Cultivating Efficiency, Enhancing Food Safety and Traceability with Croptracker
Lakeshore Veggie Growers Inc, (LVG) located just outside Leamington on the shores of Lake Erie, is a family run business specializing in greenhouse grown, flavourful, heirloom tomatoes. Officially incorporated in 2008, Lakeshore Veggies has scaled up from three to 18 acres by acquiring surrounding farms as they become available. They now operate three main greenhouse and packing facilities, supplying various local national marketers in Leamington. This expansion has brought on a greater need for fast paced inventory management and food safety systems, leading LVG to seek out Croptracker’s farm inventory traceability features.
Before implementing Croptracker, Lakeshore, like many in the industry, grappled with the complexities of managing perishable goods. Their operations relied heavily on traditional methods, including large and manually updated spreadsheet records. While diligent, this approach presented several significant hurdles:
- Inventory Blind Spots: Without real-time visibility, understanding exact stock levels, particularly for different varieties and storage locations, was a constant challenge. This often meant relying on estimates or conducting time consuming physical counts, leading to potential discrepancies and the risk of product waste.
- Time-Consuming Manual Processes: From recording harvest data to tracking products through the packing house and onto shipments, much of the data entry was manual. This consumed valuable staff time that could be better spent elsewhere.
- Traceability Hurdles: In an era where food safety and instant traceability are paramount, manual systems could make it challenging to quickly pinpoint the origin of a specific lot or to generate comprehensive audit reports. With increasing tracebaility regulations, the ability to trace every item from "farm to fork" was becoming increasingly critical.
- FIFO Enforcement: Ensuring First-In, First-Out (FIFO) fresh produce inventory management was more difficult without an automated system, increasing the risk of older product being shipped last, impacting freshness and potentially leading to spoilage.
Lakeshore recognized the need for a modern, integrated solution that could bring clarity and efficiency to their entire operation.
Growing the Benefits: How Croptracker Transforms Lakeshore's Inventory Management
Starting in the fall of 2024, Chief Administrative Officer, Gabriella Colasanti, has been digitizing LVG’s harvest, packing, storage and shipping processes. Lakeshore currently uses Croptracker’s Harvest, Storage, Shipping, Receiving, Packing and Order Desk modules.
The biggest thing that Croptracker has helped us with is our inventory. Before Croptracker, we always had to rely on a physical count in the warehouse to make sure we shipped the oldest product first. Now, we know exactly what we have, where it is, and how old it is.
With an eye toward improving their FIFO inventory management for order fulfillment, Gabriella worked closely with Croptracker support staff to implement the regular use of the ‘Aged Packed Product Report’. This has helped the shipping department identify the right inventory at the right time – not only minimizes waste due to spoilage but also guarantees that customers consistently receive the freshest possible product. Gabriella shares "With the Aged Packed Product Report, we can see the date of the products still in the cooler and make sure we take care of it, allowing our FIFO processes to work efficiently." The days of guessing "what's out back" are gone, replaced by precise, digital tracking.
In today's stringent regulatory environment, food safety is non-negotiable. Croptracker provides Lakeshore with an unparalleled level of inventory traceability, critical for both compliance and consumer confidence. Every lot number, every pallet, and every carton can be meticulously tracked from its origin in the field, through packing, and onto the shipping truck.
Should a recall ever be necessary, LVG staff can, with a few clicks, pinpoint exactly which products were affected, where they were shipped, and to whom. This capability is invaluable for mitigating risk and protecting their brand reputation. It also significantly streamlines the process for audits, as all necessary documentation is readily available within the system.
Following her team’s inputting of data on the Croptracker app throughout the day, Gabriella makes frequent use of Croptracker’s Mock Recall Report to ensure the smooth movement of inventory and that the right information is passed along with her shipments when they leave Lakeshore to the sales and marketing teams. Having recently completed a successful GAP audit, Gabriella highlighted that the auditors were very happy to see the Mock Recall Report. Additionally, Gabriella has used Croptracker’s traceability reporting to pinpoint and correct quality issues.
Everything flowed through properly when we ran our reports … If there [is] a quality issue, we can determine right away what went to that customer right down to the pallet.
Accurate Data for Smarter Decisions
Moving away from estimates and towards real-time, accurate data has empowered Lakeshore to make more informed business decisions. They have clearer insights into their yields, packing line performance, and inventory turnover, enabling better planning, forecasting, and resource allocation. This data-driven approach positions Lakeshore for continued growth and profitability.
Lakeshore's partnership with Croptracker is a testament to Gabriella and Lakeshore’s forward-thinking approach. By embracing technology, they've not only overcome significant operational challenges but have also elevated their standards for food safety, traceability, and fresh produce inventory management.
Croptracker is a fantastic program with great capabilities and anything we've needed modifications with, the support team has been really really helpful.
Looking toward the future, Gabriella plans to work closely with Croptracker support staff to create SOPs for daily harvest and packing for outside growers using the Croptracker app and expanded browser reporting. She also hopes to implement digitized plant treatment tracking in their greenhouses with Croptracker’s Spray module. Croptracker is excited to continue working with Lakeshore Veggie Growers and all our other growers to improve food safety and traceability.
