are needed. In addition to being responsible for customer service and implementations, legal and internal business processes, I also add my expertise to investor relations, sales and product development — plus I make the coffee every morning!

TRUETRAC: What did you do prior to coming to work for TRUETRAC?

Ian: Most recently I was COO at a marketing software company in Fresno, California, and prior to that was Chief Information Officer at companies in the Silicon Valley. I grew up in England and spent the first part of my career in IT roles at manufacturing companies there, including Black & Decker and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

TRUETRAC: What attracted you to come to work for TRUETRAC?

Ian: Several things. I believe strongly in the ethical part of what we do. Bringing software tools to the industry to support traceability and food safety is very important in the world, and so there was an element of providing an important service in my decision. Also, I had worked with our CEO, Ray Connelly, at Famous Software, where Ray ran sales and I ran software engineering. We worked very well together there, and when Ray told me about what he was doing at TRUETRAC, it was easy to get excited about the opportunity.

TRUETRAC: Where did you go to college, what did you major in and how did that prepare you for the job you have today?

Ian: I went to college at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in Northeast England – the home of Newcastle Brown Ale! I received a joint honors degree in Land Surveying and Geography, which has played almost no part in preparing me for my job today! I don’t believe that we make mistakes in life, so of course I see my time at Newcastle as an important stepping stone to where I am today. However the actual content of my degree course has no real bearing on what I actually do.

TRUETRAC: You grew up in England; what brought you to the USA, and what do you like about it now, 20-plus years later?

Ian: I came to the United States in June 1989 for a three-month project with Oracle Corporation, and essentially never went back! I remember climbing off the airplane at San Francisco airport and thinking, “I might want to stay here.” Of course I love the weather in California. I am blessed to live near Monterey, where my house is only five minutes from the beach. There is so much outdoors to do and see here. The work opportunities were important, especially when I first was settling here. Now I am a U.S. citizen and love the cultural mix here and the variety of great food, plus the openness that California has to everything.

TRUETRAC: If you could take a one-year paid sabbatical from work to set-up your own farm, what would you call it and what would you grow?

Ian: I read Michael Poulan’s book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and loved the description of the farm he visited that was entirely self-sustaining. Animals fertilized the soil, which grew the crops, which ultimately fed the animals, while also yielding a multitude of organic, completely fresh meat and produce, with virtually zero depletion of the natural resources. I would love to replicate that. Of course I would need more than one year off, to do it! I might call it Down to Earth Farms.

TRUETRAC: What reality television show should you be on and why?

Ian: I hardly ever watch TV, but I remember enjoying The Amazing Race and thinking that would be a lot of fun to do. You get to travel the world with a friend, solving puzzles and taking part in crazy and challenging activities. I could do that!

In a progress report released last week, the FDA issued a long list of accomplishments achieved to date in its effort to implement the complex food safety reform law. Included in that summary are issues related to domestic inspections of food facilities, including those in the produce industry.

In the past year, the FDA and its state counterparts said they conducted more than 20,000 inspections of food facilities. The goal is to meet the FSMA’s inspection frequency demands and develop risk-based approaches to national inspections that will provide the most protection to the public.

Among the tasks undertaken last year were a number of outreach and technical assistance projects performed by the FDA, including:

• Participating in more than 350 meetings with industry leaders, farmers, consumers, public officials, and academics.
• The agency has been working closely with USDA on produce safety, taking part in more than a dozen farm tours across the country to find ways that the rules can work successfully from among a number of commodities, growing conditions and practices.
• Three federal entities — the FDA, the Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture — are setting up a competitive grant program for food safety training and other projects.
• The FDA held three public meetings on preventive controls, import provisions, and changes to inspection and compliance programs in a preventive controls environment.
• The agency has been a participant in more than 70 international meetings to discuss the global impact of the food safety act.
• The FDA also assisted and helped fund the Produce Safety Alliance and the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance. These alliances were established to help small firms comply with the food safety act.
• An FSMA webpage was successfully set up and now has more than 10,000 email update subscribers. The site features a FAQ feature with more than 100 questions, as well as informative videos, webinars, presentations and print materials.

In addition to education and assistance, the FDA has implemented a number of other important steps, including:

• Enabled the agency to detain food products for up to a month that it believes are misbranded or adulterated.
• Initiated a requirement that anyone who submits prior notice of imported food report the name of any country where that food has been refused entry.
• Formed an anti-smuggling strategy with the Department of Homeland Security that helps prevent smuggled food from making its way into the country.
• Released a fee schedule for some domestic and foreign facility re-inspections and for failure to comply with recall orders.
• Provided the FDA the muscle to prevent imports and exports that involve food that has a reasonable probability of causing serious health consequences to humans or animals.
• Launched two pilot programs to enhance FDA and the industry’s ability to race products responsible for food-borne illness outbreaks. The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) will carry out those two programs.

Here at TRUETRAC, we salute the FDA and in particular, those staffers responsible for implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act. Keeping the nation’s food supply safe and traceable is easier said than done. By working together, fresh produce industry leaders and vendors, along with government regulators, are clearly making a difference.

With that in mind, here’s a short list of what we believe every fresh produce industry leader should resolve to do before the end of 2012, the year we see the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) take effect:

1. Appoint someone in your organization to be responsible for PTI compliance. Hopefully, you’ve already found a qualified employee or team to take charge of PTI compliance for your fresh produce operation. This individual or team is tasked with researching the initiative and the technical requirements, reviewing internal software programs, and analyzing workflow processes and impacts to labor needs. It’s not a simple task. And, of course, PTI compliance places additional workload on top of current job responsibilities, but once you have someone in place to oversee and manage the process, you and everyone on your team will sleep better at night, which is another great resolution for 2012!

