Associated Grocers of New England Automates Traceability Process
Associated Grocers of New England (AGNE), the largest retailer-owned wholesale grocery distribution center in the region, has furthered efforts to comply with FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) 204 food traceability law via automation with the ReposiTrak Traceability Network. As the world’s largest operating traceability network, the ReposiTrak solution enables the exchange and maintenance of FDA-required data among the co-op’s suppliers, distribution center and retail locations.
“AGNE services the needs of independent retail grocers of every store size and format,” noted Mike Violette, president and CEO of Pembroke, N.H.-based Associated Grocers of New England. “It’s absolutely essential that any technology or solution we choose is efficient to use and economical for them, and also for our valued supplier partners. “Complying with the FDA’s regulation is a non-negotiable, but finding the best solution for our total supply chain was up to us.”
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The FDA’s FSMA 204 food traceability regulation requires manufacturers, processors and companies that pack or hold foods on the Food Traceability List to establish and maintain key data element records for specific critical tracking events as a product journeys through the supply chain. As the product changes hands or changes form, a compounding string of data must be transferred among trading partners to provide full end-to-end traceability. The AGNE supply chain consists of hundreds of suppliers, a distribution center and more than 350 corporate and independent retail locations operating under various banners.
“Thousands of SKUs are moved through our distribution center every day, many of which are directly impacted by the food traceability law,” added Violette. “The ReposiTrak Traceability Network makes it easy for our hundreds of suppliers to get connected and send us the required data, without disrupting their workflow or ours.”
According to Salt Lake City-based Park City Group, which provides the solution, the ReposiTrak Traceability Network is the only solution that’s scalable for the total food supply chain, without the need for new hardware, software or even labeling systems. The company adds that the solution is built upon the largest, already-connected network of 110,000-plus individual supplier facilities, making the onboarding process faster and easier for retailers. Park City Group is in the process of changing its corporate name to ReposiTrak.
Founded in 1946, Associated Grocers of New England serves the needs of independent retail grocers of every store size and format: multistore independent supermarket groups, community supermarkets, country stores, and convenience retailers. While it does the majority of its business in the six New England states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, it has expanded beyond the region to the upstate New York/Albany area, and even delivers as far as eastern Pennsylvania.
