Hawaii using RFID to track produce

Hawaii using RFID to track produce The State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture and the Hawaii Farm Bureau have partnered to on a three-year pilot radio frequency identification initiative to track and trace fresh produce throughout the state's food supply chain.
   The Hawaii Produce Traceability initiative, the first of its kind in the United States, is designed to promote food safety by providing product visibility down to the farm or even field level. The RFID system is designed to provided detailed, real-time information that can be used to optimize the supply chain, enable recalls in less than an hour and improve inventory control.
   The first phase measured when boxed produce is planted and harvested, what pesticides were used and when and where RFID-tagged boxes were scanned. The data was uploaded into a database, where it can be used by program participants. It is also available for public review on the initiative Web portal.
   Growers were offered the opportunity to participate by either slap-and-ship tagging or using a hand-held RFID system. Boxed produce is read at the distribution center upon entry and exit of both the physical facility and cold storage. Tags are read again at the retailers’ point of entry, removal from cold storage and at end of life. Both the distribution center and retailer use a fixed portal RFID reader.
   Participants can use gathered data to optimize harvest productivity, strengthen food processing controls, increase cold chain visibility, reduce produce dwell time on shipping and receiving docks, accelerate transportation times between trading partners and improve inventory turns.
   State officials are considering enhancements to the next two phases of the project, such as deploying RFID-enabled cell phones to enable more farms to participate, and implementing produce temperature tracking to reduce the threat of food spoilage. The initiative could be expanded to cover 5,000 state farms at full implementation.
   Among the participants are some of Hawaii's leading growers, distributors and retailers, including Sugarland Farms, Hamakua Heritage Farms, Kula Country Farms, Maui Pineapple, Twin Bridge Farms, Kahuku Brand, Armstrong Produce and Foodland Stores. The initiative tracked several types of fresh produce including asparagus, eggplants, pineapples and tomatoes.
   Funding for the pilot program was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii, Federal State Marketing Improvement Program, and the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.