Frozen Food Producer Findus has invested SEK600m in a new factory and cold storage facility in Bjuv, Sweden, fitted with the GS1 standard of traceability, which allows efficient handling and manufacturing process, as well as a high level of food safety.
“Food safety is critical for us and we have been working for a long time to extend traceability. The new facility we are taking into use in the spring and summer is fully equipped with the latest technology for traceability according to GS1’s standards,” says Erik Börtemark, Supply Chain Director at Findus.
A total of some 120,000 tonnes or 350,000 pallets of food are handled annually in Findus’ facilities. The new plant accounts for 35,000 tonnes per year. This makes high demands on the company’s processes.
In the new facility in Bjuv most things are automated and everything is scanned both on the way into and out of the plant as well as throughout the production process. This provides control and quality assurance so that the products are always handled correctly.
“Findus has many suppliers all across Europe and in this project has done lots of work with them to improve traceability,” explains Erik Börtemark. “Among other things by requiring suppliers to follow GS1’s standard in the layout and information content of pallet labels and their placement.”
“It has been relatively easy to get our European suppliers on board, but sometimes it can be difficult to get them to use the correct label layout since they want to design them themselves. Other parts of the world need a bit more work. For example, we buy a number of products from Asia where logistics are different, such as containers being loaded differently, and the use of pallet labels is a challenge. But we have had good help from GS1 in China and Sweden to persuade them to produce labels that comply with GS1’s standard.”
Karolin Catela, who works with standardization, development and implementation of traceability at GS1 says that Sweden is in the forefront regarding food safety. “We have made relatively good progress in Sweden in the use of GS1’s standards for traceability, especially in the food industry.”
In order to recall food quickly and efficiently a working process for traceability is needed. GS1 works both locally and globally together with many different sectors to develop efficient solutions that connect the existing information flows between manufacturer and buyer.
“To get more sectors involved we will be expanding our existing user group for traceability with new members during the spring. The aim is to reach consensus on how to meet the demands made on traceability and develop the tools needed to enable it,” says Karolin Catela.
Findus is one of Sweden’s leading food companies with over 200 frozen products and 50 food cupboard products in their range. In addition they market over 400 products for the restaurant and food service sectors.