Page 28 - Packaging News Magazine Mar-Apr 2021

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TRACK & TRACE | www.packagingnews.com.au | March-April 2021
Smart packaging builds trust and
On-pack track and trace technology in the form of smart labels is being embraced by Australasia’s meat producers as a tool to deliver supply chain transparency, product authentication, proof of provenance, consumer engagement, and now, COVID-19 clearance. Lindy Hughson reports.
C
authenticator though, it also enables the ‘clean green’ story to be told by Aussie farmers to consumers, helping to strengthen regional branding and win new markets,” Mackenzie says.
“We invested in this system because it’s user-friendly, effective and inexpensive – it works for farm- ers and distributors alike,” Mackenzie adds. “Backed by this technology, we have cemented our reputation as an innovative company, committed to Australian production and excited about the future.”
It is not only Macka’s giving the Aglive system the nod. An indepen- dent review by McKinna, published by Meat and Livestock Australia in 2020, found: “The Aglive solution interfaces with many existing meat industry sys- tems, reducing the need to invest in additional systems, training or tech- nology costs... The technology does have the potential to greatly reduce the incidence of product fraud.”
Aglive says its consumer and sup- ply chain apps can be integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse the data captured and stored, and then used to unlock deeper insights and boost productivity for the producer.
According to Aglive managing director and co-founder Paul Ryan,
OUNTERFEITING is often the trigger that gets brand owners inter- ested in track and trace technol- ogy in a bid to establish product authenticity and prove prove- nance, or risk losing market share and hard-won foothold in
Macka’s opted for a blockchain- enabled ‘smart labelling’ platform from Australian company Aglive, which provides digital encrypted end-to-end data verification, elimi- nating the requirement for paper- based systems.
By placing the QR code-style label on a product, it can be tracked every step of the way via a smartphone- based app from the time it is picked up to the moment it arrives at cus- toms overseas.
“The encrypted label can’t be copied, preventing fraud. More than a product
export markets.
A case in point is family-owned
beef producer Macka’s Australian Black Angus Beef, which found itself competing against a fake version of its own product in Asia, being sold at a lower price. This was the catalyst for its quest to find a paddock to plate track and trace solution.
Macka’s managing director Robert Mackenzie tells PKN, “After experi- encing fraud first hand – where our product had been copied five times in the markets we export to in Asia, and we were competing with a fake labelled, inferior version of our prod- uct – we started trials to find a trace- ability platform that would protect our product and brand.”
Labelling businesses are in a key position to underpin the creation of ethical supply chains.”
— Paul Ryan, Aglive.