Gloucestershire beef farmers, Matthew Rymer and Clifford Freeman, describe the launch of the Happerley Passports food traceability scheme to combat meat fraud and increase transparency in the supply chain.
Happerley Passports is an independent, producer-led food traceability scheme, which was launched to help producers, intermediaries, retailers and consumers work together to create visible trading networks and reward and validate honesty and transparency in the food chain. It is needed to reduce meat fraud, increase premium meat consumption, improve animal welfare and local sourcing, and return confidence to the consumer.
Initially we applied traceability and provenance to our own meat to justify its cost of production and to help save a rare breed (The Pedigree Gloucester). Every piece of Gloucester Born Beef sold has a code enabling consumers to trace the life history of the animal in an instant - its birth, where it was slaughtered and how far it has travelled. The aim was to change the Gloucester cattle breed from a rare and commercially inadequate breed into a profitable standalone enterprise. After a piece on BBC Countryfile, the Happerly scheme attracted support from fellow farmers, local butchers and consumers and we were encouraged to broaden the scheme.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.The Happerley vision is to empower producers to tell the story of their produce and empower the consumer to trace it. the consumer to trace it. A wider and more courageous ambition is to transform the UK’s tapestry of independent farms from struggling, subsidy-reliant operations to a network of farming enterprises working together towards a viable and commercial future before they themselves become an ever greater rarity. This could challenge the market dominance of the ever fewer and more powerful retailers and processors across all food sectors and requires farmers to work collectively, to govern their own provenance and to connect to the consumer. Happerley has the potential to add value to every approved and participating food business.
In 2015, Happerley secured support from the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub at the University of Aberdeen, which is investigating how rural areas can be transformed through the user-led application of digital technology in the UK and beyond and is funded by the UK Research Councils.
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How it works
The farmer applies a unique code to his/her produce that verifies through the Happerley chain enabling participating members to download unique A4 Provenance Certificates, which instantly unlock the whole provenance story. Validating the produce at every link in the food chain into one code accessed online or by QR scan at the point of sale, will reduce food fraud, reconnect consumers with farmers and validate local and production claims and premiums.
Producers can register for a free passport and profile for each batch of produce. Online passports are validated by each member of that food chain - abattoirs, processors, catering butchers, food transporters, wholesalers, packers and manufacturers. Producer profiles and outputs are drawn into one core search engine, providing instant visibility and connection to potential trade buyers, retailers, restaurants and consumers. Passport numbers are promoted with the produce - on menus, packaging etc. at retail outlets, restaurants, retail butchers and food service outlets. Codes can be instantly checked to provide full details of producer and produce. Consumers can find out how and where their food is farmed.
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Producers
Producers can generate a unique traceability code online for every food batch leaving their holding. They are able to network with other producers, to promote their farm capabilities, certifications, assurances, reputation and provenance and maintain a public farm profile. They may be able to identify improved trading opportunities. They can also promote their production and husbandry standards and produce to the public and provide intermediaries and retailers with a provenance check.
Intermediaries
Intermediaries can network and source ingredients directly from producers and promote their provenance credentials at point-of-sale and on advertising. Happerley provides visibility on producers’ networks. Applicants need to provide details of two farms that a business sources from (directly or indirectly). These are verified during an approval process. Intermediaries need to commit to sourcing ingredients and produce locally whenever possible and to only use the terms ‘local’ or ‘farm’ on menus or a point of sale or other advertising when citing the actual producer. They must clearly label the provenance of all primary ingredients, sold loose or fresh at the point-of-sale, on own packaging and of all meat on customer menus.
Consumers
Consumers want to know the story of the provenance of the food they eat. Happerley creates a bridge by which producers and consumers can connect.
An honest and transparent food industry will allow consumers to know and understand the true provenance of their food and empower them to ask more questions.'
Consumers are able to source fresh, locally produced food directly from farms with one unique traceability code. This can support better farming methods and a sustainable living and farming landscape.
Until traceability is consumer facing and until consumers start asking the questions ‘Which farm is this food from?’ and ‘How do I know this is local?’ and finding the answers, the food miles and farm of origin will remain unknown.
This is the first transparent, universal traceability scheme connecting the consumer to the actual farm of origin. Most of the data Happerley will gather is already held within Defra and is expected to be released later this year when Defra opens up access to its datasets.
Matthew Rymer and Clifford Freeman, Happerley, Willow Hill, School Road, Apperley, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL19 4DJ
