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Case Study

Cal Giant

Cal Giant Case Study Item Traceability

In order to better manage traceability requirements for individual products and packages, Cal Giant turned to iTradeNetwork’s Item solution. To improve accuracy of traceability data, enhance QR reliability, and mitigate tracking errors, see how iTracefresh Item can help advance traceability from the first mile on.

The Challenge

Many retailers and buyers have begun asking, and in certain cases requiring, their suppliers to go to the next level in traceability beyond the master carton. With the added costs and logistics such programs entail, accuracy is paramount. Cal Giant was looking for a solution that would both ensure extreme accuracy in the event of a food safety crisis and enable them to communicate with their trading partners and consumers about the origin and quality of their products.

The Solution

Cal Giant chose iTracefresh Item. Item is the only traceability solution for individual products or packages that links the first and last mile of the supply chain, boosting retailer confidence with safe and efficient recalls, and maximizing shopper confidence and loyalty by providing greater transparency and accuracy in tracking and communicating origin information for fresh produce

iTrade's Item Value Add

Reach customers at point of sale

Improve food safety efforts

Easy to implement & cost effective

Mobile or web look-up from any device

Internally assess quality of various growers and mitigate the effects of a potential recall

Meet any current or future compliance issues

Exceed retailer mandates for item level traceability

Low impact, inexpensive setup with a look-up that integrates into any website with an API

Minimal cost, pay as you go billing

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.

About Cal Giant 

Family owned and operated for over 40 years – California Giant Berry Farms was developed by a family of passionate people who share that same passion for berries. Front planting, growing, harvesting and shipping, it takes every single person at California Giant to get strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries from farm to table. Not only is California Giant dedicated to cultivating the best quality berries, but they strive to give back to their communities through charitable giving of time and money. The California Giant Foundation unifies the berry grower’s philanthropic initiatives to amplify the size and scope of their giving back – Staff and owners happily spend countless hours and tens of thousands of dollars to 90+ worthy causes locally and across the nation on an annual basis – such as childhood obesity and school nutrition, hunger and food insecurity, prevention and awareness, and community. What began as a small local strawberry shipper to now an international berry company brings smiles to homes with fresh berries, and smiles to the ones whose lives they’ve touched.