BAP, Traceability Pioneers Collaborate on ‘Real-Time’ Data Sharing Initiative with Thai Union, Devi Seafoods
The Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification program and traceability companies Wholechain and Legit Fish are developing real-time digital solutions to strengthen BAP’s visibility into producer supply chains. In collaboration with global seafood suppliers Thai Union and Devi Seafoods, BAP is working to enable direct data transfer from BAP-certified facilities to BAP’s internal data systems as companies trace products in their supply chains. This collaborative integration allows seafood businesses, the marketplace, regulators, and BAP to meet their traceability data requirements without duplication of effort.
“Real-time, digital traceability opens a new world that the retailer and consumer can easily enter – via a QR code – to view the full provenance and sustainability of seafood products. This will begin with basic information, but it will lead to opportunities to tell the full story of responsible production processes in ways that haven’t previously been possible,” said GAA President George Chamberlain.
In December 2020, the beta version of this integration was launched with Wholechain. Chicken of the Sea / Thai Union began implementation with commercial shipments going to retail with their BAP four-star frozen shrimp from India.
“We are excited to introduce this integration with BAP to our users,” said Annie Opel, Director of Technology Operations at Wholechain. “We see interoperability and connecting related data systems as the future of how traceability will work, particularly in the food industry. It is good for business, good for certification and good for consumers. We see this as not only a valuable innovation for BAP, but a valuable innovation for certifications in general, and we expect other certifications to follow BAP’s lead. It has been a privilege to collaborate with the BAP team and our partners at Thai Union, and we are excited about the road ahead.”
Concurrently during most of 2020, Legit Fish worked with Devi Seafoods and Eruvaka Technologies on another component of this data sharing initiative. Eruvaka Technologies brought a unique element to this Indian shrimp farming project with its appetite-based feeding and water quality monitoring equipment developed to harness the power of sensors, mobile connectivity and decision tools and to automatically collect key traceability data.
“This is an exciting time to be part of the next wave of innovation for the seafood industry,” said Dana Bartholomew, Executive Vice President of Business Development at Legit Fish. “The collaboration among industry partners bringing this level of authenticity and transparency to the end consumer is unprecedented. We are excited to be partnering with Devi Seafoods, the GAA, and its customers and partners. The BAP standards are the benchmark for aquaculture, and our patented technology brings the validation and authentication of data to a whole new level. We are thrilled that the GAA and Devi Seafoods see the value in our innovative technology.”
These pilots come as the seafood industry places a greater emphasis on technology-driven traceability because consumers and retailers demand greater levels of transparency for products consumed. The industry is also adjusting to upcoming regulatory requirements such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act, specifically Rule 204, which will require seafood companies to capture traceability back to the farm or boat.
BAP looks forward to collaborating with others in the industry as the program makes progress in this traceability initiative. BAP encourages those interested in providing input on this exciting work to reach out directly to the team.
About BAP
Best Aquaculture Practices is an international certification program developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance. Certification is based on achievable, science-based and continuously improved performance standards for the entire aquaculture supply chain – farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills – that assure healthful foods produced through environmentally and socially responsible means. Independent third-party audits evaluate compliance with the BAP standards.
About Wholechain
Wholechain is a blockchain-based traceability solution built by Envisible to enable trust, coordination, and transparency in fragmented supply chains. Wholechain works across commodities allowing businesses to manage risks and increase efficiencies while enabling consumers to make more responsible decisions. Wholechain is a partner on Mastercard’s blockchain and former winner of the Fish 2.0 Competition at Stanford for Supply Chain Innovation. Find out more at Wholechain.com.
About Legit Fish
Legit Fish is a patented technology that authenticates and verifies the provenance of seafood and other food products. Legit Fish validates and traces product and data across the entire supply chain from the water to the end consumer. Its unique patented system effectively captures, validates and traces product by harnessing government records, chain of custody, mass balancing, and other tools. Legit Fish integrates with existing technology platforms (IoT devices, ERP systems, etc.) in the supply chain to ensure ease of integration for all stakeholders. Legit Fish’s secure, validated data can be shared and accessed across the entire supply chain to confirm product or to market product to the end consumer.
About Chicken of the Sea
Chicken of the Sea International (COSI) is a leading provider of healthy, delicious and responsibly sourced seafood, offering not only a robust product line but the recipes and meal-planning insights needed to inspire seafood lovers to greater culinary creativity. The company provides tuna, salmon, clams, crab, oysters, shrimp, mackerel, kipper snacks and sardines in cans, cups and pouches as well as innovative new products consistent with seafood’s growing status as a healthy “new” protein choice in America. The Company continues to provide high-quality sustainable seafood to its longstanding loyal customers throughout North America and to strive to be the world’s most trusted seafood leader.
Headquartered in El Segundo, California, COSI uses responsible fishing practices to source its seafood products from around the world, and packages them at a state-of-the-art processing facility in Lyons, Georgia, as well as at third-party facilities. The company is led by a team of industry veterans with more than 300 years of collective experience in the consumer goods industry. For information on Chicken of the Sea International, including recipes, serving suggestions and nutritional and meal-planning insights as well as information on the latest new Chicken of the Sea products, go to www.chickenofthesea.com.
For information on Chicken of the Sea International, including recipes, serving suggestions and nutritional and meal-planning insights as well as information on the latest new Chicken of the Sea products, go to www.chickenofthesea.com.
About Devi Seafoods
With over 25 years of experience in shrimp processing and export, Devi Seafoods is a leading supplier of shrimp from India to large reputed customers in food service and retail. Based in the state of Andhra Pradesh and exclusively focusing on farm-raised black tiger and white shrimp, Devi has developed vertically integrated infrastructure with its own shrimp processing, farms, hatchery, feed mills and direct distribution to customers in the USA through a marketing and distribution subsidiary.
About Eruvaka Technologies
Eruvaka is an aquaculture technology company offering intelligent systems for appetite-based feeding, monitoring of pond water quality, and control of aerators using real-time, cloud-based data analytics, and accessibility by smart phone. Eruvaka products are installed in 10 countries in Asia and Latin America, where they are driving significant improvements in feed use, power consumption, yield and sustainability.
