EU pilot project sees positive yields

The international eTrace project has involved a wide range of organisations. It aimed to come up with a faster and more efficient method of traceability so that, when necessary, product recalls could be carried out more precisely and reliably and with the minimum of public concern.

Under the project, fish are tracked from fishing boats in Simrishamn to retail outlets in Gothenburg, Sweden. Boxes of fish were equipped with radio frequency identification tags that were scanned at multiple locations. The data was collected and integrated using the EPCIS electronic product code standard from EPCglobal. Information was displayed via a website, giving retailers direct access to information and maps for each fish, showing where it was caught and how it came to the store.

Profits were boosted because as the retailers had access to traceability information about fish online, they could share this with their customers and this resulted in increased purchases.

"Traceability has been a driver for increased sales," said Peter Kallstrom, owner of Fiskelyckan, a retailer in Gothenburg. "By taking part in the eTrace project and promoting traceable food, we have stimulated a strong interest from consumers. Next to the cod, we posted a map showing where the fish was caught and processed. The map told the history that consumers have been waiting to hear, namely that the fish is local. Instead of selling just a few kilos a day, I sold more than 150kg over four days. This is a very significant increase for us."

The Swedish Board of Fisheries plans to run three to five more parallel pilot projects in 2010 and 2011 before rolling out the system to the entire fishing industry including 1500 vessels, 100 landing sites, the processing industry and multiple retailers.

Contact: eTraceTel: 00 46 709 981 370