Produce companies endorse supply chain initiative

NEW YORK Thirty-four companies from throughout the produce supply chain, including Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway, have endorsed a new plan developed by the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) to move the supply chain to a common standard for electronic produce traceability by the end of 2012.

The plan involves adopting a standardized system of case bar-coding for all produce sold in the United States, to allow product to be tracked throughout the distribution chain. Through the plan, participating companies said they hope to maximize the effectiveness of the industry’s current traceability procedures, improve internal efficiencies and assist public officials when they need to quickly trace back a product.

The PTI is administered by Produce Marketing Association (PMA), United Fresh Produce Association (United Fresh) and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA). The 34 companies endorsing the plan are members of the PTI’s supply chain-wide Steering Committee. Established in late 2007 to establish industry traceability best practices and set goals for their adoption and accountability, the PTI Steering Committee has been working since then to develop a plan for moving industry to chain-wide, electronic traceability.