ReposiTrak, Upshop Form Strategic Partnership
Food traceability network ReposiTrak and Upshop, a technology provider in the area of store operations, have formed a global partnership to integrate their technology platforms, connecting traceability data from the supply chain to the retail store to create an end-to-end traceability solution.
“Traceability requires data from the supply chain and – importantly – confirmation at the retail store that the proper and accurate lot code data from each shipment has been captured when the product is received,” explained Mark Hawthorne, chief innovation and strategy officer at Austin, Texas-based Upshop. “The missing piece for us has been the supply chain data. ReposiTrak is the leader in capturing and managing supply chain data, starting at the suppliers. Together, we can deliver a single, comprehensive traceability solution. Once the data is flowing the benefits are compounding. Traceability data can be used to improve food safety, reduce invoice discrepancies, and identify ways to reduce waste and improve efficiencies throughout the store.”
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The partnership forges a key connection between suppliers and the retail store that:
- Leverages ReposiTrak’s network of thousands of suppliers and their traceability shipment data, and Upshop’s network of 450-plus retailers and their retail stores.
- Enables a comprehensive program for creating and storing complete traceability records that meets the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act Section 204d (FSMA 204) requirements.
- Provides margin and growth opportunities in stores by linking supply chain data to store data to optimize inventory, labor and customer experience management automation.
“Shoppers expect every item to be fresh and safe. Guaranteeing safety demands a whole new level of data connections from source to store, for every item,” said Mike Weber, chief marketing officer at Upshop, adding, “Upshop and ReposiTrak integrating solutions answers the call, making it simple for the retailers to continue to deliver the promise.”
Under FSMA 204, retailers are required by law to track key data elements to the store level for every shipment containing high-risk food items from the Food Traceability List (FTL). Major industry retailers have publicly committed to traceability, rolling out programs that require more traceability data for all food products on a faster timeline. Those retailers’ efforts have motivated others to implement their own traceability programs now, ahead of the FDA’s enforcement deadline of Jan. 20, 2026.
At NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show, Progressive Grocer spoke with Derek Hannum, chief customer officer at Murray, Utah-based ReposiTrak, and Lauren Kennedy, VP of customer success at Upshop, about the partnership, which they referred to as an “alliance,” likening the synergy between their companies’ solutions to a relay race that ReposiTrak and Upshop would need to ensure is “smooth, effortless and … low-cost not only for the retailers, but the suppliers.”
“We operate mostly in that space between where it originates with the product shipment from the supplier into a distribution center or a store, and then that’s really where our expertise and our solutions stop as the items approach the store, and [Upshop picks] it up there,” noted Hannum. “So [the partnership is] really more a handoff between the existing solutions than it is creating something entirely new. Now we believe that the synergies between that partnership create a lot of new value, unlock new value, but it’s not like we necessarily need new solutions to do that. It’s just handing data off and sharing data in a way that helps. It makes it easier.”
“The things that food retailers are trying to solve are big and complex, and when you look end to end of the supply chain, it’s not easy,” said Kennedy. “They’ve got lots of battles to fight. And as we look from source to stores, we continue to say, ‘How do we help the retailers fight that battle?’ The partnership with Upshop can help the retailers with that so that the retailers can focus on the value they can gain in the store. [We can help retailers] continue to drive the bottom line, help them with their credits at the back room, manage their inventory better. And so the more we can look at it and make it scalable for the retailer, versus the retailer wanting to all solve it in a little different way, it's a win.”
Through the partnership, grocers can access fast, easy and inexpensive compliance with FSMA 204 from source to store, and gain better visibility into supply chain data that can be used to optimize operations, reduce shrink and waste, and increase sales.
“Our partnership combines ReposiTrak’s strength in traceability data management and connectivity with Upshop’s broad base of retail technology,” observed ReposiTrak Chairman and CEO Randy Fields. “Together, our existing platforms make traceability even easier for retailers, and their suppliers. It allows the traceability requirements to be achieved without adding steps to the check-in process and without retooling legacy systems.”
