Driscoll's Builds Stronger Brand Equity
Family owned and operated, Driscoll’s is recognized as a leading global brand of berries. Backed by more than 100 years of farming heritage, the company’s strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries are produced by approximately 500 independent farmers throughout the world, in growing regions carefully selected for their soil, climate and other environmental factors.
Driscoll’s is based in Watsonville, Calif., and holds itself to the highest standards of care when it comes to growing, harvesting and shipping its berries. It’s all part of the company’s daily commitment to deliver on its brand promise of providing consumers “ONLY THE FINEST BERRIES™.”
A key component of the brand strategy is Driscoll’s continuous focus on delivering the highest level of food safety through “Good Agriculture Practices” set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The effort is uniformly enforced at all of its farms, cooling and distribution facilities around the world.
But controlling what happens from the field to the grocery store addresses only one side of the consumer-confidence equation. Driscoll’s wanted a way to also impact the other side by creating a stronger connection between its berries and consumers. The connection involved making it possible for consumers to trace their Driscoll’s berries back to where they were grown.
“Follow Us To The Farm”
To help engage consumers on a more personal level, Driscoll’s created a traceability program called “Follow Us To The Farm,” which is accessible via the www.driscsolls.com website.
Driscoll’s berries are packaged in clear clamshell containers with a prime label on the lid, and a UPC bottom label that includes a variable two-dimensional code (2D matrix code) and a corresponding human-readable alphanumeric tracking code. The 2D matrix and alphanumeric codes are the foundation of the track-and-trace identification system.
To see the region or farm where the berries were harvested, all a consumer has to do is enter the alphanumeric code at the “Follow Us To The Farm” section of the web site, www.driscolls.com. A second point of access is available with a downloadable iPhone® application, HarvestMark™ Food Traceability, which takes a photo of the 2D matrix code and brings the consumer directly to the growing region or farmer profile.
“We continue to rapidly expand the level of product coverage with traceable packages,” said Doug Ronan, vice president of marketing for Driscoll’s. “Our ultimate goal is to have every Driscoll’s clamshell traceable to individual farms. The tracking code is a great invitation for berry lovers to learn more about the story of their favorite Driscoll’s berry, and it enhances our procedures for meeting global food safety standards.
“Overall, this program gives consumers confidence and peace of mind knowing they can easily access information about their purchase. And the track-and-trace features of the bottom label have been added at no extra cost to consumers.”
Verifying 100 Percent Accuracy
Since 1992, WS Packaging Group, Green Bay, Wis., has produced the prime and bottom labels for Driscoll’s berry products sold in North America. And even though every Driscoll’s farm is not yet in the “Follow Us To The Farm” system, every bottom label must still be verified to be 100-percent scannable.
“The biggest challenges in producing the code tracking labels is verifying their scannability, and to print them with minimal lead times,” said Ron Bruneau, vice president of operations for WS Packaging’s West Coast facilities. “We use an on-press-camera scanning system that literally scans every 2D matrix code to confirm scannability and ensure the label is appropriate in the way it’s printed.
“The bottom line is they have to work. And they do. Every coded label WS Packaging produces for Driscoll’s is verified to be 100-percent scannable.”
WS Packaging uses Fasson® Semi-Gloss Elite™ pressure-sensitive paper, from Avery Dennison, as the facestock for the bottom label. The UPC, 2D matrix code and human-readable alphanumeric code are printed in one press pass. The label is flexo printed in one color, black on white, with a UV varnish to protect all elements during shipping and handling. The label is variable-image printed with a drop-on-demand inkjet print system.
The work for Driscoll’s is like a three-legged stool — Driscoll’s, WS Packaging and one of four thermo formers who produce the clamshells that package the berries and perform a second level of scannability verification. The thermo formers make the clamshells and apply the WS Packaging labels, and then sell Driscoll’s the cases of labeled clamshell containers.
Strawberries, blackberries and raspberries are packed in the field, while blueberries are handled in a packing facility. Driscoll’s has to know which series of clamshell containers are sent to which farm. A case of clamshells may get shipped directly to a field, or may go to a warehouse where it could be held for sometime before being deployed to a particular field or packing facility.
When the clamshells are cased at the thermo former, there is no way of knowing where a case is going to end up, so each case is labeled with what is described as a “master case” label having removal “daughter tag” labels. The 2D code on each clamshell is scanned and recorded as they are put into the case. A unique code is then assigned to the scannable master case label and daughter tags and associated to the individual clamshells. This computer-controlled process establishes a connection between what has been scanned, what is in each case and, ultimately, where each case ends up. WS Packaging also produces the master case labels.
When a case of clamshells goes to a farm, the berry pickers remove the clamshells from the case, and the daughter tag is taken off the case and placed on a special form and scanned. It’s at this point that Driscoll’s knows which case, and its corresponding clamshells, is in that field on that day. When every daughter tag is collected and scanned, Driscoll’s knows what was picked and from which field it was harvested.
“While every label is verified twice for its scannability, the label has to remain in place or all the verifying is for naught, so the adhesive on the facestock is a critical part of this label solution,” Bruneau said. “The label could initially be applied to a clamshell in December and then not be used for months. Once it gets out in the field, it could be under the hot sun at 100 F, then rushed to a cooler where fans blow 35 F air directly at the container. If the proper adhesive isn’t used, there could be edge-lift, bubbling of the label, or the label could fall off, all of which can result in big problems.”
WS Packaging produces the track-and-trace labels at its facility in Fullerton, Calif. Since their launch in February 2009, WS Packaging has produced hundreds of millions of the traceable labels, covering more than 35 SKUs.
