Supplier works with Antares Vision Group to scan billions of individual serial numbers each year by 2028
Berry marketer Driscoll’s says it has serialised more than 250mn berry clamshells as part of a large-scale traceability programme designed to connect consumer feedback with specific farms, fields, and varieties across its supply chain.
Developed with Antares Vision Group, the system is apparently now being deployed across the supplier’s operations in the US and Mexico, and is expected to process 2.7bn serial numbers annually by 2028.
According to Herb Wong, chief customer officer at Antares, the programme assigns a unique digital identity to each clamshell using GS1 standards, linking individual packs to information including grower, harvest event, variety, and growing conditions.
Consumers can scan on-pack QR codes to submit product feedback, something which allows Driscoll’s to trace responses back through the supply chain and create what it describes as a shelf-to-field feedback loop.
“We’ve designed a system that reliably manages billions of products in the first and last miles of the supply chain,” said Wong, who will discuss the project alongside Driscoll’s senior programme manager Dana Biancardi during next week’s GS1 Connect meeting in Las Vegas.
“It performs these tasks day in and day out, with sub-second scanning times and exacting accuracy,” he added.
Scanning mission
Driscoll’s ships more than 450,000 tonnes of berries each year to over 400 customers.
According to the companies, the traceability platform currently processes more than 50mn serial numbers per month, but that number is expected to reach 2.7bn per year by 2028.
A phased rollout of more than 11,000 Zebra handheld and stationary scanners to more than 4,000 farms across the US and Mexico is now underway.
Driscoll’s said the programme has improved its ability to identify quality issues and assess berry variety performance by linking consumer responses to specific production data.
The company is also running a live GS1 Digital Link pilot with three major retail partners, enabling a single QR code to support both consumer engagement and supply chain data exchange.
