AGRI INTELLIGENCE:
TRACEABILITY FOR BANANA VALUE CHAIN IN IVORY COAST

A reputed plantation enterprise in the Ivory Coast cultivates banana crops over 3500 Ha of land. Considering the plantation exports its produce globally, through its packhouses and third-party exporters, the data on fresh produce is essential at the time of loading onto overseas containers., as well when it reaches the destination or doorstep.

Why was pallet composition and container data capture so important? Banana is perishable when it is not stored and transported at the right temperature, and because of this, the quality of produce at arrival can be compromised.

An Efficient software for traceability, and barcode technology that can tag and upload essential data of banana boxes and pallets before they are loaded onto shipping containers streamlines the quality checks and product traceability. It also saves time in assessing the claims made by customers.

For more traceability in the supply chain and to acknowledge the demands of customers, we offered a full-stack technology solution.

THE CHALLENGES IN TRACEABILITY

  • Banana supply chain needs traceability systems due to customer demands for consumer food safety, provenance, certification validation, and transparency.
  • A pallet contains numerous boxes of produce that are stacked together and then moved to shipping containers. Each box within a pallet should be tagged with the correct data so that it is easily accessible in the case of quality checks, and traceability when it reaches the shipping destination or consumer.
  • Every pallet should be registered with the container it is being transported to. Data on the source, and the number of boxes that each pallet contains is necessary.
  • Temperature control is important, as is collecting and tracking temperature data at the time of loading pallets into containers. Banana Pallets have to be transported at the ideal temperature. If the temperature is too high the banana may ripen too fast and rot. In the case of the temperature being too low, this can cause skin discoloration, an insipid taste, or the fruit not ripening.
  • Buyers can refuse a shipment based on the temperature of the cargo. The “Hot stuff” argument is when a buyer refuses a container based on the argument that the container was not at the right temperature at the time of the pallet being loaded, hence affecting the quality at delivery. Having insufficient data on temperature and humidity at the time of loading the container can affect business for plantations.

CONTINUOUS INTELLIGENCE SOLUTION

FarmERP first evaluated the existing conditions as well as the challenges faced by Banana plantations, packhouses, and exporters. Based on this assessment, FarmERP understood that using barcodes that store crucial data – could be extremely beneficial for the client. So, FarmERP delivered solutions to the plantation agribusiness in the following manner:

  • FarmERP introduced its barcode that stores crucial information and data at the time of loading the boxes onto individual pallets i.e pallet composition data. All data is accessible with a few clicks on the cloud platform.
  • Traceability was set up at three levels of the supply chain – 1) At the time boxes are composed into pallets. 2) When the pallets are loaded onto temperature controlled containers 3) live tracking via integration with the third-party shipping company.
  • Data such as the temperature of the container at the time of loading pallets is tracked and stored via barcode. This data is uploaded when receiving the container and at time of unloading at destination.
  • FarmERP offered live tracking via a link-up with the third-party shipping company on its platform. This allowed the company in Ivory Coast to track the location of their product when it is being shipped overseas.
  • Live tracking and traceability for after the container has been unloaded and the pallet is on its way to the customer.
  • Besides these solutions offering a reliable and accessible way to manage data at the pack house, exporter, and destination level, FarmERP is also an end-to-end farm and agro chain enterprise software that uses AI, and machine learning, along with geotagging to streamline processes in the agro chain ad increase productivity, profitability and predictability for growers, packhouses, and exporters.