Driscoll’s is based in Watsonville, Calif., and holds itself to the highest standards of care when it comes to growing, harvesting and shipping its berries. It’s all part of the company’s daily commitment to deliver on its brand promise of providing consumers “ONLY THE FINEST BERRIES™.”
A key component of the brand strategy is Driscoll’s continuous focus on delivering the highest level of food safety through “Good Agriculture Practices” set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The effort is uniformly enforced at all of its farms, cooling and distribution facilities around the world.
But controlling what happens from the field to the grocery store addresses only one side of the consumer-confidence equation. Driscoll’s wanted a way to also impact the other side by creating a stronger connection between its berries and consumers. The connection involved making it possible for consumers to trace their Driscoll’s berries back to where they were grown.
“Follow Us To The Farm”
To help engage consumers on a more personal level, Driscoll’s created a traceability program called “Follow Us To The Farm,” which is accessible via the www.driscsolls.com website.
Driscoll’s berries are packaged in clear clamshell containers with a prime label on the lid, and a UPC bottom label that includes a variable two-dimensional code (2D matrix code) and a corresponding human-readable alphanumeric tracking code. The 2D matrix and alphanumeric codes are the foundation of the track-and-trace identification system.
To see the region or farm where the berries were harvested, all a consumer has to do is enter the alphanumeric code at the “Follow Us To The Farm” section of the web site, www.driscolls.com. A second point of access is available with a downloadable iPhone® application, HarvestMark™ Food Traceability, which takes a photo of the 2D matrix code and brings the consumer directly to the growing region or farmer profile.
The Driscoll’s track-and-trace system was launched in February 2009 and developed for the produce industry by YottaMark, Inc., Redwood City, Calif., under the brand name, HarvestMark™. Site content at “Follow Us To The Farm” includes learning about the growing region, finding the name of the farm, and having access to farmer profiles, which are routinely updated.
“We continue to rapidly expand the level of product coverage with traceable packages,” said Doug Ronan, vice president of marketing for Driscoll’s. “Our ultimate goal is to have every Driscoll’s clamshell traceable to individual farms. The tracking code is a great invitation for berry lovers to learn more about the story of their favorite Driscoll’s berry, and it enhances our procedures for meeting global food safety standards.
“Overall, this program gives consumers confidence and peace of mind knowing they can easily access information about their purchase. And the track-and-trace features of the bottom label have been added at no extra cost to consumers.”
Verifying 100 Percent Accuracy
Since 1992, WS Packaging Group, Green Bay, Wis., has produced the prime and bottom labels for Driscoll’s berry products sold in North America. And even though every Driscoll’s farm is not yet in the “Follow Us To The Farm” system, every bottom label must still be verified to be 100-percent scannable.
“The biggest challenges in producing the code tracking labels is verifying their scannability, and to print them with minimal lead times,” said Ron Bruneau, vice president of operations for WS Packaging’s West Coast facilities. “We use an on-press-camera scanning system that literally scans every 2D matrix code to confirm scannability and ensure the label is appropriate in the way it’s printed.
“The bottom line is they have to work. And they do. Every coded label WS Packaging produces for Driscoll’s is verified to be 100-percent scannable.”
WS Packaging uses Fasson® Semi-Gloss Elite™ pressure-sensitive paper, from Avery Dennison, as the facestock for the bottom label. The UPC, 2D matrix code and human-readable alphanumeric code are printed in one press pass. The label is flexo printed in one color, black on white, with a UV varnish to protect all elements during shipping and handling. The label is variable-image printed with a drop-on-demand inkjet print system.
The work for Driscoll’s is like a three-legged stool — Driscoll’s, WS Packaging and one of four thermo formers who produce the clamshells that package the berries and perform a second level of scannability verification. The thermo formers make the clamshells and apply the WS Packaging labels, and then sell Driscoll’s the cases of labeled clamshell containers.
Strawberries, blackberries and raspberries are packed in the field, while blueberries are handled in a packing facility. Driscoll’s has to know which series of clamshell containers are sent to which farm. A case of clamshells may get shipped directly to a field, or may go to a warehouse where it could be held for sometime before being deployed to a particular field or packing facility.
When the clamshells are cased at the thermo former, there is no way of knowing where a case is going to end up, so each case is labeled with what is described as a “master case” label having removal “daughter tag” labels. The 2D code on each clamshell is scanned and recorded as they are put into the case. A unique code is then assigned to the scannable master case label and daughter tags and associated to the individual clamshells. This computer-controlled process establishes a connection between what has been scanned, what is in each case and, ultimately, where each case ends up. WS Packaging also produces the master case labels.
When a case of clamshells goes to a farm, the berry pickers remove the clamshells from the case, and the daughter tag is taken off the case and placed on a special form and scanned. It’s at this point that Driscoll’s knows which case, and its corresponding clamshells, is in that field on that day. When every daughter tag is collected and scanned, Driscoll’s knows what was picked and from which field it was harvested.
“While every label is verified twice for its scannability, the label has to remain in place or all the verifying is for naught, so the adhesive on the facestock is a critical part of this label solution,” Bruneau said. “The label could initially be applied to a clamshell in December and then not be used for months. Once it gets out in the field, it could be under the hot sun at 100 F, then rushed to a cooler where fans blow 35 F air directly at the container. If the proper adhesive isn’t used, there could be edge-lift, bubbling of the label, or the label could fall off, all of which can result in big problems.”
WS Packaging produces the track-and-trace labels at its facility in Fullerton, Calif. Since their launch in February 2009, WS Packaging has produced hundreds of millions of the traceable labels, covering more than 35 SKUs.