2. Set a goal of PTI compliance by a certain date. Does it matter if your business is PTI compliant in March 2012 versus Jan. 1? No one knows for sure, but what we’re hearing from folks in retail is that they plan to give preference to those fresh produce operations that are PTI compliant sooner rather than later, so now’s a great time to get started!

3. Learn exactly how you fit in to the produce supply chain as it relates to PTI. The initial phase of PTI compliance involves getting a label on a case in the most cost-effective, efficient and accurate means possible. Now consider where you fit in the supply chain and make an assessment of all the places where a traceability solution might impact your current operations.

4. Talk to top-tier solution providers who really know your business. Don’t operate in a vacuum or assume no one knows your business like you do. The fresh produce industry is supported by a number of technology solution providers — including TRUETRAC — that employ people with significant expertise in PTI compliance, software development, label technology, and, most importantly, agriculture and farming. And while it’s true that all of us aim to secure your business, not all solution providers are experts in all aspects of your business.

5. Build your list of GTINs for all of your products. Remember that companies must send GTIN data to their trading partners with each sale or be able to receive GTIN data from others. (Not familiar with “GTIN”? It stands for Global Trade Item Number, and it identifies a company, product and lot. You can read all about GTIN data and labels in Best Practices for GTIN Assignment Strategy via the Produce Traceability Initiative website.) If your company’s in the middle, you must send and receive. Assuming you’re good with your GTINs, make sure you understand how to receive GTIN data from others.

6. Put some thought into the format of your PTI label. Not all PTI labels are identical and various crops may require different formatting. Consider what data is important to have on your label and determine what will it look like, how it will be printed, when it will be printed and who will print it, are just a few of the questions you should start answering immediately.

7. Pick a simple part of the business to get started. If you’re just starting out on the path to PTI compliance, your first task is probably to run a pilot project, a small scale preliminary effort that will result in finding out where it is in your workflow process you can most easily and cost-effectively apply your PTI labels. You may want to pilot with a specific crop, a particular packing location, or a labeled product for a certain retailer. Pilots differ from company to company, and are a primary step in ensuring compliance.

8. Commit to establishing and monitoring a daily, internal food safety program. Those of us in the fresh produce industry cannot continue to rely on an occasional outside inspection to ensure food safety. It is up to each of us to establish and monitor a daily, internal food safety program. We all know that daily sanitation checks and accurate record keeping make all the difference when your goal is to detect problems before they get big. Random audits are just a picture in time. But even more important is the fact that pathogens roam freely in our world, and because they do so on a daily basis, they must be sought out and dealt with in a planned and systematic manner. Resolve to address this issue in 2012 and you’ll be helping the fresh produce industry maintain a track record we can all be proud of.

9. Attend at least one fresh produce industry conference or trade show. These events offer you the opportunity for face-to-face networking with industry peers. In addition, conferences offer all of us timely updates on regulatory issues. And with the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) barreling down the road in an unstoppable fashion, keeping abreast of new developments is a must. And don’t forget that many of these events offer educational sessions, all with the goal of updating what we know and enriching what we think we know.

So there you have it, our recommendations for the things your business should resolve to do in 2012. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Another reason for us presenting conference and trade show dates now is to remind all of our customers and industry followers of the importance of industry gatherings. Topping that list, of course, is the opportunity for face-to-face networking with peers. In addition, these events offer all of us timely updates on regulatory issues. And with the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) scheduled to go on line at the end of the year, keeping abreast of new developments is a must.

And don’t forget that many of these events offer educational sessions, all with the goal of updating what we know and enriching what we think we know. Playing catch up with new developments in the industry is much easier when it’s done in consistent small doses.

And naturally, we encourage trade professionals to budget for and attend these events because it offers those of us who support the fresh produce industry with innovative products and services the opportunity to hear about your pain points and ultimately improve our solutions.

Here then is a list of industry events that we here at TRUETRAC encourage you to attend in 2012. We certainly hope we’ll see you at a few of them:

• January 5-8, 2012: Southeast Fruit and Vegetable Conference, Savannah, GA. For more information, please visit www.SEregionalConference.com
• February 14-16, 2012: World Ag Expo, Tulare CA. For more information, please visit: www.WorldAgExpo.com
• April 11-13, 2012: 87^th Annual Canadian Produce Marketing Association Convention & Trade Show, Calgary, AB, Canada. For more information, please visit: www.Convention.CPMA.ca
• May 1-3, 2012: United Fresh 2012, Dallas, TX. For more information, please visit: www.UnitedFresh2012.org
• June 25-28, 2012: IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo, Las Vegas, NV. For more information, please visit: www.AM-FE.ift.org
• July 20-22, 2012: PMA FoodService Conference & Exposition, Monterey, CA. For more information, please visit: http://legacy.pma.com/foodservice/2011/
• October 1-3, 2012: 2012 Washington Public Policy Conference, Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit: http://www2.unitedfresh.org/forms/meeting/MeetingFormPublic/view?id=17E5E0000050D
• October 26-29, 2012: 2012 PMA Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition, Anaheim, CA. For more information, please visit: www.FreshSummit.com