Food traceability via QRCode: why it’s critical for your business

Food safety has, especially over the past few years, become increasingly important.

As revealed in a recent DNV GL* survey, food safety is among the top concerns of consumers in Italy. In fact, as many as 83 percent of respondents said they were very careful about labels and transparency (ingredient list, traceability, sustainability, etc.). But not only that.

Regarding product information, 52%, thus more than half of the respondents, said they scan the Qr codes on packages “which often provide additional data and notions”; moreover, “60 percent would be willing to do it more if the Qr code showed them all the information they would like. “*

Food traceability and QRCodes: a matter of trust

Attitudes that also translate into a premium “in trust” for those who pay attention to the issue of food traceability (i.e., more than 8 out of 10 people).

Being able to read clear labels, with a QRCode that immediately tells everything necessary about the product, reassuring the consumer about the different aspects related to the supply chain and the characteristics of the food, becomes indispensable in retail consumption and large-scale retail today.

For this very reason, when faced with food products displayed on the shelves, Italians are concerned about two things: “food safety (66.5 percent) and health (59.1 percent), two interconnected aspects. These two priorities translate into great attention to the origin of ingredients and products: 31.7 percent, seven percentage points higher than the average for all 15 countries surveyed. “* (Source: Repubblica.it)

Having the ability to enter the right information and print easily, and wirelessly even from Mobile the QRCode is therefore essential.

Increasingly complex and sophisticated but also simple and intuitive technologies, such as precisely the QRCode, have been adopted by supply chain operators, from production to large retailers, to offer consumers greater guarantees about the origin and provenance of food.

This, in essence, is the purpose of food traceability, a prerogative that has now become essential, even as industry regulations become increasingly stringent.

What is the QR code?

A QR code (an acronym for “QuickResponse”) is a two-dimensional bar code; it consists of a square matrix with a white background, on which is a cryptogram, consisting of arranged black squares containing the alphanumeric characters that make up the code.

An evolution of the vertical bar code, the QR Code can be used with any smartphone-just frame the matrix for a few seconds-and provides access to different types of information.

Learn more about the functionality of the Qr Code

How does food traceability with QR code work?

In general, “food traceability” means the ability to access information inherent in each stage of processing of the raw material, up to the packaging of the final product for sale.

Reporting this kind of information has been a legal requirement since 2005, when European Regulation 178/2002 was implemented in Italy.

In the past, information pertaining to traceability was carried on the label, but the adoption of QR codes has made access to information about each product easier and faster.

In this way, buyers-whether simple consumers or food service operators-have a way to verify the origin of each food and the transformations it has undergone.

QR Code: how to get it in one go and also print wirelessly from mobile devices

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Why is the Qr Code important for food traceability?

The Qr Code for food traceability is important for several reasons. First, it is an extremely practical technology that allows all information about the entire processing cycle of a given product to be ‘at your fingertips’.

Last but not least, as a matter of transparency.

In fact, in this way, it is possible to guarantee to the consumer and end customer the quality and genuineness of the food being placed on the market while fulfilling the obligations under current regulations.

Finally, the use of QR codes makes the whole tracking system particularly versatile: dies decoded by smartphones can be printed either from mobile or from handy, space-saving devices such as Brother labelers.

Read our Guide to the latest wireless labelers

With Qr Code immediate access to product sheets

Finally, another aspect should not be underestimated: through matrix decoding, customers can access the product sheets of the foods they intend to purchase, with the opportunity to satisfy their curiosity about the various stages of the food processing process; this information can be particularly useful for the Subjects with allergies or intolerances.

In this way we will communicate to our customers trust, transparency and reliability, qualities that consumers today are increasingly seeking.

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Why can the QR Code help you improve your business?

The use of a tracking system based on the use of the QR Code also offers several advantages to those who manage establishments and activities of various kinds, as it allows them to streamline many traditional procedures and make customer interaction ‘smarter’.

In the restaurant industry, for example, paper menus are increasingly being replaced by those accessible by reading a QR code.

In the hotel industry, too, the use of these types of codes is becoming increasingly common, both to make services more accessible to customers and to implement more efficient inventory management.

The ‘logistics’ aspect is among those that make QR codes so popular, even in very different sectors: this type of technology, dinfact, makes the tracking of warehouse resources easier and faster, greatly reducing the margin of error.

Contact us now to receive a free consultation on purchasing or renting Brother labeling machines, which are essential for devising and printing the QR Code while also linking it to your archive.

How to quickly and easily create and print QRCode for your store?

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