Here is how a pork farm obtained visibility from farm to last mile delivery and impacted its CAPEX.
Learn how connecting the food value chain has brought visibility to a pork brand and impacted their operations and safety.
Many of us have heard the statistics that over 14% of the food is lost between post-harvest and before the retail stage. (Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2019). However, not many have heard what are the tangible steps traditional business owners can take to help reduce the loss of food. This article explores the case of one pork farm and how they are digitally transforming their food value chain to reduce food waste, increase food safety, and maximize their cost-efficiency.
Over 14% of the food is lost between post-harvest and before the retail stage — FAO
It all started in the farm
Before you sit down at the three-star restaurant to enjoy some delicious dumplings we have to look back and explore how this dumpling came to be. It all started in a pork barn. Raising pigs for meat is a long process, but helps feed the local economy. Organic Farm pork tastes better than what you would usually get at a supermarket. These pigs are raised in sustainable barns with spacious sows and feed with friendly livestock feeding systems. They get to be more active than other pigs. Depending on the breed it takes 4 to 6 months for the pig to grow into adulthood.
Organic farm pork taste better than what you would usually get at a supermarket.
From the moment the piglet is placed in the barn it has to be monitored for changes in temperature and humidity. These changes can cause stress (heat stress) and growth of bacteria; which may lead to the pig getting sick. Most of these farms prefer not to inject antibiotics, artificial growth hormones or steroids to not affect the purity of the pork meat. Another factor that plays an important role is the bacteria brought into the barn from the exterior. The environment where the pigs live is very stable. However, when farmhands enter the barns they may bring bacteria from the outside world. If the farm does not have a strict sanitation standard operating procedure, it may lead to the farmhand bringing in that bacteria into the barn where the pigs are growing.
Making meat safe to eat and guaranteeing its quality.
Once the pig has reached the desired age and weight it will be transported to the butchering process. A key thing for abattoirs is that they require special licenses and certifications to be able to butcher the pigs. This even more important is very for export quality meats. The certifications ensure that the meat process has gone through a specialized procedure that ensures safety and quality. One of the most common safety guidelines is HACCP (Hazard analysis and critical control points). It requires a minimum of 6 temperature data points recorded per day. Due to the sizes of these facilities recording those data points may take an employee over 1 hour. By automating the temperature and humidity monitoring process we can help the business save over 2,190 hours a year. These additional hours can be spent on other operations processes.
Visibility from end-to-end on delivery routes
Organic pork meat is often used by high end and prestigious restaurants. They perceive the flavor and quality as superb. Many of our customers do their deliveries in freezing temperatures (-15ºC to -25ºC). Therefore they require the delivery truck to have meticulous care when transporting the goods. However, with the rise in climate change, the Earth has rising temperatures every year. Thus, transporting frozen goods for long distances and achieving good fuel consumption per delivery can be a challenge. Customers need to ensure that by the time the truck has arrived the restaurants and retailers their produce is still frozen. Monitoring the temperature in the last mile is critical. Through the TEMPHAWK solution key players in the delivery can be alerted of any changes in temperature and take action immediately. Ensuring the safety of the food transported and the delivery of it. Once it arrives at the restaurant the meat is then prepared to be made into delicious dumplings for the rest of the week.
Ready for auditing the safety of the food value chain
By adding intelligence and sensing layers into customers’ operation not only are we able to bring visibility to the food chain, but make it easier to audit. In the APAC region, many logistics providers require additional proof of the cold good they are transporting. As this type of products is often known to be more perishable than others. Through the TEMPHAWK solution, we help customers have the data ready to provide to their insurance providers. Since the customer also has visibility across the food chain they can pinpoint the areas where additional care is required. When a customer is capable of showing they have a good track record on their operations and the handling of the product it is easier for them to get favorable insurances.
This is part one of the farm, manufacturing, and warehouse series exploring how IoT data analytics can have a positive impact on traditional businesses.
Learn More at the TEMPHAWK www.temphawk.net
Follow our use cases series @ FOX-TECH in the food value chain Publication
References
FOA 2019 After Harvest and before retail
