By Alan Beynon, chief executive of poultry technology company, Poultry Sense
The desire for greater transparency in the farm to fork supply chain is largely driven by retailers that are committed to providing consumers with reasonably priced food, produced to a high health and welfare standard.
Most retailers continue to work closely with their aligned producers to increase visibility throughout the supply chain. However, to be able to cement this and build consumer trust, providing accurate evidence is key.
With customer demands increasing, we have to showcase the high animal health and welfare standards UK producers are adhering to, to enhance consumer confidence, while also meeting supply and demand. But, how could we be using technology more effectively to help overcome these issues?
We know product recalls are often problematic for retailers and processors with tracking the source of the product historically being time consuming and challenging. While this process is continually improving, moving to a more integrated data collection system could make this process even simpler.
For example, monitoring technology is available for installation in poultry houses which provides real-time, accurate data collection. This has the potential to generate immutable records that could form part of a IoT network within the supply chain. It is clear that having a secure IoT system in place could create accountability and improve traceability within the food production journey.
In my opinion, access to real-time data can also help improve relationships within the supply chain as data can be translated up and down. Allowing retailers to build a closer relationship with their suppliers and gain greater insight into a producer’s compliance with farming standards and regulations.
Retailers often face the brunt of negative feedback regarding issues with food quality, so having the technology in place to allow producers to identify issues in the poultry house as early as possible, should reduce the occurrence of issues later down the line. This should in turn help improve the overall quality of supply.
Another reason for improving food transparency through the use of technology is the increasing interest we are seeing in animal welfare from consumers. Unfortunately, the demand for a low price on the supermarket shelf and high standards within the shed can mean that issues with bird health can sometimes be dismissed, without investigating the root cause of the problem.
Disease or lameness in small numbers can be easily overlooked by producers, but you have to ask yourself the question, overtime how much of an impact is this having on efficiency and productivity further up the supply chain?
Overlooking even a small number of illnesses among a flock can be detrimental and should not go undetected. By overlooking the issue, there is nothing being done to stop it repeating itself in subsequent flocks. Making use of technology on-farm can allow data driven improvements to be made that should help to support bird performance. This should be an attractive proposal for retailers looking to guarantee to their consumers that they are doing all they can to maximise the bird’s quality of life.
For example, Poultry Sense sensors are already monitoring parameters that are set out by the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), the leading set of standards for broiler welfare in the UK. Parameters such as light availability and air quality are just some of the requirements suppliers will need to follow. Retailers committing to the BCC will need to be able to demonstrate compliance with these standards which is where the implementation of on-farm technology that can capture real-time data will be hugely beneficial for improving not only bird welfare, but also consumer trust.
As it stands, there remains a lot of space for human error in the food supply chain. But, with advancements in the technology available and the demand for high animal welfare being the ‘norm’ in the UK, the industry is heading in a positive direction in terms of improving overall transparency.