Cargill is testing a new system for tracking the origin of turkeys that may have broader applications for the international agriculture company.
In October 2017, the company announced the launch of what it calls the traceable turkey. During the Thanksgiving and holiday season, select Honeysuckle White branded turkeys displayed codes allowing consumers to find out exactly which farm it came from. The campaign uses a novel technology – blockchain – which may be useful in processing and logistics processes in the future.
Debra Socha, Cargill’s brand manager for turkey brands, said the pilot program was designed as a learning experience for the company. It could not share data on how many people used the traceability program because the information is not available at press time. However, Cargill did say it anticipates that more than 500,000 people ate meals that feature a traceable turkey during the 2017 holiday season.
Socha said if it’s deemed to be a success, then the program could potentially be expanded to give consumers a much broader look at where their food comes from and possibly be a great stride forward for poultry industry transparency. Cargill is one of the world’s largest private companies and Cargill Turkey & Cooked Meats is ranked as the 3rd largest turkey producer in the U.S., according to WATT PoultryUSA’s 2017 top turkey companies rankings.
The pilot program
The test run included turkeys raised by four farmers and sold in the Texas market. Socha said those four particular farmers volunteered for the program and Cargill’s processing facility in Texas worked for their location.
The traceable turkeys included a “transparency code” – displayed on the tag hanging from the packaged bird – which consumers can use in a text message to the company or enter in Honeysuckle White’s webpage. Once the code is entered, the user is directed to a detailed page featuring information about the farm, images of the farm and the farmer and even a short video. The page answers potential questions about how the bird was raised by connecting the consumer to the farmer.
Socha said the consumers’ ever increasing desire to learn more about where their food comes from inspired the program. Consumer research shows people feel good about companies that are transparent about where and how their products are made, grown or raised. Showing the farmer and emphasizing the role of the independent, family farm is critical as well, Socha said, because consumers consider the farmer to be one of the most trustworthy sources on food related matters.
Cargill’s turkey brands – Honeysuckle White and Shady Brook Farms – placed the farmer at the center of their marketing recently, as WATT PoultryUSA profiled in January 2017. Socha said the brand is always proud of its independent, family farmers, but the emphasis on transparency emerged in 2014 when Honeysuckle White ended the use of growth promoting antibiotics in its turkeys.
Beyond the press release, which won national press attention, Cargill promoted the transparency program with in-store signage where available and through paid media.
The future of the traceability program
The pilot ran until the birds sold out or reached their expiration date. Socha said Cargill is watching the results and engagement metrics closely. There’s no engagement figure goal set by the company but rather it’s viewing the program as a learning opportunity. Socha said Cargill is using quantitative and qualitative measurements to gauge the impact of the program.
The primary goal of the program, Socha said, is to learn from the experience. If the pilot is deemed a success, then it’s possible it will return in the future, but Socha didn’t commit to any specific plan.
Blockchain’s possible applications at Cargill
Cargill’s traceability program features another novel component: blockchain. The technology, first implemented in 2009 as a core component of the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin, is a distributed digital ledger enabling businesses to create secure records. Socha said the technology is rapidly being adopted across many industries requiring secure transactions.
“All participants inside the blockchain network must agree before a new record is added to a ledger, reducing fraud or human error,” Socha said in an email. “The data within the network is encrypted to ensure security, authentication and integrity of the transactions.”
Using a blockchain-based solution and other technologies, Cargill created a digital supply chain. The system is cloud-based, allowing multiple parties to enter key events – like turkey placement on the farm and processing – into the blockchain. This creates a digital trail of the real-world supply chain. Information about the turkeys and the farmers is collected and stored in the blockchain so consumers can access the information about the specific birds online.
Cargill is using the traceable turkey pilot as an opportunity to learn more about how blockchain works and how it can be used elsewhere. Socha said Cargill plans to continue to invest in understanding blockchain and its applications.
Egg Traceability in Europe
While Cargill’s traceability pilot program is novel in the U.S., European eggs are legally required to sport traceability codes. In accordance with a European Union law established in 2004, all eggs produced and sold in EU member countries are stamped with a code of letters and numbers.
According to the Association for Controlled Alternative Animal Husbandry or KAT by its German initials, the code explains which type of farm the eggs came from, the country of origin, the identification number of the individual egg farm and the best-by date. The KAT, a German organization that says it pioneered the program in 2000, maintains a website allowing consumers to input the information found on the eggs and a traceability database dating back to 1998. Along with the origin, the KAT tracks the movements of eggs from the farm to the store.
Blockchain explained
A blockchain is a continuously growing list of records which are linked and secured. The purpose of the technology is to serve as an open, distributed ledger recording transactions made between multiple parties. Once data is recorded in the blockchain, it cannot be altered without the alteration of all of the other records or the approval of a majority of the parties involved in the ledger.
Because of their features, blockchains are useful for the recording of events and management of records. Most famously, blockchain technology is used as a core component of Bitcoin. The famously volatile cryptocurrency uses a blockchain to prevent each bitcoin from being spent more than once. It’s become the inspiration for numerous other digital currencies.
To view a sample transparency tag page, visit:
https://goo.gl/C447Ej and enter transparency code 900004 when prompted.
