Result Group has won a WorldStar Packaging Award, organised by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO), in the category of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables its traceability pilot with the Australian Table Grape Association (ATGA).
The Australian Table Grapes Traceability Pilot is one of the largest traceability and authentication projects deployed in Australia.
The outstanding achievements are the result of collaboration between ATGA, Agriculture Victoria, Perfection Fresh Australia, GS1 Australia and Result Group.
“Winning the award is very humbling and a great recognition for our hard-working and dedicated team,” said Michael Dossor, general manager at Result Group.
“Collaboration with current system vendors and developing interoperable protocols is always a challenge, and requires trust and respect. The upside, it opens up new opportunities in the traceability sector, as we continue to strive to further innovative solutions in the Australian market.”
More than 840,000 units of table grapes, including bunch bags, clamshells and cartons, were labelled with a unique serialised QR code, further enhanced with the use of GS1 Digital Link standards, and exported to over 15 markets in the Asia Pacific region.
“Agriculture Victoria is delighted to have part of this award-winning pilot program b funding and partnering with the ATGA to pilot the use of Result Group’s traceability software with growers and exporters in the sector,” said Matt Lowe, chief executive at Agriculture Victoria.
“We’re committed to working with industry to implement new traceability systems that maintain Australia’s competitiveness in international markets, and ensure the safety and trustworthiness of produce delivered to overseas consumers.
“It’s a fantastic outcome to receive this industry recognition and I congratulate everyone who has been involved in this pilot program.”
To assist grape growers to connect with consumers and supply chains, as well as consumer safety and quality standards, Result Group introduced an industry customised traceability platform, a label printing and management programme, NiceLabel, as well as process automation and scanning technologies designed to collect end-to-end shipping data.
The overall concept was to sell more Australia table grapes by proving authenticity and provenance – setting high-quality Australian produce in a spare of its own, all done with virtually no disruption to current grape harvest and packing processes.
“In future, traceability will likely become a mandatory requirement, so it’s positive that the Australian table grape industry has a traceability package – now globally recognised for its innovation – for growers to embrace,” said Jeff Scott, ATGA’s CEO.
“We’re really proud of the pilot and thank the Victorian government for their support of the project. Thanks also to technology provider Result Group and producer-exporter Perfection Fresh for agreeing to participate in the pilot.
“To win a world award is an exciting achievement for the ATGA. There was a lot of thought and strategy that went into our traceability pilot to make sure it would be a success.”
The process of the traceability project starts at the farm, where the polybags that will be exported to over 15 markets in the Asia Pacific region are given unique serialised GS1 Digital Link – enabled QR code labels.
“This award is recognition that Australia has the capabilities, technology and drive to be the world leader in traceability across agricultural sectors, but a lot still needs to be done,” said Marcel Sieira, chief custom officer at GS1 Australia.
“We encourage industry and Australian governments to build on this success and turn traceability into a real differentiator of Australian agricultural exports in international markets.”
Labels also provide crucial traceability information about consumer pack units, cases, and pallet numbers, as well as time and temperature tracking information that was captured through the cloud database, in order to combat all types of food fraud.
The digital twin integrated in the QR code labels ensures that each one is unique and traceable.
“This significant award recognises the strong collaboration between a team of experienced and skilled stakeholders working together to overcome challenges and achieve a result, Perfection Fresh was proud to be part of this pilot project,” said Luke Gibson, chief marketing and innovation officer, Perfection Fresh.
“Packaging is the most important touchpoint for customer and consumer communication. This technology gave us, as a brand owner, the opportunity to ensure product safety and quality across the supply chain, as well as obtain direct feedback from users on our product experience.”
In 2022, Result Group was awarded Silver in Outside of the Box Design with the ATGA traceability pilot for the 2022 Australasian Packaging Innovation and Design Awards (PIDAs), coordinated by the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP).
