Trust and Traceability

IBM has published a 20-page document on trust and traceability in the food supply. Link here provided by K-State's Food Safety Network. From the summary page:

A new recipe for trust
The factors influencing consumer purchasing behavior are changing. Previously, packaging
and a product’s intrinsic attributes – those things a consumer could see, touch and taste – were the primary drivers of purchasing behavior. Today, while product and packaging are still relevant, they are but two of many purchasing drivers. The Omni Consumer wants products that deliver more, such as functional foods that provide incremental health and wellness benefits. He or she also cares more about the impact of these products on individuals, society and the environment. This consumer is less concerned with brand name alone – if quality, functionality and responsibility levels are comparable – and is becoming more concerned about the accountability of each segment of the supply chain, including manufacturers (CP companies), retailers and suppliers. Hunger for information These purchasing factors have generated considerable consumer demand for new categories of products and increased information about them. Previously, consumers would gather information from the product and its packaging. Today, consumers access information through numerous channels and from a variety of sources, including Web sites, blogs and online chat rooms. To build trust and drive purchasing behavior, CP companies need to understand the varied information needs of their target consumers and their preferred sources for information. This understanding forms the basis for a comprehensive communication plan that gathers and disseminates to the consumer essential information from across the supply chain. Additionally, the increasing convergence of food and pharmaceuticals, and the explosive growth of these products, creates a separate information challenge. CP companies should proactively address the informational requirements of these new products, or face the prospect of regulation similar to that of the pharmaceutical industry.

We believe Full Value Traceability will enable CP companies to fulfill these needs and reestablish the brand as “trusted source of information.” Ingredients for change The increasingly dynamic nature of the consumer products landscape, evidence of which is found in the record number of product introductions over the past two years, represents a major challenge for many CP
companies.

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CP companies can substantiate these claims and empower their brands in these large and rapidly growing segments by effectively communicating information about ingredient source, functionality, sustainability and supply chain conditions. Numerous innovative retailers have already recognized and seized upon this opportunity, including Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Whole Foods, Sainsbury’s, and Migros. Several CP companies, such as Seventh Generation, Tom’s of Maine and Horizon Organic, have built high levels of trust and loyalty by effectively communicating large amounts of information to the consumer.

TK: Enhancing value through traceability is the solution that IBM is selling, and their perception of today's consumer has a ring of truth to it.

E. coli traced to Hawaii lettuce

K-State's Food Safety Network links to this story about a months long investigation in Hawaii. From the Honolulu Advertiser:

State health officials conducted a months-long investigation to find the cause of an E. coli bacterial infection that hospitalized four tourists and sickened four others on Kaua'i in March.
Their conclusion: All eight people were most likely infected by eating contaminated lettuce from a Kaua'i farm, where heavy rains and flooding had carried E. coli bacteria from a cattle pasture onto the lettuce patch.
Officials declined to name the farm they suspect was the source of the lettuce.
The state Department of Health said that the eight victims, including the four who required hospital care, have recovered without complications from the outbreak of a strain of E. coli O157, whose symptoms include abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea and which in severe cases can cause kidney failure.

TK: There may be lessons to learn from this outbreak that can be applied in careful measure to Good Agricultural Practices in the future, but there is apparently nothing here that would have an immense market impact nationwide.