iTrade’s Item solution provides innovative traceability benefits to both retailers and consumers alike. On the retailer side, food safety and quality are Item’s primary concerns while on the consumer side, engagement with customers and a connection with consumers are paramount. This ultimately pushes for greater clarity in the transparency of recalls and data for consumers, retailers, and growers alike.
For retailers, Item boasts a reliable trace-back program. In the event of a food safety situation, like a recall or quality assurance mishap, the trace-back program ensures the occurrence can be traced back to the point of origin so future hazards can be mitigated, ensuring safety and brand confidence for consumers. Additionally, Item allows consumers to engage with retailers at the shelf to make sure consumers feel as though their feedback is valued. Item offers a unique QR code which allows customers to reach out about quality issues on specific products, so data can be passed back all the way to grower-shippers and the fields. This traceability data can identify the source of the problem so these quality issues can be resolved quickly and efficiently.
In providing this transparency to recalls and data, retailers know that iTrade provides reliable traceability data in the event of a crisis, saving lives and minimizing illnesses for future harvests. Using a more reliable, fundamentally better product, consumers can ultimately foster better working relationships with retailers by providing valuable insights on shopper demographics and purchasing habits. This means consumers can input which stores they frequent, how often they purchase berries, and preference of berry type. This info can also be passed along to grower-shippers, who can then use this data to establish food safety practices for future crop yields and connect with consumers directly.
Cindy Jewell, VP of Marketing for Cal Giant, had this to say about iTrade’s Item:
“We actually work with the consumer to resolve issues with purchases. Instead of the consumer being upset about a quality issue or object in their container, we use that data gained from them and let them know that because of the code we can take their issue straight back to the farm to share with farmers and their employees to resolve issues.”
On the consumer side, Item allows customers and trading partners to interact with positive stories about where their berries originated. In this case, Cal Giant was a great example as they provide sweepstakes and contests, including the “Follow us to our Farm” program, for consumers that enter their 16 digit label codes on the Cal Giant website. Additionally, Cal Giant offers an instant rebate program with IBOTTA that encourages consumers to exchange contact info for a chance to win cash rewards. The “Follow us to our Farm” and IBOTTA programs offer incentives to customers “opting-in,” providing contact information, and building a database of loyal followers, while Cal Giant can track customer visits and gain more intelligence into buyer behavior. Clearly, Item is the ideal solution to provide insights into the people behind specific brands, and to connect consumers directly to farmers like the team at Cal Giant.